What happens to babies and children who die? Is there an age of accountability?
Scripture gives strong reason to believe children who die before they can understand and reject the gospel are received by God's grace. David said of his dead infant, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (2 Sam 12:23), expecting to see him again.
What the text states
The phrase "age of accountability" is not in the Bible, but the principle is drawn from it. David, a man of faith, expected to be reunited with his infant son (2 Sam 12:23). God speaks of little children who "had no knowledge between good and evil" (Deut 1:39), and Jesus said "of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 19:14). Salvation is always by God's grace through Christ's finished work, and there is every reason to trust that grace covers those who die before they can knowingly believe or reject. The God who is perfectly just and rich in mercy can be trusted with them completely.
Views differ on the mechanism, but the pastoral confidence, that God receives such children, is widely and rightly held. We hold it on David's expectation and God's revealed character.
Go deeper
Checked 2026-09-29 by Darren. 62 Scripture citations verified against the KJV rows. Wave 5. 62 quoted fragments table-passed against the verses table, splitting at every ellipsis. FOUR CORRECTIONS, each to the KJV row: Acts 4:12 "in none other" is not contiguous, replaced with "none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved"; Deut 1:39 "have no knowledge" corrected to "had no knowledge"; Eph 3:2 "dispensation of grace" corrected to "dispensation of the grace of God"; Rom 11:23 "shall be graffed in again" corrected to "shall be graffed in" (the KJV runs "shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again").