Do babies go to heaven? What happens to babies and kids when they die?
"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them'" (Matthew 19:14).
"God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life" (John 3:16).
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).
We believe that babies and very young children go to heaven when they die.When King David was king over Israel, his little baby was struck with a serious illness. The baby died when he was only one week old. David was so very sad, but he had hope. He said, "Someday I’ll go to him. But he won’t return to me" (2 Samuel 12:23).
When King David’s baby died, David’s hope was in his faithful God that one day he would be with that baby in heaven. And this is our hope today. Babies who die are in God's hands, and so are very young children. It’s very sad when a baby or young child dies, but we believe God will bring them to heaven the moment they die.
As for older kids, they also go to heaven if they believe God loves them with an everlasting love and accept that they are sinners (sin being anything we think, say, or do that breaks God's laws) worthy of punishment. Kids can understand that God loves them so much that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to take their punishment, and that Jesus was buried and rose again the third day. Kids can receive God’s free offer of salvation by faith.
If a child dies before he or she is old enough to understand these things, that child will go to heaven. But older children who are able to understand need to believe on Jesus in order to go to heaven (read more about that here).
No matter what, trusting that our Savior is good and will do what’s best is what faith is all about. If you already believe in Jesus, you have the important job of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation to your family and friends.
