If a baby dies before she is born, will she go to Heaven?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Losing a baby is a difficult thing. I cannot begin to imagine the first thing that a grieving parent goes through. Words cannot express the hurt and the pain that is felt after the joy of the news, the dreaming of what life will be like. And then the words no parent wants to hear the doctor say, “I am sorry. I cannot hear a heartbeat.” All hopes for a bright future with a bundle of joy end in tragedy.

The loss of the life on an unborn child is reflective of the sad sinful state we find ourselves in. It is so unfair that a child so seemingly innocent can suffer so much by sin. The baby didn’t have a chance to cry, to take her first step, much less to see the faces of her loving mother and father.

But where does the soul of an unborn baby go? Can she go to Heaven? Can she be where God our heavenly Father is?

On her own, no. Just like you and me, a baby is by nature sinful and unclean. By that nature, it means she, like us, faces God’s judgement. We deserve God’s present and eternal punishment.

So where do we turn to find help? Where do we turn for hope?

In comes Jesus.

God so loved the world…that includes all the unborn babies…that he gave his only begotten Son. Jesus came into this world to take our place in the punishment. That’s why Jesus willingly died on the cross. That’s why God the Father raised Jesus from the dead.

Scripture declares that the only way for anyone can get to Heaven is through Jesus. Jesus even says that he is the only way, truth, and life and that no one can go be with the Father except through him.

Through Jesus, God our heavenly Father gives us freely the forgiveness of sin, resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting.

Can a baby go to heaven? Yes, because of Jesus and the gift God so freely gives through him.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8