As I see it, two things are required to properly respond to the gospel: Understanding and commitment. One who obeys the gospel must understand issues like faith, repentance, and baptism. He or she needs to know both what these things mean and how they apply personally. While it may be easy for some young children to learn the facts of the gospel so as to be able to give the right answers when questioned, there is more involved than just repeating right answers.

A frequent question asked of preachers and elders concerns the so-called "age of accountability." When is a child old enough to make a commitment to Christ and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins? Even more basic, when does a child become accountable for his or her sins - no longer able to overlook them as childish mistakes? At what point is a child in danger of loosing his or her eternal soul to hell because of unforgiven sin? Every Christian parent has been or should be concerned about these issues.

The problem is not if the child needs to be baptized. The problem is when. But will pressing the child cause a premature decision that is later abandoned? Or, on the other hand, will putting a child off cause him or her to give up seeking the Lord?

Most of us have seen people who made decisions for Christ early in life and then fell away. We’ve seen others rebaptized at some point because they came to doubt their earlier understanding and commitment. And we’ve seen still others who were baptized quite young who stuck with their decision for life.

This issue can certainly seem confusing, yet it’s very important. Whether a child makes a commitment without understanding or he never makes a commitment at all, the consequences are eternal.

What can we say about this issue? What does the Bible say?

The Bible is fairly clear in its statements regarding the spiritual condition of both young children and mature adults. Children are innocent and adults are accountable. It is at some point in-between these two, expressed by an age, that we conclude one moves from innocence to accountability.

God’s word in Ezekiel 18:20 makes it clear that children are not born with the guilt of their parents’ sin. That verse says, "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself."

Not inheriting the sin of parents, they are not "born in sin." They are born innocent.

When King David mourned the loss of the child born of his union with Bathsheba, he said in 2 Samuel 12:23, "Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." Surely David did not mean he would join the child in hell. Children are born innocent.

Furthermore, they apparently remain innocent for some time into the future as we find Jesus saying of children in Matthew 19:14, "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." This statement is also recorded in Mark 10:14 and Luke 18:16. Surely He did not mean that the kingdom of heaven belongs to condemned sinners bound for the second death. He must have considered the children innocent.

Jesus also said of children in Matthew 18:3, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Again, if children were condemned sinners, bound for hell, why would Jesus use them as an example of those who will enter the kingdom of heaven?

Children are born sinless and remain unaccountable for some time after their birth.

On the other hand, adults are sinners and are accountable. Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 says, "the wages of sin is death." That "all" includes everyone. Even children do things that are considered sin, but, as I’ve already pointed out, they are not held accountable. This is why the gospel message is clear for every person who has reached the age where her or she is considered accountable:

"Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins..." (Acts 2:38)

"Arise and be baptized and wash away yours sins." (Act 22:16)

"He who believes and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:16)

These then are the two extremes. Children are sinless in that they are not accountable. They make mistakes, are mischievous, and sometimes are disobedient, but apparently their sin isn’t held against them. Adults are sinners. The Bible calls on them to believe, confess, repent, and be baptized in order to be saved. They are accountable for their actions.

At what point does one move from innocent to accountable? The Bible is remarkably silent about a specific age when a child should put on the Lord in baptism. Even the phrase "age of accountability" is nowhere mentioned in Scripture, though logically it is inferred. In such cases where there is little specific information, you can count on one thing to be true: there will be many opinions.

I have seen those who advocate pressing children for commitments to Christ as early as four or five. I was on a website one time that said they should be pressed for a commitment as early as three. The idea, I suspect, is to beat the devil to the punch and to be sure there is not a time in the child’s life where he is in jeopardy due to sin. Considering it further though, I see little difference between baptizing a three or four year-old and baptizing an infant. How can a child of such young age see the need to repent and believe the gospel? In my opinion he simply cannot understand.

Then there are those who advocate the age of twelve years as the time when a child moves into accountability. Several impressive lines of reasoning are put forth to justify this idea.

Though each of these compelling points can be cited in support of considering the age of accountability to be twelve, it must be remembered that not one of them is based conclusively on Scripture.

I might add here regarding the age of twelve that Dr. Flavil Yeakley, a sociologist who is a member of the Church of Christ, did some research into baptism and children a few years back.(2) He found that statistically the age of twelve was a dividing line in many aspects regarding baptism. A person baptized before the age of twelve was more likely to fall away from the church or get rebaptized than those baptized after age twelve. In fact, he found that only 2% of those baptized before age ten remained faithful or were satisfied with their original baptism. Dr.Yeakley attributes his findings to the ability of children around age twelve to begin thinking abstractly. He also found that the longer the child waited to be baptized, in the later teen years, the more likely he would remain faithful.

Having observed Dr. Yeakley’s findings, however, we must also remember that the rate of attrition among adults who are baptized and fall away is also quite large, so their may be more factors involved here than just age.

Finally, as to a specific age of accountability, there are a few who advocate waiting until the age of twenty years. That probably sounds strange to most of us. The view is based on the story of the "wilderness wanderings" of the Old Testament. You may remember that because of their distrust of God and subsequent rebellion at Kadesh Barnea, the Israelites who had left Egypt with Moses were turned back from entering the Promised Land. From Deuteronomy 2:14-16 we learn that the entire generation of Israelites that were old enough to go to war were told they would die in the desert and not enter Canaan. From Numbers 1:2-3 we learn that the age for military service in Israel was twenty years old. In Deuteronomy 1:39, Moses calls all those who survived the wilderness wanderings "little ones" and "your sons." It is conjectured by those who hold the view that twenty is the age of accountability that God did not hold those who were younger than twenty accountable for the lack of faith.

My problems with this view are threefold:

For lack of further evidence, I’ll leave this one to you for consideration. I don’t think it will be anytime soon that I will advise a person to wait until the age of twenty to be baptized.

So what have we seen so far?

My conclusion therefore is that parents (the ones who should know their children better than anyone else) need to be aware of what is going on with their children in order to ascertain what is best for them. I suspect the absence of a prescribed age of accountability in the Bible may be intentional. Human development varies from person to person, with some maturing early, some late. Environmental factors and opportunity also enhance or deter understanding. In short, one specific age probably wouldn’t fit all

As I see it, two things are required to properly respond to the gospel: Understanding and commitment. One who obeys the gospel must understand issues like faith, repentance, and baptism. He or she needs to know both what these things mean and how they apply personally. While it may be easy for some young children to learn the facts of the gospel so as to be able to give the right answers when questioned, there is more involved than just repeating right answers. An understanding of repentance, for instance, implies a conscious awareness of sin. The conscience is therefore involved. It may be, in fact, that the development of the conscience is a key indicator of the age of accountability. Baptism in 1 Peter 3:21 is called "an appeal to God for a good conscience." A child unaware of the serious nature of his sin has no concept of such an appeal. This would seem to make baptism an empty request.

The commitment part is a commitment to obey. It is a willingness to accept the Lordship of Christ. Perhaps a child should be quizzed about his intentions for obedience once he has been baptized. How will this effect his life? What will it do to his actions in the key areas? If he has been disobedient to his parents in the past, how will this change things?

The suggestions I’m going to make are the result of my own observations and those of several others whom I respect. I don’t present them here as in any way binding, but rather as considerations to further your own thinking.

If your nine-year old tells you he or she wants to be baptized, respond with something like "That’s great! Your mother and I have long looked forward to the day you would make that decision! It shows us that you have been listening to the teaching around you and that you really want to do what is right."

A statement like that isn’t necessarily a go-ahead for baptism. It is merely a show of great support for their interest and desire to study the subject further - which you should do with them.

I strongly suggest you don’t respond by saying "You’re too young" or "We’ll talk about it later," (a promise that you put off for several years). I believe such statements can be quite discouraging and perhaps even harmful, throwing a wet blanket on awakening conviction.

It may be true that a child growing up in a Christian home will respond at an earlier age than one who doesn’t simply because he/she will have an easier time understanding. I suspect that accounts for the early age responses of my own children.

Some of you know from experience that when you have asked me about your children being baptized, I sometimes suggested that if you are a Christian, you lead them in a study yourself – or at least that you accompany them if someone else does it. I don’t do that because I’m lazy. It’s just that you know them better than anyone else. In fact, such a study might best be accomplished with the entire family present, the father leading, the mother supporting.

You might want to take a look at our own "Sin-Savior-Salvation" lessons. These simple question and answer lessons present the gospel in an understandable way and allow interaction between teacher and student.

I’m not trying to do your parenting for you here. I’m just suggesting that it would be meaningless to have such a study, get your child worked up about it, then tell him or her you are not going to honor their decision. You can’t make the decision for another person anyway. If the decision is to be baptized, and you are convinced that they understand the facts and (to the extent that they can) the commitment, then allow them to be baptized. If you have doubts, express them to your child and let him or her explain why they feel the way they do.

In my opinion, if a parent is going to err in this matter, it seems to me better to err on the side of encouraging their commitment rather than discouraging it. If, at some later time, they come to the conclusion that they really did not understand what they were doing, then they can make it right at that time.

Further, while I wouldn’t set it in concrete, I certainly think it is good that a child be baptized by the hands of his own serious Christian father when that is possible. It is an experience that can help unite a family. There is nothing in the Bible that says you must be baptized by a preacher. I’ll do it if, for some reason, you can’t or won’t. I’ll do it if your child requests it, but I think it is best, when it is possible, for dad to do it. If you need instruction, I’ll be glad to meet you prior to the baptism and show you how.

Here is a fourth suggestion:

I posted a question about the age of accountability on my preacher’s mailing list and Don Hunt, Jr. responded with these words. I think they’re good:

"When counseling a youngster about becoming a Christian, I usually ask them to name at least three sins that God will be forgiving them for during their conversion process. I remind them that later on in life --if they ever doubt that they were sincere in their repentance, conversion, and baptism --remember there are at least three sins that were confessed to God and that God forgave on the day of their conversion." I think that’s a great idea.

This isn’t my own idea either, but it’s a good one that I came upon recently and intend to share in the future with parents in this situation.

Have your child, immediately after his baptism, write a letter to himself. The letter should contain his feelings now that baptism has taken place, why he was baptized, what was understood, who the witnesses were, who did the baptizing, etc. Put this letter in an envelope with his baptismal certificate and, if possible, a photo of the whole thing. One of the difficulties I have observed with people who doubt their conversion later in life is that they forget what they once knew. I believe such a record can help refresh the mind and perhaps remove the doubt.

Adults fall away after baptism if they don’t have adequate teaching. What makes us think children will be any different?

1 Peter 2:2 says, "...like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation."

Regular feedings of the Word of God are like milk to a newborn baby. They cause growth. A lack of them will cause death.

It starts with the various classes provided by the church. A ten or twelve year old child may not be able to keep up with all we do here in the main assembly. The various classes provided in what we call "Sunday School" can, to an extent, since they are graduated by age, provide what is missed.

I wonder sometimes if the spiritual mortality among our children who make early decisions isn’t more caused by neglect of parental responsibility than it is by their being baptized too soon.

The Bible puts the responsibility to "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" primarily on fathers. Dad, if you can’t get your family up and out for classes and services on a regular basis, what are you going to say to God when you stand before Him in judgment and He asks you about your family? He most certainly will ask you and you won’t at that time be able to blame it on your wife or the church. It is your job to set the spiritual pace and provide the example to your children.

The Bible then, does not provide a definite answer to the question of a specific age of accountability. We must rather be aware of what is going on in the lives of our children, be ready to teach them when the opportunity presents itself, and see that they receive adequate teaching to follow.

Footnotes: Use your "back" button to return to your place.

1. Bob Whiddon, Jr., in THE MAC, A NEWSLETTER TO AID THE MINISTER AS COUNSELOR.
2. Flavil R. Yeakley, Jr. WHY CHURCHES GROW (Nashville, TN: Christian Communications, Inc. 1979, pp. 26-31)

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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