Sanctification cannot occur outside of the choice and capacity1 of the individual. Little children are involuntarily justified through the atonement of Jesus Christ,2 but like everyone else, they cannot be sanctified except through learning3 and choosing to live a greater law.4
If children were sanctified against their will, it would be preferable to die as an infant. The truth is that this life provides a unique opportunity for sanctification,5 which is why the earth was created in the first place.6
While we are forgiven or punished according to what we believe is good, we can only be blessed inasmuch as we have learned and lived up to what is actually good.
Greater knowledge brings greater accountability, but you can’t obtain greater blessings without greater knowledge. Those faithful to a little knowledge receive the blessings of having a little knowledge. Those faithful to a lot of knowledge receive the blessings of having a lot of knowledge.
We are still subject to the temporal consequences of our ignorance, even if we are forgiven of the moral consequences of our ignorance. A baby is subject to the same gravity as an average adult or engineer, and while the adult can better avoid falling off a cliff than the baby, only the engineer will be able to design a plane to fly off of it.
Footnotes
- 1. Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. (D&C 50:40) ↩
- 2. The following scripture contains an understandable but mistaken conflation of justification and sanctification by Joseph Smith: “But little children are holy, being sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ; and this is what the scriptures mean.” (D&C 74:7) A more correct rendering would be: “But little children are innocent, being justified through the atonement of Jesus Christ.” ↩
- 3. For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. (D&C 132:5) ↩
- 4. And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same. (D&C 88:34) ↩
- 5. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come. (D&C 130:19) ↩
- 6. And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. (Abraham 3:24-26) ↩