QFTBOC: ‘Age of Accountability’ :: By Mark A. Becker

Published on: by RR7 Category:General Articles

 

Introduction

One of the things I really enjoy doing with the ministry the Lord has blessed me with is answering questions of believers and unbelievers alike. The questions people have never cease to amaze me; most I have never even considered myself.

This QFTBOC (Questions from the Body of Christ) series are articles from these questions I have received and will be in a question and response format.

If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.

If I end up using your question, and you would like to have your name and/or place of residence listed on the question in the article, please specify with your submitted question; otherwise, if I use your question, it will be listed as “Anonymous.”

Regardless, I will make every attempt to answer every person’s question(s) in a response to the emails I receive. Depending on volume, it may be a little while until you hear back from me, but my intention is to respond to all inquiries.

Other articles in this series are:

Question

(Representative of others)

Hi Mark,

Is there anything in the scriptures defining the “age of accountability”? The Jews who rejected the good report from Joshua and Caleb concerning going into the promised land from 20 years and up were disqualified by God from ever entering the land. Do you believe that 20 years is the age of accountability, or is it different for everyone based on their mental capacity to believe?

Thank you,

Jim in Illinois

Response

Thank you, Jim, for your excellent question – one I have received from others.

I’d like to begin by offering my personal observations on this subject and suggest some possibilities of where this idea may have sprung from. We’ll conclude by asking some very real and profound questions.

The idea of an ‘Age of Accountability’ is a rather strange notion to me. When I consider where this idea may have originated from, the proposed possibility of the Israelites going into the promised land is a very real likelihood.

The Israeli Generation Banned from the Promised Land

My first observation is that it wasn’t that the next generation didn’t have the wherewithal to understand what the older generation did – in lacking the courage and trusting the Lord to deliver their enemies into their hands – it was that the older generation was responsible for their own unbelief. The leaders of Israel were withheld from going into the promised land, with the next generation being the people who would do so.

Even though we are dealing with “generations” and not the idea of an ‘Age of Accountability,’ per se, it does appear that this is one instance where this idea may have originated.

It should be noted that for the Jewish people, based on just this situation (Numbers 14:26-35), the age of 20 is known to them as “the age of moral responsibility.” This is probably a root of the so-called ‘Age of Accountability’ notion.

The Bar Mitzvah and the Bat Mitzvah

Another possibility for this idea of an ‘Age of Accountability’ is the Jewish bar mitzvah for 13-year-old boys and the bat mitzvah for 12-year-old girls – known as “the age of majority” and “the age of physical maturity.”

It should be noted that this does not denote sudden “adulthood” for either the 12-year-old girl or the 13-year-old boy, only that the process has begun, each having some adulthood responsibilities and, yet, still recognized as a child.

David’s Confession of His Dead Son

Additionally, the remarks of David concerning the death of his and Bathsheba’s son, who was conceived in adultery, has probably played a role in this idea of an ‘Age of Accountability’ with the death of an infant evidently guaranteeing their salvation.

“But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23).

A Moral Dilemma?

Now, I have no Scriptural reason not to accept that an infant or young child, or even a youth, will most likely be in the presence of the Lord if they were to die at that age. For me, personally, I always go to the fact that God is a righteous judge and will judge righteously, independent of what I consider righteousness to be – God is righteousness. But the dilemma that one faces with this thought process is the reaction of the world when we speak of this issue in this way.

The unsaved person, upon hearing this, would inevitably say, “See! I actually did my child a favor when I had an abortion!” While we recognize the faulty thinking of such a statement, it’s a rather daunting task in trying to explain to them where they are going wrong when we just got done saying that all infants are saved upon death – no matter how true of a statement it may be.

So, saint, I urge you to be wise when discussing this subject with unbelievers.

Problems With the ‘Age of Accountability’

But here’s the first problem with all of this: As noted, everyone matures at different times, and then you have to consider those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Just these facts alone show us that there can’t be a set ‘Age of Accountability’ and would therefore render the idea null and void.

Yet, there’s even more for us to consider on this topic, and that is God’s omniscience.

For example, before I gave my life to Christ at the age of 16, I was first a self-professing atheist, then I graduated into experimenting with the occult, Satanism, and the New Age. If I would have died before I gave my life to Christ, would I have been condemned? God, in His omniscience, would know that if I had lived longer, I would have accepted His free gift of salvation. Wouldn’t that mean that even though I would have rejected Him when I had died, I would have been – had I lived longer – saved?

The same applies to my wife. She didn’t accept Christ until she was in her 30s.

So, do you see the rub here? The scenario could also be reversed.

Let’s say that someone in their 30s, who is a self-professing Christian, dies. But God, in His omniscience, knows that had that person lived longer, they would have publicly rejected the salvation they once professed – being, obviously, a false convert – and would, in reality, be unsaved. Just the fact that the person was a false convert before they died – something other people can’t or couldn’t see – would render this person unsaved.

And what about the infamous Adolf Hitler. If Hitler had died as a child, would he have been saved and ushered into heaven? Wouldn’t God, in His sovereignty and foreknowledge of knowing what Hitler would have become had he lived, disqualify him from salvation as a child who died young?

I honestly really don’t know. Does anyone? But thankfully, we know the One who does know!

Christ and the Little Children

Some may mistake the following passage as teaching that children are saved:

“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:2-3).

The first item that must be pointed out is that the context of Christ’s teaching is that He is responding to a question from His disciples.

“At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1).

The disciples’ question had an element of pride, and this is why Jesus called a little child “and set him in the midst of them.” What was Messiah’s response?

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).

One chapter later, we have another account of little children to look at as well.

“Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence” (Matthew 19:13-15). (emphasis mine)

When the Lord said of the little children, “… for of such is the kingdom of heaven,” did He mean that all children who die young will be in the kingdom? Maybe. But I suggest that there’s more to it than that.

The key to the passage is Christ’s statement, “… forbid them not, to come unto me.” These are those “of such is the kingdom of heaven” – those that come to Jesus!

The real lesson, I believe, is that little children so often come to Christ when presented with the gospel in a clear and simple way. After all, the gospel is simple: We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior.

Children instinctively know they do bad things and understand that there is good and evil, that there is a right and a wrong, and that they often choose to do wrong. As parents and grandparents, we should all honestly acknowledge that children are quite aware of their shortcomings – especially when they get caught! Very soon after a child learns to say “Mommy” and “Daddy,” one of the next words out of their mouth is, “Mine!”

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right” (Proverbs 20:11).

When children hear the gospel, they don’t hear the good news as skeptics like many adults do. Children are the most receptive to the gospel because they haven’t been influenced by the world and the world system, and haven’t developed a hardened heart through the trials and difficulties of life as so many adults have. Children often readily admit the sin that is in them, something an adult has difficulty with in their pride. This is why children often eagerly accept the gospel.

We see this same thought of these little ones coming to Christ – as we go back to Matthew 18 – when Jesus said:

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea…. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:6, 10). (emphasis mine)

This is another reason that adults should come to Christ as little children. They not only need humility, they need to see their shortcomings, sins, and wickedness for what they are – an offense to a holy Creator.

A child is not self-sufficient and entirely dependent on others, thus, has a much easier time admitting their need for salvation. Christ wants adults to come to Him with a child’s heart, not rest in their perceived self-sufficiency, and put their faith and trust in Him.

But in all of this, we still don’t see Scriptural evidence of children being automatically saved. This seems to point to an “only God knows” situation.

What About the Rapture?

I’ve heard it said that many believe that children will be raptured when the event occurs. While I don’t necessarily doubt this possibility – and we seem to lack any Scriptural support for this claim – I would have to ask: What’s the cut-off age?

This would seem to be another reason why the church is fixated on the so-called ‘Age of Accountability’ – yet we just don’t know for sure whether this will be the case or not.

We do know, though, that children will be born in the Tribulation, for our Lord Himself said, concerning the Abomination of Desolation:

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!” (Matthew 24:15-19). (emphasis mine)

The logical question for me would be: If children are to be born in the Tribulation, why wouldn’t the Lord leave the children behind at the rapture of the church to also go through the Tribulation? Honestly, I don’t know. Do you? Does anybody?

Conclusion

Thank you to Jim and the many others who have written to me on this profound and elusive subject matter.

This has been one of those unique articles where I think we have developed many unanswered new questions in our attempt to answer the original question put forth.

All of this, as so much of life truly is, is really all about God’s omniscience.

This is the bottom line of what I think we can infer from this exercise:

  1. The idea of an ‘Age of Accountability’ appears to be just a man-made notion and has no Scriptural support.
  2. Only God knows if someone is truly saved while they are alive and, therefore, only He can know if someone is truly saved if they die an “untimely death.” (For more on this subject, please see QFTBOC: Can We Know Another’s Salvation?)
  3. We have to let God be God in this and other matters that are too far beyond what we can know and comprehend.

One truth that I have learned in my walk with the Lord is that it’s so much easier today for me to let God be God than it was for me when I was a babe in Christ. When we first come to the Lord, we seem to demand answers to all of our questions and find ourselves, at times, disgruntled and disillusioned when we can’t find them.

Oftentimes, when I just let go and let God be God, this can be found to be a relief to my mind; for truly there are many things that are just too wonderful for me when I consider the countless mysteries of God.

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” (Psalm 139:6).

“Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me” (Psalm 131:1).

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

➢ Email: mab10666@yahoo.com

➢ If you have not given your life to Jesus Christ and are seeking answers about God, Jesus Christ, the gospel, and salvation, please email me at mab10666@yahoo.com for information.

➢ I am still taking questions for the Questions from the Body of Christ series. If you or someone you know has a question pertaining to the Word of God – theology, difficult passages, eschatology, etc. – I would really like to hear from you.

➢ A listing of past articles may be found at my Article Listings on Rapture Ready or my Home Page on FaithWriters.

Warning! Warning! Warning! :: By Alice Childs

Published on: by RR7 Category:Alice Johnson Childs, General Articles

 

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

“For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

“But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:1-13). (All scripture KJV)

Folks, it’s all converging:

  • increasingly more devastating earthquake activity
  • unprecedented and escalating volcanic eruptions
  • abnormal weather patterns, global drought
  • worldwide famine
  • more virulent pandemics of both known and unknown diseases
  • round the clock total surveillance of every person on earth
  • Orwellian tracking of every individual
  • loss of all personal freedoms, personal property, and all civil liberties
  • increased violence, breakdown of law and order
  • corruption of all justice, greater ethnic uprisings
  • so-called “alien” disclosure and “contact”
  • even nuclear conflict

It’s all coming, and it’s all converging right now in real time. The next prophetic event to occur will be the sudden snatching away of the Remnant Church “when the impossible to believe becomes impossible to ignore.”

We must keep sounding the alarm. We must keep warning everyone we can, whether they heed our warnings or not, that they’d better wake up and come to a belief in Jesus Christ alone for salvation right now because Jesus is about to step out into the atmospheric heavens and shout for His bride to “Come up hither!” The Remnant Church is about to go extraterrestrial, and the very denizens of Hell are coming to earth. The Tribulation is almost upon the “earth dwellers.” God help them then.

I’m going to keep posting this until Jesus comes to get us. Folks, if you can’t see by now with everything that is going on just how close we are to the rapture of the Remnant Church and to the horrors of the coming Tribulation, then I don’t know what it will take to wake some of you up. You can’t save yourself or keep yourself saved by any effort of your own.

If you are following a false teacher who preaches a false gospel that is anything other than the gospel according to the scriptures given below, then you are lost and will find yourself in Hell unless you believe in the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Time is so very quickly running out. I don’t know what else to say or do to bring the truth of this home to you. Here is the inconvenient, unadorned, rock-bottom, inescapable truth: if you die in your sins apart from salvation in Jesus Christ alone and in His finished, paid-in-full death, burial, and bodily resurrection, which is the only gospel that can save anyone, then you will go to an eternal Hell and ultimately in the Lake of Fire where your conscious, sentient, immortal soul will exist forever in everlasting and undiminishing torment.

When Jesus comes to call His Church home to Glory, if you are trusting in your own good deeds or your own self-righteous merits, in some church institution, or in some man or woman, if you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus plus anything else instead of placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone and what He has already done, then you are lost, and you will be left behind to face the most dreadful time humanity will have ever known.

What we are witnessing now will look like a scrap in a kindergarten play yard compared to what is coming. Please, I beg you, admit now that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and that you can do nothing to make yourself right with a holy God by your own efforts or merits, and believe in Jesus Christ alone according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Do it now, I implore you. Our time to warn you is almost up. Once again, let me give you the gospel.

THE GOSPEL OF SALVATION ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES

(1) WHO NEEDS A SAVIOR? EVERYONE! YOU DO!

Why? Because we are all justly condemned sinners in need of a perfect and sinless Savior:

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die [eternally]. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:20).

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

“For the wages, [penalty] of sin is [eternal] death [in the everlasting Lake of Fire]; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“He that believeth on Him [Christ] is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18).

You must understand that you and I, all of humanity, are justly condemned sinners; that we can do nothing to remedy that! You cannot “be” good enough, “do” good enough, or become good enough; nor can you “turn over a new chapter and try again.” None of that is good enough because our own self-righteous works [our own attempts to try to be or to act holy; to try to live a life pleasing before God by our own efforts] are viewed by God as being equivalent to “filthy rags” in the sight of God’s infinite holiness, righteousness and justice.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:20-24).

“For by grace [the unmerited favor of God] are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works [our own efforts or merits] lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“But without faith [sincere belief and trust in Jesus Christ alone] it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He [Jesus Christ] is [God come in human flesh] and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

“And He [Christ] is the propitiation [appeasing – reconciliation by blood – the turning away of wrath by an offering that satisfies the wrath and justice demanded by a holy righteous God] for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:2).

We must first come to terms with the fact that we are all justly condemned sinners who need a sinless and righteous Savior who is both willing and able [qualified] to pay the infinite penalty [the wages] of the debt of sin under which each living soul is conceived and condemned guilty.

We are not sinners because we commit sins; we commit sins because we are sinners. Sin is intrinsic within our very nature.

(2) WHO CAN BE SAVED?

WHOSOEVER IS WILLING TO COME TO CHRIST BY FAITH!

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

“… Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst [spiritual thirst for salvation], let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [eternal salvation]” (John 7:37-38).

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

(3) HOW CAN ONE BE SAVED? – That which MUST BE BELIEVED FOR ONE TO BE SAVED:

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which ye also have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved …. For I delivered unto you that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4).

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish [eternally] but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

(3) HOW DO WE COME TO CHRIST? – ALL ARE DRAWN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, BUT ALL HAVE A CHOICE TO BELIEVE OR REJECT GOD’S FREE OFFER OF SALVATION

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…” (John 6:44).

“Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

(4) WHEN SHOULD I GET SAVED? – IMMEDIATELY! RIGHT NOW

“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, And in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

“For it is appointed unto man once to die; but after this, the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

People, we do not know how long our lives may last. Life is uncertain, but death is sure, and should you die in your sins before you come to Christ in belief for salvation, then it will be for you eternally too late.

(5) CAN I EVER LOSE MY SALVATION ONCE I BECOME SAVED?

NO!!! – not during this Dispensation of Grace – the Church Age. In the Dispensation of Grace – the Church Age, in which we are now living before the rapture occurs, once anyone accepts by faith the gospel, he/she is sealed within by the Holy Spirit of God eternally. **Note that this sealing within each believer is unique to this dispensation. The Church Age, along with the sealing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit inside each believer, will end with the rapture of the Church, which ends this Dispensation of Grace.**

“My Sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish [eternally], neither shall any man [including one’s own self] pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to Me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish [eternally] but have Everlasting [eternal] life” (John 3:16).

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath [present-future tense] everlasting [eternal] life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is [current – future] passed from [eternal] death unto [eternal] life” (John 5:24).

“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22).

“These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1John 5:13).

“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it: until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God whereby you [each and every believer] are sealed unto the Day of Redemption.” – [this “day of redemption” being the resurrection/rapture of the Church when our bodies are redeemed] (Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:23).

Please, I implore you; if you are lost or if you are uncertain of your salvation, make your calling and election sure! Call upon Jesus to save you. (1) Admit or acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. (2) Believe – that is, place your faith and trust in the finished work of Christ – in His atoning death on the cross, His burial and His bodily resurrection according to the scriptures. (3) Call upon Him to save you and to redeem you for His kingdom.

He stands ready, willing, and able to save all who will choose to come to Him by faith. Please, do it now – this very minute – before it is eternally too late. Our time of warning to you is quickly running out.

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