What can we do to strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters in Christ? What happens to infants when they die? Join Ken Boa as he addresses these questions and more in a Q&A session.
What can we do to help prevent our brothers and sisters in Christ from stumbling?
Looking at Paul gives us a good example. In his ministry, he preached both to Jews and Gentiles. These groups of people had entirely different ways of living. The Jews, after all, adhered to the Mosaic Law, but the Gentiles did not. As a result, the early church faced a problem when more Gentiles believed in Jesus—they had to decide whether or not the Gentiles had to keep the entire Mosaic Law.
Acts 15:20 tells us the decision of the church: the Gentiles were to “abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood,” but did not need to adhere to the entire Mosaic Law.
The question of idols here is not strictly related to a moral issue; it is a matter of convictions. Eating food sacrificed to idols fall under the category of adiaphora—a matter of convictions not strictly laid out in Christian doctrine. In these matters, we need to consider the convictions of our fellow believers.
What happens to infants who die in infancy?
God never holds us accountable for light we have not received, but He does hold us accountable for light we have received.
Consider the story of David in 2 Samuel 12:15–23, which tells us of the death of the child born to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. He mourns and fasts as he prays that God spares the life of his child, but when the child dies, he gets up and eats, saying, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (v. 23).
I believe, then, that those who die before the age of accountability will be in heaven. This is not something we can know for sure while on this earth, but we can know that everyone is in the hands of the living God.
In all things, as we wrestle with difficult questions, we need to remember to trust in the Father, abide in the Son, and walk by the Spirit.
Ken will resume his series A Life of Wisdom next week. For more Q&A sessions, take a look at the archives.
