[cheekopekman]

Some parents who have lost a young child through illness or accident wanted to know whether their kid would go into the presence of the Lord. The question can be expanded to include adults who were mentally challenged and hence were 'childlike' when they died.

Anyone with an ounce of compassion would want to comfort them. Beyond our desire to offer consoling words, is there any biblical reason to think that children who died before they were old enough to exercise faith in Christ are saved?

Well, I think kids are the least of our worries since they occupy a special place in God's heart. I believe children are saved in the same way people are saved today; by God's grace. A child who isn't able to exercise faith is no problem because no one is saved 'by faith.' Instead we're saved 'by grace .. through faith.' God's gracious act of sending Christ to die for our sins is the basis for our salvation, and faith is simply the means by which we access that salvation. We can comfort themselves with the thought that God is a merciful God who will do the right thing.

It's grown-ups who are a cause for worry. The Bible says unbelievers are 'without excuse' because of their conscious choice to reject God's truth:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom 1:18,20)

You're right lah, bro!  But the Bible is very clear that we are all born sinners, sinners at birth lah! Children are innocent and won't know what is right or wrong but that doesn't mean they're not sinners lah! How God deals with them is God's responsibility lah! But we need to teach a child the way of the LORD so that he will not go astray lah! In the Bible, we read about children sacrificed to the fire, literally thrown into fire to die lah!