He will be considered an apostate

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III




Some ask: What happens if the little child refuses the faith when he grows up?

He will be considered an apostate. He may refuse the grace he received in baptism by his own free will. We had done our duty towards him and the matter is left to him. He will be like a person who, after having begun in the Spirit, is now trying to be made perfect by the flesh (Gal.3: 3).
Probably the little children who are baptised and live in the Church, tasting all the means of Grace therein, are less liable to perversion than those who are left without baptism until they grow up.