THE FALSE DOCTRINE OF "THE AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY"

[Eddie Ramos]

It's interesting that this is another widely held doctrine by Christians, yet no one has ever put forth an actual age from the scriptures where children are not accountable for their sins. The fact is that when God looks at a human being, he looks at their heart and sees either righteousness or unrighteousness. If righteousness, then that means that Christ's atoning work has been applied to your life. At which point he has given that person a new and perfect heart that is free from sin, and has raised their dead soul to eternal life. If God sees unrighteousness in their heart, then it means that Christ's atoning work has not (or not yet) been applied to that individual and that individual is still in his or her sins. This applies from the moment of conception.

Psalm 51:5 (KJV 1900)
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
And in sin did my mother conceive me.

Can something conceived in sin be pure and clean in the eyes of God? The Bible says, no.

Job 14:4 (KJV 1900)
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.

So, how does God view a child conceived and still unsaved? The same way he views a grown up who is still unsaved, as wicked.

Psalm 58:3 (KJV 1900)
The wicked are estranged from the womb:
They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

Most will say, "babies can't speak, so this can't be referring to babies". Yet this is parabolic language (as is the whole Bible) which is speaking of the spiritual condition (as viewed by God) of mankind who was yet in his sins.

When the Bible as a whole is taken into acount, it absolutely contradicts and therefore rejects such doctrine of any age of accountability. But why then was it invented? Because it was build upon another false doctrine, the free will doctrine which states that a person must make an informed choice if he is going to accept Christ. And since babies can't do that, they had to find a way to make them exempt. But this goes to show what happpens when someone tries to build upon a crooked foundation, everything else they build on that foundation will also be crooked.

My question for anyone who hold to this doctrine is, can you show me how the scriptures you use to support such doctrine agree witht he above Bible verses provided? Because if we isolate passages from the Bible as a whole, then we can make them say anything we want.

[2timothy316]

[onewithhim]

[Replying to 2timothy316 in post #2]

Might I add that there is no set age, as you said, timothy, and that it all depends on when the child can understand the gravity of the issues involved.

[myth-one.com]

My question for anyone who hold to this doctrine is, can you show me how the scriptures you use to support such doctrine agree with the above Bible verses provided?

Although that doctrine is invalidated under the New Testament Covenant, here is its scriptural justification:

Sin is the transgression of God's laws, or commandments:

For sin is the transgression of the law. (I John 3:4)

However, for a sin to be imputed, or counted against someone, that someone must first recognize that the act is a sin:

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)

Babies do not understand the law. The same case can be made for mental incompetents and the insane. The "not guilty by reason of insanity" defense is based on the same rational.There is also biblical evidence that this innocence of children even applied to Jesus Christ:

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. (Isaiah 7:14-16)

Suppose that Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are eating breakfast and Joseph instructs Jesus to stop playing with His food. If Jesus continues playing with His food, He has violated one of the Ten Commandments:

Honor thy father and thy mother... (Exodus 20:12)

However, if Jesus is six months of age at the time, it is not counted against Him as a sin because sin is knowingly transgressing one of God's laws. Since a six-month-old baby does not understand His father's request, it is not counted as a sin.

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Nonetheless, the age of accountability doctrine no longer applies under the New Testament Covenant, as under that covenant sin no longer controls our salvation:

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

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The New Testament indicates that every person who dies as a nonbeliever in Christ will be resurrected as humans a thousand years after the Second Coming and choose to accept or reject Jesus as their Savior at that time.

Nonbelievers who died as babies will be resurrected at that time to grow, hear the good news of the gospel, and make their choice between everlasting life or everlasting death at that time.

[Eddie Ramos]

[Eddie Ramos]

[Replying to 2timothy316 in post #2]

Might I add that there is no set age, as you said, timothy, and that it all depends on when the child can understand the gravity of the issues involved.

Please see post #5.

[Eddie Ramos]

[myth-one.com]

The doctrine of the age of accountability is invalidated by the scriptures as a whole.

For sin is the transgression of the law. (I John 3:4)

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)

At some point in their lives most individuals understand and recognize good from evil. That point is the age at which they become accountable for their actions.

Thus it is their "age of accountability."

[Eddie Ramos]

The doctrine of the age of accountability is invalidated by the scriptures as a whole.

For sin is the transgression of the law. (I John 3:4)

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)

At some point in their lives most individuals understand and recognize good from evil. That point is the age at which they become accountable for their actions.

Thus it is their "age of accountability."

Looks like you skipped over post #7 where I showed you from the Bible what those scriptures are referring to and that there is no such doctrine from the Bible that teaches an age of accountability because ALL have sinned. Please take a look at my previous post.

[myth-one.com]

The doctrine of the age of accountability is invalidated by the scriptures as a whole.

For sin is the transgression of the law. (I John 3:4)

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)

At some point in their lives most individuals understand and recognize good from evil. That point is the age at which they become accountable for their actions.

Thus it is their "age of accountability."

Looks like you skipped over post #7 where I showed you from the Bible what those scriptures are referring to and that there is no such doctrine from the Bible that teaches an age of accountability because ALL have sinned. Please take a look at my previous post.

Of course, all have sinned. So what?

Sin is not imputed against someone who does not understand that what they did was indeed a sin.

And the wages of sin do not apply to sin which is not imputed against someone.