Question #91

What is the age of accountability?

Many evangelicals speak of an “age of accountability”? Is this some subjective point; varying from person to person? For some is it 11, for some at puberty, while for others 13 or 14? What is the age of accountability? I see no Scriptural precedent or ‘inference’, if you prefer, for such a thing?

The Answer:

You are correct that there is no mention of an “age of accountability” in the Scripture. There is, however, a necessary inference that requires such a concept. The term is used to designate the point at which one becomes accountable before God. In other words, it is the point at which one becomes accountable for his sins. Calvinists and Roman Catholics believe that it is at birth because all who are born are stained with the sin of Adam. Scripture does not teach that concept. To the contrary, it teaches that little children are innocent for “of such is the Kingdom of heaven.” Mark 10:14. Little children cannot be saved because they are not lost. They are “safe” because they cannot sin. Understanding the gospel is required for the lost to be saved. Philips first question to the Ethiopian nobleman was “Understandest thou what thou readest?” Acts 8:30. A little child is incapable of understanding. When one reaches the age where he is capable of understanding he becomes accountable or reaches the “age of accountability.” It is different for different people. Some mentally incapacitated individuals who, though in their twenties or thirties or even older, never become more than “little children” in mind. Thus, they are never capable of understanding and never reach the “age of accountability.” Some who are raised in Christian home and are taught in bible classes before they can walk or talk are capable of understanding much earlier than others. Of course, this raises the question of what they must be capable of understanding. Notice that what is involved in the capacity to understand, not whether they in fact understand. Obviously, they do not need to capable of understanding everything. At a minimum they must be capable of understanding what sin is, what sin did to Christ and to man, and what Christ did to sin on behalf of man. Capacity to understand these events (not just the facts that can be recited) means that one is capable of understanding that he is lost and in need of a Savior and that Christ is that Savior. Appreciation for that understanding should lead one to cry out as on the day of Pentecost, “Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved?” The answer is still the same: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38.