Assurance And Babies

After our discussion I got to thinking yesterday about my comment on how confusing it is for scripture to present what appears to be two different views on salivation (assurance vs. loosing, once saved always saved vs. loosing, free-will vs. chosen, etc.) How can scripture that was penned under the influence of the Holy Spirit, God's direct revelation to us, have an apparent contradiction when it comes to salvation?

Further, we discussed the whole question of if babies are saved or if people who don't hear about Christ while they live on earth are saved. These are good questions and in some cases require us to go beyond scripture. Buddy pointed to apostolic tradition as part of the body of knowledge when we go to scripture for answers. Who knows, maybe one of the apostles under the influence of the Holy Spirit has answered these questions for us. I would not be surprised to go to some early church writing and find that a definitive age has been stated in the church for when we are accountable for our sin… but then I would not be surprised to find another writing that argued differently.

I asked the question about baby salvation to my Mormon friend and was surprised at his response. He quoted at least 8 different versus within Mormon scripture (not the bible) that totally cleared this up. It gave the age of accountability, what happens to children before the age, after the age, what our responsibility as believers are, etc. Remember that Mormons believe their scripture is in apostolic tradition so it would jive with Buddy's response to look to early apostolic tradition in so much as the Mormons, like the Catholics, believe in ongoing revelation that is to be considered the same body of knowledge that scripture falls in. I commented to Aaron how useful and helpful it would be to have a unified Christian church (like the Mormons) where if we had a question such as this, we had clear revealed scripture that totally cleared it up for us. Remember, the Mormons believe that the prophet can petition God for revealed truth and add it to the canon of scripture.

Ok, enough on how I am somewhat envious of my Mormon friend and his security in Mormon doctrine answering a whole lot of the questions we ask daily of each other. What I want to ask you guys is where the Spirit of Truth is in our discussions and questions? Have we become so formulaic in our thinking that we have pushed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit from our toolbox? Does the scripture not clearly state that God expects us to seek truth, to ask and it will be revealed, that the Spirit will guide us into all understanding and Truth? If so, why are we not praying and seeking the Truth revealed by the Holy Spirit when we have questions like this? Is it fair to say, "God, thinking through salvation for babies is causing more questions than answers. I studied your word and it does not list our a specific verse that helps clear up what happens to babies when they die. Father, I ask you to reveal to me the truth of your word, what is your perfect plan for a child who dies? Give me the truth that I can share with those who have asked me this question. Confirm if you want it to remain a mystery that I will never know."

I must admit, I don't pray this way. I don't even give the Spirit the opportunity to work through my prayer life because I never ask for Him to reveal truth to me when I am confused on scripture passages. One fear is if I am petitioning the Spirit as part of a group, what if we all get different revelations? Do we question God? Do we question the way we pray? Do we start to doubt? Seeking the Spirit seems so subjective, how can we make it more real, more objective perhaps?

- Justified Justin