A Biblical Age Of Accountability?
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What is the eternal destiny of the unborn, the very young, and even the mentally handicapped, and the question of whether the Bible speaks about an age of accountability. Are all human beings centers by nature? Is God truly fair, loving, and just?
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A Biblical Age Of Accountability?
- 1. A Biblical Age Of Accountability? Age Of Accountability, Twenty Years Old, Numbers Chapters 26-28
- 2. BIBLE IN FIVE Pastor Dave Kooyers Valley Bible Fellowship Box 433 Boonville CA 95415 http://www.slideshare.net/dkooyers www.ValleyBibleFellowship.org God bless you as you examine His Word, Your servant in Christ, 2Cor. 4:5 These YouTube presentations are provided "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-15). To help Christians to "to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ." So that "we are no longer...tossed here and there...by every wind of doctrine." They may be downloaded and modified free of charge. Matthew 10:8 …Freely you received, freely give.
- 3. Numbers 26:2, “twenty years old” • NAU Numbers 26:2 "Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' households, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel.“
- 4. The Over Twenty Year Olds • NAU Numbers 26:2 …from twenty years old and upward…whoever is able to go out to war in Israel.” • NAU Numbers 14:29 your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me.
- 5. The Under Twenty Year Olds • NAU Numbers 26:2 …twenty years old… • NAU Numbers 14:3 "Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?“ • NAU Numbers 14:29 …who have grumbled against Me. • NAU Numbers 14:31 'Your children, however, whom you said would become a prey-- I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected.
- 6. Humans Are Sons Of Adam • NAU Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- • NAU Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. • NAU Romans 3:10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;…3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- 7. We Have A Sin Nature • Ps 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. • Ezek 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. [Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18:2-4]
- 8. God Is Completely Just, Fair • Hebrews 10:26-31, … 26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins... • NAU Hebrews 9:27And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. • [2 Corinthians 5:10, Matthew 16:27, Revelation 22:12, 2 Samuel 14:14, 1 John 4:17, Acts 17:31]
- 9. God Paid The Penalty, So; • Rom 9:18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. • Ps 32:2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him
- 10. The Bible On Age Of Accountability • Matt 19:14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." • Eccl 6:3 …I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. • 2 Sam 12:23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." • Isa 7:15-16 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right…
- 11. An Age Of Not Yet Knowing Good From Bad • Rom 7:9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. • Deut 1:39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad--they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. • Num 14:29 In this desert your bodies will fall-- every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. • Josh 5:4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt-all the men of military age-died in the desert on the way after leaving Egypt.
- 12. Accountable Or Able To Understand • NAU Nehemiah 10:28 Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, • Ex 30:13-15 …14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD… 15 “…to make atonement for yourselves….
- 13. Romans Chapter 5 Is A Must Read • NAU Romans 5:12-13; 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
- 14. God Freely Gives Justification • NAU Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
- 15. God Freely Gives Justification • NAU Romans 9:20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? • Romans 14:4, James 4:12
- 16. We Are Not The Judge • Ezek 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? • 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is ….not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. • NAU Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth. [Romans 14:4, James 4:12]
- 17. God Is Gracious And Merciful • NAU Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; • God can bestow that gift according to His righteousness, and His righteousness is not tarnished if He counts the sins, sinfulness, and sin nature of these “little ones” as paid in full by the sacrifice of His Son. If He paid the fine, who are we to say He is not being just or fair?
- 18. A Few Other Verses To Examine • Here are some other verses I have found in my studies. Examine them yourself (Acts 17:11) in light of Scripture; Rom. 5:13,7:9, 9:11, Isa.7:16, 2 Sam.12:23, Eccl.6:3, Ex.30:14, Neh.10:28, Josh.5:4, Gen. 18:25, Jonah 4:11, Mt.18:1-6, 19:14. • My PowerPoint on; slideshare.net/dkooyers; • Numbers Chapters 26-28
- 19. Where does that leave us now? NAU Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' 29 "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." 19
- 20. Where does that leave us now? Matthew 28:19 …”go there for and make disciples of all the nations…” Proverbs 22:6 …give instruction to her youth about his way, even when he is old he will turneth not from it.” 20
- 21. God’s “unspeakable gift”. • 2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. • NAU John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. • NAU Galatians 4:4-6 But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" • NIV John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” • [also Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-13, Eph 2:8-9, John 1:14, ]
- 22. Where does that leave us now? 1John 4:16 …God is love.… Remember what Jesus said in Mark 10:14 “…Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” 22
- 23. THE END • May God bless you richly as you carefully study His Word, • Dave
- 24. BIBLE IN FIVE Pastor Dave Kooyers Valley Bible Fellowship Box 433 Boonville CA 95415 http://www.slideshare.net/dkooyers www.ValleyBibleFellowship.org God bless you as you examine His Word, Your servant in Christ, 2Cor. 4:5 These YouTube presentations are provided "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-15). To help Christians to "to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ." So that "we are no longer...tossed here and there...by every wind of doctrine." They may be downloaded and modified free of charge. Matthew 10:8 …Freely you received, freely give.
- 25. A Biblical Age Of Accountability? Age Of Accountability, Twenty Years Old, Numbers Chapters 26-28
Editor's Notes
- Hello I'm Pastor Dave Kooyers and I find a lot of people that are very concerned about the eternal destiny of the unborn, the very young, and even the mentally handicapped. This often brings up the question of whether the Bible speaks about an age of accountability. [CLICK] http://www.amazon.com/Pastors-Manual-Doing-Church-Growth/dp/097170094X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-2&keywords=a+pastor%27s+manual+on+doing
- As I taught through the book of Numbers I notice that the phrase “twenty years old.” [CLICK] It is used 19 times there, in the new American Standard Bible. That is 7 times more than in any other NAS book of the Bible. [CLICK]
- Numbers 26:2 further defines the 20-year-old and upward ones as "whoever is able to go to war” this struck me as a little strange, since almost every nation chooses older teenagers to be their soldiers. Yet, God in His sovereignty decreed the “20 years old” age limit, for His purpose. A divine line in the sand was drawn, not based on human reasoning. It seems God punished everyone over 20, and no one under twenty. [CLICK] Numbers 14:29 brings in another qualifier, those; “who have grumbled against Me.” If you know teenagers, it seems impossible that 100% of the under 20’s did not grumble. It’s reasonable to also speculate that there were 17-19 year olds who were heads of households, whose father’s had died, who would have had to decide to join Joshua and Caleb, or the grumblers. The Bible does not record anyone under twenty punished for their sin in this. Many people think this repeated phrase seems to indicate that God did not account the sin of refusing to enter the land to those under “twenty years old.” So, who were these under twenty’s? [CLICK]
- When the 12 Hebrew spies went [CLICK] out and 10 gave a bad report, the people grumbled and said in [CLICK] Numbers 14:3 "Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” [CLICK] Then Numbers 14:29 and 31, seem to indicate that those under twenty years old were not punished for grumbling.. [CLICK] This causes many to wonder about an age of accountability. But first, let’s consider what an age of accountability does not mean. [CLICK]
- An age of accountability does not mean, or even imply that there is any age when humans are not sinners by nature, without sin, or not a son of Adam. The Scriptures are very clear; [CLICK] in Romans 5:12 That, “through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” Then in Romans 3, God's Word says that, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;… and also in verse 23 that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And [CLICK] Ecclesiastes 12:14 promises a judgment to come, “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” Is also very clear that we all are afflicted with a sin nature from conception. [CLICK]
- Our very being, and nature is sinful. No one has to teach us to sin, it is the core of our being. [CLICK] Ps 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet, I can’t think of a verse that says we will suffer eternal torment because we were born with a sin nature. Instead, God’s Word says He will punish every sin. We are all sons of the 1st. Adam and consequentially need the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. Because, as descendants of Adam, we inherited a sin nature from him, and we bear the consequences of his sin, but not Adam’s punishment. God says He will not punish the children for the sins of the father; [CLICK] Ezek 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. See also, [Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18:2-4] [CLICK]
- Yes, God Is completely just, and fair, and that justice includes [CLICK] Hebrews 10:26 "or if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” As well as Hebrews 9:27 [CLICK] , “…it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment…” [CLICK] Here are a few other verses worth studying. God Is Completely Just, Fair, Yet it seems that in God’s infinite justice, and sovereignty, He can account people’s sin to His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. [CLICK]
- God paid the penalty, so… in his abundant grace he can account sins of people to Jesus. [CLICK] Romans 9:18 says, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” And Ps 32:2 [CLICK] says, “Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him” [CLICK]
- The Bible does not mention an age of accountability, or even address the issue directly. Yet, there are some of the verses worth studying; In [CLICK] Matt 19:14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Solomon said in Eccl 6:3 [CLICK] says, “…I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.” Then we have King David, who after the Bathsheba sin, when he was grieving for his dying son, he fasted and lay all night on the ground. But when finally the child died, he said, in [CLICK] ; 2 Sam 12:23, “But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." It certainly seems that King David assumed the same eternal destiny for his dead infant as he did for himself. And from Psalm 23:6 we know where he felt his eternal destiny was because he said "I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Then in [CLICK] Isaiah 7:15-16, Isaiah says, “He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right…” [CLICK]
- In the New Testament, we have Paul who was a Jew born under the Law from birth, “circumcised on the eighth day” it says in Phil 3:5, yet he says in, [CLICK] Rom 7:9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.” This brings up the question of when was Paul “alive apart from law”? Then in [CLICK] Deut 1:39 from Moses we get a little more insight about these “little ones” who were under 20; “And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad--they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.” Remember, these are everyone under the age of 20. [CLICK] because everyone over at the age of 20 died in the desert. [CLICK] Wow! have you ever known anyone under twenty who did “not yet know good from bad”? Either the Bible has a huge mistake here, or God is not counting the children's sins against them. [CLICK]
- Nehemiah makes a distinction in [CLICK] 10:28 he refers to “their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding” and some think this excludes those without mental competence. Then as they are ready to enter the land, the LORD decrees in [CLICK] Ex 30:13-15 that; “… All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD. And God explains in verse 15 “…to make atonement for yourselves.” Why did those under 20 not need an offering to make atonement for themselves? God made a sovereign decree here concerning the accounting of the sins of these “under twenty’s". God said it, that settles it. [CLICK]
- All of Romans Chapter 5 is a must read concerning how by grace we can be justified by faith, and have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. [CLICK] NAU Romans 5:1-21… 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. The statement that “sin is not imputed when there is no law" causes many to wonder what the law is within the womb, Or for the mentally incompetent. Yet, many argue vigorously against the idea of an age of accountability. [CLICK]
- I think before anyone scoffs at the idea that God would be so gracious as to pardon these “little ones” of Deut.1:39, who have “no knowledge of good or evil”, who are under “twenty years old” they should consider, and weigh in, how loving, kind, long suffering, and patient He is. [CLICK] And remember that it is He who elects, calls, justifies, and glorifies, and He alone can account someones sins to the cross of Christ. We are not the judge, we don’t get to decide who, how, or when God will punish sin. He elects, calls, justifies, and glorifies, and He alone can account some ones sins to the cross of Christ [CLICK]
- So I think any scoffers that reject God’s sovereignty in electing and saving children, should consider what Paul says in [CLICK] Romans 9:20; “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?…” And [CLICK] then also look at (Romans 14:4, James 4:12) [CLICK]
- So, I think, when we consider abortion, the death of a still born child, or a person mentally retarded from birth, we are evaluating God’s fairness more than the child’s capacity or condition. There is no question that every human from the beginning deserves hell (there are none righteous) Yet God’s Word says; [CLICK] In; Ezek 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? [CLICK] And in 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is ….not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. [CLICK] NAU Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth. The question is; “Is God gracious and merciful, and does He have the right to credit a child’s sin to His crucified Son?” [CLICK]
- We see that God is gracious and merciful in [CLICK] ; Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” [CLICK] God can bestow that gift according to His righteousness, and His righteousness is not tarnished if He counts the sins, sinfulness, and sin nature of these “little ones” as paid in full by the sacrifice of His Son. If He paid the fine, who are we to say He is not being just or fair? [CLICK]
- Here are a few other verses [CLICK] you can study concerning this. You can pause the video at this point and look them up in context yourself. I will also include some articles by other Bible teachers after the ”THE END" slide of my PowerPoint presentation on Numbers 26–28 [CLICK] , at [CLICK] www.slideshare.net/dkooyers. [CLICK] You can download this PowerPoint for free and copy and paste these articles into a word document. But, I know some of you are saying, “Well Pastor Dave that sounds fine for 3500 years ago, under the theocracy, when Israel was about to conquer the land, but where does that leave us now? I know that my child is a sinner and needs a Savior.” Well, I'm glad that you asked because Paul seems to touch on this when he spoke to the unbelievers in… [CLICK]
- Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' 29 "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Did you catch that in verse 30? God's Word says that there was “times of ignorance” but now “all people everywhere should repent”. The translation "all people everywhere" is from the Greek word anthropos and it is translated that way in the NAU, the NET, the NJB. And the NIV translates it "everyone everywhere”. Everyone must understand their sinful condition before God, that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, and trust in his finished work on the cross. There is no more important message to convey to our children and to everyone else. [CLICK]
- Child evangelism is not only essential, it is an imperative commandment to us. In [CLICK] Matthew 28:19 Jesus commanded His followers to "go there for and make disciples of all the nations…” and that includes everyone. Gods word in [CLICK] Proverbs 22:6 commands us to "give instruction to her youth about his way, even when he is old he will turneth not from it.” And the NIV translates this verse as "start children off on the way they should go…” The New Testament in about 150 places indicates that salvation from the eternal penalty for our sins is a gift. Please go forth and offer this free gift to everyone. [CLICK]
- Because, it is an unspeakable gift [CLICK] worth more than we can imagine. Jesus said in [CLICK] , John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Whatever age you are, if you do not know that you have “passed out of death into life” because your sin debt has been paid for by Jesus Christ, then you need to talk to God right now about your sins. [CLICK] because Jesus’ sacrifice paid the penalty for sin and provided a way for you to be reconciled with God. Ask Him to account your sins to Jesus so they are paid in full, and to account the sinless, perfect, righteousness of Jesus Christ to you. Because the Bible says [CLICK] in, NIV John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”. [CLICK] Ask God for that gift of eternal life that He offers you, and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. [CLICK]
- So, in conclusion. If you are one of the multitudes of people who are deeply grieved about the loss of a little one. You can take comfort in the fact that God changes not. Even though, he does deal with different groups of people, in different times, in different ways. [CLICK] Remember that God is love, and also what Jesus said in [CLICK], Mark 10:14 “…Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” If you have little ones now, explain the good news to them and offer them Christ’s gift of eternal life. Norm Geisler recounts when his four-year-old grandson received Jesus Christ as Savior. And God has blessed me by allowing me to be with my five year old grandson when his sins were paid for by Jesus Christ. Please, do not leave anyone wondering about an age of accountability, take the time now to explain the good news of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection and offer of a free gift of eternal life. Help them to settle this issue concretely today my receiving Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. [CLICK]
- I hope this has helped your understanding of what the Bible teaches about the salvation of the unborn, very small children, and those without mental capacity. If you have questions or comments please post them below on my YouTube channel. There are many other topical studies that I would like to do like this for you. If this has been a benefit please subscribe below. May God bless you richly as you study his Word. [CLICK]
- [CLICK] http://www.amazon.com/Pastors-Manual-Doing-Church-Growth/dp/097170094X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-2&keywords=a+pastor%27s+manual+on+doing