| September 13, 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 20
|
Many times I’ve been asked, “Brother Johnson, what do you think is the age of accountability?”
To begin with, I think “age of accountability” can be a misleading term. There is not necessarily some particular age or birthday upon which everyone becomes accountable to God for his own words and deeds. But as children grow and mature, they do indeed reach a state of mental capability where God begins to hold them responsible for their deeds.
John 9:19-23 tells of a man who was born blind. Because of the threat of excommunication, his parents wanted no part in testifying about Jesus who had healed their son, so they reminded the Pharisees that their son had reached the point where he was “of age” to speak for himself. Scholars who have studied Jewish customs tell us that the age at which a person could speak for himself in court was 13.
Common sense and our own experience tells us that different people grow and mature at different rates. One child may reach a state of accountability at the age of ten, while another may not do so till age 12 or 13. With this background, let us seek to supply a Bible answer for the question at hand.
Infants and very young children are not accountable under God’s spiritual and moral laws. Paul declares: “Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died” (Rom. 7:9, NIV). I believe this passage looks back to Paul’s childhood, before he became accountable. God has no moral or spiritual law for infants. His law is only for those who have the capability to understand His commands. “Sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Rom. 5:13). Thus, infants, small children, and others whose minds have not developed beyond the state of young childhood cannot be guilty of sin. “Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17)_. Sin is imputed to the person who has the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and then does that which is wrong.
As children grow and develop physically and mentally, they will reach a state or condition where God must hold them responsible for their actions. Very young children are answerable only to their parents, and their parents must answer to God for their training or lack thereof, Eph. 6:4. But as children grow and develop, they become more and more responsible to God.
Perhaps a look at some Bible examples will help us get a better picture of this development of a state of mental capability.
Some of the kings of Israel and Judah began to reign at very early ages. Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. Josiah was eight. Both these young kings were apparently still under their mother’s oversight when their reigns began, 2 Kings 11:21; 12:1; 22:1.
By the time Josiah was 16, he was obviously accountable for his own actions. “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images” (2 Chron. 34:3).
When Amaziah of Judah was assassinated, the whole nation selected his 16 year old son Azariah to succeed to the throne, 2 Kings 14:21.
As well as can be determined by the evidence available, David was about 15 years old when he killed Goliath. But David had already experienced a personal awareness of God before that time, 1 Sam. 17:37.
The “little children” (KVJ) who mocked the prophet Elisha were held accountable for their action. We need to note, however, as the writer in Pulpit Commentary points out: “’Little children’ is an unfortunate translation...’ boys -- that is, from 12 to 15.’” The NKJV and the NIV use the term “youths.” The ASV and NASB use the phrase “young lads.” These youngsters were obviously old enough to be held responsible, and were dealt with accordingly.
Samuel was taken to the tabernacle at an early age to work and be trained by Eli the priest. At an early age, 12 according to Josephus, Samuel was selected by God as a prophet, and obviously, was accountable to God for his words and deeds. See 1 Samuel, chapters 1-3.
Jeremiah was also called to the prophetic office at an early age. Adam Clarke suggests he was 14, but his age cannot be exactly determined. See Jer. 1:6-7.
Perhaps the clearest example we have, when we examine the evidence carefully, is Jesus Christ Himself. Though Jesus was the Son of God, He allowed Himself to be born in human flesh, to grow and develop just an other children must grow and develop. See Isa. 7:14-16 and Luke 2:52.
Joseph and Mary, being devout Jews, went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. Luke 2:41-52 records an event of great significance to our study. When Jesus was 12 years old, He was obligated to remain in the temple and seek His heavenly Father’s business. Something had happened between the time Jesus was 11 and the time He was 12 that happens to every normal healthy boy and girl -- He became more accountable to His heavenly Father than to His earthly parents.
Now, let us note some indications that one has reached a state of accountability. (1) When one has begun to reason for himself and to question the decisions made for him by others in the spiritual realm, he is beginning to give indication of a personal awareness of God.
(2) When one begins to fell a personal consciousness of lust and the sin which it promotes, he has reached a condition of accountability. Sin is more than a case of experimentation, and its guilt is more than a sense of having displeased mother or dad. When a person experiences the reality of spiritual and moral temptation and the guilt of sin, he is in a condition that cannot be corrected by merely apologizing to his parents. He must get right with God. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).
(3) When a young person begins to understand the teachings of the Scriptures regarding sin, forgiveness, and spiritual growth, he has reached a mental condition where God will hold him accountable to obey passages such as Mark 16:16 -- but he is not accountable until he has acquired the ability to understand and relate to the meaning of such passages.
It has sometimes become a problem later in life when one looks back upon his childhood obedience to the gospel and realizes that he did not have as strong a sense of awareness of sin as he has since obtained. Of course his sense of guilt was not as strong when he was a young person. He did not have as many sins to feel guilty about! But when a person becomes aware of any sin -- one sin -- he needs to apply the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of that sin, Matt. 26:28. The initial application of the blood comes when a penitent believer is “baptized into [Christ’s] death” (Rom. 6:3-5). We must get into Christ’s death to make contact with His blood. “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16.
--CRJ
In Matt. 5:44-48, Jesus says, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven... Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."
There are two different Greek words for love: PHILEO and AGAPE. PHILEO describes a love that involves the emotions, a close affinity, a warm, friendly relationship. This is not the word Jesus used to command that we love our enemies. Jesus used the Greek word AGAPE, which describes a determination of the mind to seek what is good for the person who is the recipient of that love. Emotionally we may not like that person, but we have set our minds upon seeking what is good for him, even though he may be seeking to harm us. We serve a God who seeks the eternal welfare of those who have sinned against Him, and as we take upon ourselves His nature, we too will learn to love our enemies.
Jesus not only commands that we love our enemies, He tells us why we must do so: "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." We have a proverbial expression, "like father, like son." Sonship by character and association is a common figure of speech in the Bible. For instance, Abraham is the father of the faithful whether or not they are physically descended from him. Jesus said that certain of the Pharisees were sons of the devil, because they behaved like him, John 8:44. If we are to be children of God, we must become God-like.
But Jesus not only tells us that we must learn to love our enemies as well as our friends, and not only tells us why, He even tells us how to accomplish this feat. When your enemy curses you, say something good about him. When he shows hatred and spite for you, do something kind for him. When he persecutes and mistreats you, pray for him. It may take a while to enjoy behaving this way, but you grow into it. And in doing so, you grow to be more like God. And you may even turn an enemy into a friend, and cause him to glorify your heavenly Father.
But one more question remains to be answered: How can we be perfect as God is perfect? We need to note that the Greek word is not speaking of God's sinlessness. Certainly, God is sinless, but that is not what Jesus is discussing. Jesus used a Greek word for completeness. God is complete in His love, excluding no one from it. As we learn to behave in a loving way toward both our friends and our enemies, we too will be complete in our love, omitting no one, and will have done what Jesus commands in this interesting passage of Scripture.
--CRJ