729. Now, people who die as children and teenagers and do not reach the age at which they could come forward worthily to take the Holy Supper are made a part of heaven by the Lord through their baptism instead. The chapter on baptism has shown that baptism brings people into the Christian church and at the same time brings them into the company of Christians in the spiritual world [677-680]. In that world, the church and heaven are one. Therefore making these young ones a part of the church is also making them a part of heaven. Because they are raised under the Lord's supervision, they are regenerated more and more and become his children; they do not recognize anyone else as their parent.

As for children and teenagers who were born outside the Christian church, once they develop faith in the Lord, they are made part of the heaven that is designated for their religion, but they come there through a different means than baptism. They do not mix with people who are in the Christian heaven.

There is no such thing as a race of people anywhere on the entire planet who cannot be saved if they acknowledge God and live good lives. The Lord redeems all such people. We are all born spiritual by nature and therefore we all have a capacity for receiving the gift of redemption.

People who accept the Lord, that is, who have faith in him and do not practice evil in their lives, are called "children of God" and "those born of God" (John 1:12-13; 11:52). They are also called "children of the kingdom" (Matthew 13:38) and "heirs" (Matthew 19:29; 25:34). The Lord's disciples are also called "children" (John 13:33), and so are all the angels (Job 1:6; 2:1).

684. The Third Function of Baptism, and Its Ultimate Purpose, Is to Lead Us to Be Regenerated

This function is the ultimate reason why baptism exists; this is its goal. For one thing, true Christians know and acknowledge the Lord the Redeemer Jesus Christ, who, because he is the Redeemer, is also the Regenerator. (For the point that redemption and regeneration amount to the same thing, see under the third heading in the chapter on reformation and regeneration [579].)

For another thing, Christians have the Word. In it the means of being regenerated are set forth and described; those means are faith in the Lord and goodwill toward our neighbor.

This is the same as the point made about the Lord that "He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8-11; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). The Holy Spirit here means divine truth that is related to faith; the fire means divine goodness that is related to love and goodwill. Both emanate from the Lord. (For more on the point that the Holy Spirit means divine truth that is related to faith, see the chapter on the Holy Spirit [139-140]. For more on the point that fire means divine goodness that is related to love, see Revelation Unveiled 395, 468.) It is through these two things that the Lord carries out the entire process of regenerating us.

The Lord himself was baptized by John (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9; Luke 3:21-22) not only so as to institute baptism for the future and set the example, but also because he glorified his human nature and made it divine in the same way that he regenerates us and makes us spiritual.