When children die, do they automatically go to heaven?

Interested,
A friend

Dear Friend,

Good Question! God is our Wonderful and Loving Father, and He desires that no man should perish, therefore He provided a way to bridge the gap that Sin puts between us and Him. The question of Heaven and Hell comes down to "Do we accept God's provision (Jesus), or reject Him?". It's one or the other, there can be no middle ground, no grey area.

When it comes to knowing if someone is saved, we can only answer that for ourselves... God Himself is the only one that knows the answer to your question! However, He has given us some clues and guidelines that we can consider...

First of all, there seems to be an "age of innocence", a time before accountablilty is applied. Jesus had a special Love for children while He was on Earth, and He continues that Love as He sits waiting to return for His followers. Though we are all born into Sin, by the very nature of mankind (i.e.: we must all suffer physical death), it is my understanding that the Lord may well not judge a person until he is old enough to understand the meaning of this seperation from God.

The obvious question then becomes, how old? Even a newborn baby begins to "sin" within minutes after birth. He cares nothing of his mother's pain or tiredness; he wants only to be fed and cared for, and right now!!!! This is the beginning of selfishness, a sure sign of sin. God wants us to put Him first, others second, and ourselves last... but this little baby has it all flipped around! Of course, this is only his nature, and he has no understanding of what he is doing... but thanks to Adam and Eve, he has been born into a sinful world, and is only doing what comes natural. By the time he reaches the "terrible two's" he is already into full scale rebellion... "No, No, No!". Though he has an inherent knowedge of good and bad, he is still too young to understand his sin, and is simply acting the only way he knows how to act... selfishly.

So, when does God decide a child is old enough to know better? We do not know... that is up to the Perfect, Righteous and Merciful God to decide! Thank God that I am not in a position to judge anyone's fate, because I would have to damn myself first and foremost! Fortunately, He loves me more than that, and showed me the way back into His Holy and Pure Kingdom... a place I could not get to on my own good behavior, no matter how "good" I tried to be!

So is the age of accountablity 3 years, 5 years? 10 years? Many children accept Jesus' sacrifice for them at a very young age, perhaps during Sunday School, or Vacation Bible school... but they probably have no understanding of the depth of what they have done, or how it all works. The Jews (God's chosen race to show the rest of the world how He operates) were told by God that adulthood begins at age 12, when they have their Bar-mitzvah or Bat-mitzvah. Could this then be the age of accountability? Very possibly, but God in His ultimate wisdom is the one that has to make the call, and it will certainly be the correct call. He desires that we should all re-enter His kingdom, so it would not surprise me to find that He was especially generous to children... but again, we do not know for sure!

Also, there is some evidence that the parent's choice affects the child's destination... the Bible speaks of entire "houses" (families) being saved by someone's commitment to God. Heaven is a wonderfully pure place, the dwelling of God Himself... and He can not allow Sin inside to corrupt it's perfect nature. This is why we need the blood of Jesus Christ to wash us clean from sin, basically so that we don't track "mud" onto God's "carpet"! :-)

Anyone who claims to be able to tell you if a child is in Heaven or not is full of it. However, rest assured that God, in His infinite Wisdom and Mercy has made the correct and righteous decision. God is no respecter of persons... He can not show favoritism, and His decision must be based on such things that all have the same chance.

The best thing a parent can do is to assure themselves of their own "Ticket to Heaven" by trusting in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection as the only way to cleanse us and bridge the gap between us and our Holy Father. As long as we live in sin, we are seperated from God, and are missing out on the peace and joy that He promises us... both on Earth, and in Heaven. Heaven is described as a place "where there is no sorrow, no tears...", so we can be assured that regardless of what has happened to ANYONE that we loved on earth, we will somehow never know that sadness anymore... what a wonderful gift!

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To know that you have been accepted by God, there is a simple plan of Salvation -

1) Admit that you are a sinner,
and have no right to enter God's Perfect Kingdom on your own good works. Realize that it is all your fault... you are the only one responsible for your ultimate destiny! God did not put the gap of Sin between you and Him... you did!

2) Accept that God sent His only Son,
Jesus Christ as a Perfect Sacrifice to Himself, to allow you to be cleansed from sin. His death has already completed the entire requirement of God... but you must accept that forgiveness... forgiveness that you have done NOTHING to deserve. It is only by the grace of God Himself that we can be saved. God has said that there is ONLY ONE WAY to Him, and that is through the death of His Perfect and Sinless Son, Jesus Christ... No man can possibly be good enough to earn his way into Heaven!

3) Pray that Jesus will enter your life as your Savior and your Lord.
Many people are more than happy to have a "free ticket" to heaven, but do not want to accept Jesus Christ's Lordship over them... they do not want to live for Him, or do the things He asks... they just want the freebie, and then they go on living the way they did. The Bible says that when we are saved, there is a change in us, and that we are not capable of living the old way... we will still sin, but our sin has not only been forgiven already, it will cause us great grief and guilt, and we will feel a deep need to run back to the Father and get right with Him again! Don't slip up and forget to make Jesus your Lord, as well as your Savior! Those that refuse to make Him Lord should be concerned as to whether they are truly saved...

4) Ask the Holy Spirit to enter your life.
He is the 3rd person of God, and He is sent to be our guide, our new conscience... the way we can determine our future decisions. The Holy Spirit is the one that brings peace and joy into our lives as we begin to serve and love God with our whole heart.

5) Don't forget to Thank Him and Praise Him
for the wonderful work He has just done in your life... you have just entered His Kingdom, and received the promise of Eternal Life in Heaven... in His Holy and Wonderful presence! What a Gift: We are saved by Faith in Jesus Christ, through the Grace of God Himself... regardless of all the past filth in our lives.

6) Learn more....
Get a good study Bible, and read it! Ask God to have His Holy Spirit open your mind, so that you may understand the beauty and depth of His Word. God made the Bible closed to them that will not approach it in the proper manner; but to those who truly seek the truth, He opens it as wide as we can handle... and continues to open it to us as we study it for the rest of our Earthly lives! Once we die, we can ask Him any question face to face... Praise God!

Will you accept Him, or reject Him?

You need to understand that God doesn't damn us to hell.
We do that to ourselves when we reject His mercy and love!
(But by accepting His free offer, we can join Him in Heaven forever...)

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Thanks for your question my friend, and please feel free to ask anything, anytime... the greatest work that I can possibly do is to serve God, by helping His newest sheep enter the fold.

Your Brother in Jesus Christ,
Eastwood (aka Jeffrey)

Find out more, complete with accompanying Bible Verses, at this page in my site - The Good News

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