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NASB | Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 5:24 And [in reverent fear and obedience] Enoch walked with God; and he was not [found among men], because God took him [away to be home with Him]. [Heb 11:5] |
Subject: Do babies go to heaven or hell? |
Bible Note: "we must leave it in God's hands." "I believe there are only two camps - righteous and unrighteous." Hi, Searcher! I think that this issue is summed up in both of your statements, quoted above: there is no Scripture that guarantees entrance to Heaven even for the most tender of our infants or the mentally ill/incapacitated... conversely, who gets to go/not to go to Heaven is not in our hands... You made and excellent point discussing king David and his infant child... you concluded that it is all in the physical realm!: "which is also physical." Yet you seem to jump into a distict conclusion in you next statement: "I believe that all infants who die (who hasn't had a chance to accept Jesus) will be in heaven with Jesus Christ after they die." I agree with this last statement wholeheartedly! Scripture speak about a physical realm that aspires to become a spiritual realm (the Christian trek); it is our Father's own calling: be holy! (1 Peter 1:16)... Jesus tells us that we must be born again (John 3:3) and His precursor, John the Baptist, reveals that Jesus will come to Baptize in the Holy Spirit and Fire (Matthew 3:11)... on the flip side, John and Paul talk about a coming change... one that will perfect the imperfection (1 John 3:1-2; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 15;52-54)... I specially love John's revelation as he emphasizes that he is speaking as a son of God and that he is speaking to sons of God... so there's no technicality involved here... there's no language barrier (Greek, Hebrew, Arameic, Latin... it does not matter!): there is a metamorphosis that the sons of God will undertake at becoming full-fledged citizens of Heaven! This change, of course, is not a physical change (brighter smile, tan, sharp eyes, tallness, thinness...); this is a spiritual change: Paul's vision of incorruptibility! This of couse is granted by God through the Holy Spirit! Who will limit God's Holy Spirit from awakening the spirit of God in a child who is at his/her Mother's womb when death visits? Who will limit God's Holy Spirit from rescuing God's spirit when a mental decease incapacitates a person excluding him/her from maturing in Christ as no amount of preaching/teaching will hold on his/her frozen/innert gray matter... the organ with which we can physically recognizing Christ's Gospels? Who will prohibit God's Holy Spirit from reclaiming the spirit trapped in the man/woman dying of Parkinson, drowning in schizophrenia or one ensnared in a coma--totally detached from the physical world that wishes to disciple him/her in Christ's doctrine? When we stop limiting God we can begin to understand our Faith and Jesus' Word ("if your faith... as a mustard seed!"); Scripture is not set up to limit our growth and salvation; rather, its purpose is to deliver us from death into Life! If we believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and Life, and if we believe His Word (Matthew 3:9), could we not believe that God, who wants all to be saved (Ezekiel 18:30-32), will, though His Mighty and Powerful Holy Spirit, reach and save those who would otherwise not be able to receive a physical discipleship that would introduce and keep them in Christ? Have we not learned from Jesus' parables that God is the ultimate judge and equalizer? (Matthew 20:1-16) God Bless! Angel |