Does Human Life Begin At First Breath?

When King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, it resulted in pregnancy, and the Lord sent the Prophet Nathan to tell David that, because of his sin, He would take the child in death. David responded by grieving and praying for the child. But once the child died, David's mourning ended. David's servants were surprised to hear this, and He said to them,

"While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." (2 Samuel 12:22-23 NIV).

The words of David indicate that infants who die are safe in the Lord. God can apply the 'sacrificial" payment of Jesus to young children and others incapable of repenting of their sins and receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior because He is eternally good, right, loving, holy, merciful, just, and gracious (Matthew 19:14).

The age of reason/accountability is considered 13 years old in Jewish tradition when a child is regarded as an adult. However, the Bible does not explicitly address that because the age at which a child can distinguish between right and wrong varies. Science has determined that logic, rationality, and moral conscience of knowing good or bad, right and wrong, begin at around six years old when they become more autonomous and make their own decisions to play by the rules and draw their conclusions. A baby/infant cannot make an informed decision to repent of their sin and knowingly choose Jesus as their Lord and Savior (Romans 2:12).

"God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past" (Romans 3:25 NLT)

The Bible is very clear that salvation is by grace through the faith of Jesus and not by any work that could ever be done or through any ritual, and a person becomes eternally justified when they repent of their sins and receive Him as their Lord and Savior (James 2:24; John 3:36; Galatians 2:16, 3:1-29; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 3:22-24,28,4:1-25,5:1; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 2:8-9). If it weren't for the grace of God, human beings would have to earn salvation, which no one can do. God's justice and mercy are active even for those unaware of Jesus.

Jesus said that after death, the unrighteous are eternally separated from God, and their condition cannot be changed (Luke 16:19-31). The Bible teaches that the eternal state of mankind is determined by our actions during our lives on earth (Ezekiel 18:20). Every human being is "destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

The Bible tells us that those who have repented of their sin and received Jesus as their Lord and Savior will enter directly, and immediately, into the presence of God after death (Hebrews 5:8-9; Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:6,8). No verse in the Bible says a Christian can or should pray for those in the grave because their eternal destiny is confirmed at the moment of death, and their spiritual condition cannot be changed. Death is final, and no amount of praying will bring salvation to a person who rejected Jesus during their life.