If you believe a baby, toddler or young child can be born again, I truly have no words for you.
Reformed theologians (Calvinists) have provided some of the best arguments for their understanding of infant/baby salvation. However in a desire to make their doctrine of infant salvation cohere with their overarching theological agenda, they have damned every infant on the planet.
How?
Their doctrine of sin and system of salvation have barred babies from God’s grace.
Why?
Original sin!
All human babies are born into a fallen society, family and also are born with a human sin nature, or psyche that is already guilty of Adamic sin and, therefore, humans cannot do much else but sin. Its their fallen Adamic nature.
When Adam sinned in his perfect state in the Garden of Eden he acquired a sin nature that was transferred to all the human race.
Every human is born with the guilt of Adam’s sin. Just like if you were found guilty in a court of law.
However salvation from a sin nature requires faith in Gods Salvation plan as revealed by the Gospels and Epistles.
Now if faith is required for salvation how are infants justified before God if they are born in guilt and cannot exercise saving faith?
With adults only a select group will be saved—they are the elect of God. Therefore the same with infants?
In this instance, every infant who dies is of the elect of God.
So infants are selected for salvation and heaven. Automatically.
Why? Because as elected by God, they were regenerated before dying and also actually had not yet committed any sin.
However it can also be seen this way.
a) Infants
cannot exercise faith in Jesus Christ.
b) Therefore, infants
do not exercise faith in Jesus Christ.
c) Therefore, infants are rejected by God.
they have damned every infant on the planet.
When is an infant no longer one?
Is a five year-old capable of cognitively understanding and accepting Jesus for purposes of being born again?
Very much doubt full. Ten? Twelve? Fifteen? Seventeen and a half? Twenty? Twenty five?
Its a known fact that the human healthy mind mostly only matures by the age of twenty five.
And some even much later. Growing into an adult is a gradual process: one that is different for every individual. Plus many adults still have mental faculties of infants in thier fourties and fifties and sixties and seventies and eighties,