How do I answer the question “How can you believe in a God that allows an innocent newborn baby to suffer terrible illness and even death, or won’t allow them into heaven because they were not baptized?”
To start with, we need to understand, that whatever the Lord does is the right thing to do. Genesis 18:25 says, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 2 Samuel 22:31 tells us, “As for God, his way is perfect.” Then, we need to understand that the Lord looks at things from an entirely different perspective than we do. 1 Samuel 16:7 explains to us that, “the LORD seeth not as man seeth.” With those two things established, let’s look closer at your questions.
My mind goes immediately to Job, who suffered so much loss in his life. Almost instantaneously, he lost his cattle, his sheep, his servants, and his children. Upon hearing this terrible news, Job said in Job 1:21, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I’m sure at this point that Job had no idea why the Lord allowed such terrible things to happen to him. He was a godly man who was highly esteemed of the Lord, yet tragedy struck. Even in the midst of his pain and confusion, Job acknowledged the Lord’s sovereign right to take everything away from him, and he praised the Lord, saying “blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job would later say in Job 34:10, “Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Mighty to do perverseness.”
I can’t really say why the Lord allows some bad things to happen to babies and young children, but we need to be like Job and recognize God’s righteousness and love. Even when we don’t understand Him, we need to trust Him. When young ones pass away, I sometimes consider Isaiah 57:1, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” This teaches us that sometimes the Lord, who knows all things, will take someone to Heaven rather than allow them to suffer through some of the ‘evil’ in the world that lies ahead of them. Perhaps this young person might grow up to be a drug addict, or a young girl might grow up to suffer many years of sexual abuse. The Lord in His sovereignty may decide to go ahead and take them to glory before these terrible things happen. Isn’t that an act of incredible love and mercy?
Your second question deals with why the Lord doesn’t not allow these young people into Heaven because they have not been baptized. Scripture doesn’t teach that at all. While baptism is important for the believer to do, it has nothing to do with our salvation. After King David’s young son died, David realized that he was with the Lord in Heaven. He said in 2 Samuel 12:23, “But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” David knew that when he died, he would go to the same place as his son, and he would see him again.
Let’s look at a few verses that tell us how we can be saved and go to Heaven.
- Romans 10:9 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
- Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
- Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Notice that none of these verses mentions baptism. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:14, “I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius.” Surely, if baptism was necessary for salvation, Paul would have wanted to baptize everyone he could. (176.9)