The Salvation of Infants

As kind of a piggy back to this post, Article of Faith #2 can offer the world a whole lot of peace. 

I think specifically of mothers of babies who die in infancy, before the chance to have them baptized; mothers, and fathers, who think that their baby is lost and will never be in heaven, but instead in a dark and dreary state of limbo. I can’t imagine being a mother of an infant and thinking that this was the fate of my child.

We know from this Article of Faith that we are punished for our own sins and NOT for Adam’s transgressions. This means that babies aren’t born with “original sin” tarnishing their perfect beings. 

Babies who die in infancy are automatically with their God.

What an amazing doctrine to learn if you have never known this before. Jesus Christ Atoned for our sins. 

For all of our sins, everyone. 

This gives us the peace of knowing that we only bear the burden of our own sins.

Punished for Our Own Sins

Article of Faith #2: We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

While reading these scriptures through the lens of the second Article of Faith, some things really hit me differently.

Normally this passage in Nephi amazes me that a prophet of God would think himself a “wretched man.” This time I felt the words he spoke sounded like deeply fervent prayer. It seemed to me as though he was pleading with the Lord to save him from his weaknesses and praising Him for all the goodness He has bestowed upon him.

Keeping the commandments was the thing that stood out to me in Moses. Adam and Eve had been kicked out of the Garden but still looked to the Lord for guidance. When they received commandments, they obeyed and taught their children.

Something was also cleared up for me regarding the offerings of Cain and Abel. Cain was a gardener. Abel kept sheep. Cain gave the Lord some of what he produced with his labors. So did Abel. I always wondered why the Lord was so unhappy with Cain’s gift. Then it hit me. It wasn’t because he didn’t like the gift. It was because what they were giving the Lord was the “offering” of worship. God had commanded them to “offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord” for their worship. God was unhappy with Cain because he basically made a mockery of a sacred ritual.

Because we are going to be punished for our own sins, we need to do as Nephi and look to the Lord and pray fervently. We also need to do as Adam and Eve and obey the commandments.

References:

2 Nephi 4:16-35

Moses 5:1-27