Age of Accountability

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Permalink Reply by Grazer #E2H on September 24, 2013 at 6:42am

This would mean that if you have a genius for a child who by a very young age understood all this, but then died before they gave their life to Christ, or had rejected God, he would end up being judged as a non-believer and, according to some theologies, would now be burning in hell for all eternity.

Have I understood your post correctly?

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Permalink Reply by Seek on September 24, 2013 at 6:49am

I think it would fall under Isaiah 7:16: before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.   Do they know how to?  Some may be genius in math, spelling, etc., but are they "mature" in knowledge of good and evil?  If the answer is yes, and if they KNOW good from evil and choose evil, then the answer to your question would also be yes from what I'm reading.

My son is a genius.  He is in 2nd grade and reading and doing math at about a 4th or 5th grade level.  Yet he is immature in his mind socially/mentally by Aspergers.  Being a genius doesn't give him knowledge of good and evil. 

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Permalink Reply by Grazer #E2H on September 24, 2013 at 7:19am

Yeah, I was more referring to knowing difference between good & evil from a very young age as opposed to academically genius

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Permalink Reply by Colby on September 24, 2013 at 6:33pm

        Great topic! I've come across the phrase "age of accountability" before in connection with the inter-denominational debate over infant versus "believer's" baptism.  I won't go there because it's not on topic.   If you don't mind, though, I'd like break down your question into several parts.  (If I'm veering off-topic, I'll gladly take this post down).  What happens to the eternal destiny of:

1. Infants or children who die before they have sufficient mental/intellectual faculty to know and "accept" Christ and/or the ability to discern between good and evil?
2. Persons who die (or have died) without hearing the gospel?
3. Persons who "lose" their faith because once having "accepted" and known Christ, they die with dementia or Alzheimer's?
4. Persons that lived under the Old Covenant, such as Abraham and David--were they justified and saved by means other than grace through faith in Jesus Christ?  If so, does that open up a possible exception for people living since the time of Jesus to be saved by some other means, too?

        We are saved by grace through faith in Christ only--no ifs, ands, or buts.  I believe most Christians will agree that this is a main and plain doctrine (i.e., the "salvation formula") clearly presented in the Bible. 

        I won't attempt to answer each of the situations presented above, other than to say that which I can state with certainty.  Again, according to the Bible, salvation comes only through Christ--no ifs, ands or buts.  But just how does that work, and what do I mean by that?  

         The Bible is clear that all of us have sinned, all of us fall short of God's standard, which is why we desperately need Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Salvation is entirely God's work, which we do nothing to earn, and saving faith always comes to us from the Holy Spirit.  Typically, it results from hearing the gospel and reading God's Word.  In this light, I acknowledge that God is fully capable of bringing saving faith and grace to anyone, at any age, in any place or condition, without limitation.

• The Bible gives us solemn assurance that God is perfect and that he is just, compassionate, merciful, loving, and fair. "The Lord is compassionate and gracious,  slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him" (Ps103:8-11, NIV).

         As for an "age of accountability" (for baptism? for salvation?) or "accountability factor" (an exception to the grace-only, Christ-only salvation formula?), I'm not sure I correctly understand what they mean in the original post, or if they are the same thing. 

         So here's my take on "accountability."  Each of us (saved and unsaved alike) will have to give a full accounting of our lives before God:  "For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat" (Romans 14:10-13 (NIV)."  But, let's be clear about what this means and doesn't mean: "The judgment seat of Christ does not determine salvation; that was determined by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him (John 3:16). All of our sins are forgiven, and we will never be condemned for them (Romans 8:1)" [Read more at GotQuestions].

        God's promises as recorded in the Holy Scriptures and the measure of faith he has given me are sufficient for me.  There are many things about God that the Bible does not reveal.  However, God's Word does reveal what we need to know about his plan of salvation.  Beyond what the Bible explicitly states, I am uncomfortable going off on tangents of subjective speculation, superimposing my own standards or notions on God.  The Bible assures us that God will do what is right and just, in keeping with his perfect nature and divine attributes.

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Permalink Reply by Seek on September 25, 2013 at 6:30am

Infants or children who die before they have sufficient mental/intellectual faculty to know and "accept" Christ and/or the ability to discern between good and evil?

Well according to those scriptures I found, it appears those are the ones scripture is speaking of that God loves and who aren't yet capable of knowing right from wrong.

Persons who die (or have died) without hearing the gospel?

I think this one falls in line with those who know right from wrong.  Hearing the gospel or not, if one WANTS to do what is right, there is scripture that states we can see God's work all around us.  Therefore, we know deep down there is a God and we want to seek Him out, and will therefore learn about the gospel. 

Persons who "lose" their faith because once having "accepted" and known Christ, they die with dementia or Alzheimer's?

Did they lose their faith or their mind?  They had faith, they didn't lose that.  They just forgot.  LOL  Sorry.

Persons that lived under the Old Covenant, such as Abraham and David--were they justified and saved by means other than grace through faith in Jesus Christ?  If so, does that open up a possible exception for people living since the time of Jesus to be saved by some other means, too?

I believe that simply shows that there are circumstances...God weighs the heart.  That's why I wonder about "context" issues.  There's scripture saying Christ is the only way, yet scripture talking of those who were accredited righteousness before Christ, and still scripture talking of those who have yet to learn good from evil possessing the land/kingdom.  Taken altogether, I believe scripture is covering various aspects that we'll never be able to completely grasp.  But God realizes there are so many variations between people that He's provided scripture to cover all our needs.  And in this context, I believe there is something about accountability because of the passages about knowing good from evil and about children in particular, which then goes into when you DO know good from evil, you must choose good, and thereby choosing good, seek out the gospel and turn to Christ.  A step process, kinda like the step process of God changing us.  I believe we do all have to accept Christ, BUT....I believe we also have to reach an age where we're mentally capable of understanding what that means.  Because God IS fair and just, He understands the inability of those without the capability of understanding better than we do and He judges based on the heart as scripture says. 

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Permalink Reply by Colby on September 25, 2013 at 4:11pm

Thank you for the detailed point-by-point response each of the four scenarios I presented. You put a lot of thought into your original post and your response to my comments, which is much appreciated. I hope others will join the discussion, too. 

What is the concept of "age of accountability?" GotQuestions provides this explanation.

• The concept of the "age of accountability" is that children are not held accountable by God for their sins until they reach a certain age, and that if a child dies before reaching the "age of accountability,' that child will, by the grace and mercy of God, be granted entrance into Heaven."

What happens to infants and children when they die?

With regard to this, the first scenario I presented, it appears that most of the evangelical Christian community is convinced that they automatically go to heaven.  

Evangelist and author Randy Alcorn, however, stands out as something of an exception.

• "The teaching of infant salvation, which I tend to believe is correct," he writes, is problematic.
• "Bottom line," he concludes, "I believe that babies who die go to Heaven. But even as I say that, I realize it’s a big stretch and I cannot prove it scripturally." 

1. "Scripture makes no reference to an age of accountability, nor does it even seem to imply one. (It is an assumption based on the premise that children are born saved and the attempt to then explain how and when they could become lost.)
   
   
2. The teaching of Scripture is that we are conceived sinners (Psalm 51:5), born sinners (Psalm 58:3), and to be a sinner is to be lost and unqualified to enter Heaven.
   
   
3. Logically and biblically, you would then expect a child to remain lost until he becomes saved, wouldn’t you? But infant salvation seems to require that we believe children are conceived saved and stay saved until they reach a certain age, at which point they become lost. Where does Scripture teach any such thing?
   
   
4. A logical case can be made that if God allows some people to go to hell without ever hearing the gospel, why would it be any more unjust to let babies go to hell without ever being old enough to hear the gospel?
   
   
5. How can a child be born again without consciously choosing Christ?
   
   
6. My belief is that while an age of accountability is not a biblical teaching (it’s abiblical, not necessarily unbiblical), what is clearly biblical is God’s special love for children."
   
   

Source: [ Randy Alcorn, EPM: Do infants go to heaven when they die? ]

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Permalink Reply by Seek on September 26, 2013 at 6:43am

Yeah it's people like Randy Alcorn that had me asking this.  He says there's nothing in scripture implying an age of accountability, and yet from what I'm reading of being able to KNOW right from wrong/good from evil, there is.

James 4:17 - So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

That also speaks to #2.  We're born sinners, but is a child sinning by not "knowing" the right thing to do and failing to do it?

I also don't believe the topic of infant salvation to be problematic because of  Deuteronomy 1:39 and Matthew 19:14.  Matthew especially, as it says children belong to heaven.

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