Accountability to god and youself ?

[Boaz]

Biblically and scripturally speaking what is the age of accountability to GOD and yourself . At what age are you no longer considered by GOD to be a child and therefore responsible for your acts , actions and thoughts ?

Feel free to simply express opinion , need not be by verse . Thank you , I ask to learn myself . I'm sure I will have an opinion also but actually looking for scriptural or personal insight/thought .

[jmort]

There is no set age. Some, a very few, never seem to reach an age of accountability. For example, I have met people with Down's Syndrome and there is zero guile in them. I do not believe they know right and wrong to the point of accountability. They are perpetual children so to speak. I think for most about age 13, but I won't argue the point.

[dverna]

Good post jmort.

One of of my sons is mentally handicapped. He is a good person but does not have the ability to accept God or Jesus as his savior. He will go to hell. Part of God's plan I suppose. Seems unfair but a real bummer. I suppose I could allow my son to be brainwashed by a "Christian". I struggle with it.

Don Verna.

[jcwit]

I pretty much agree with jmort.

[jmort]

"He will go to hell."

I doubt it. But God put me in charge of nothing but me. Generically speaking in Christian terms, there is no judgement for those who do not reach the age of accountability. Some denominations may teach otherwise, but I fully expect to have the honor of meeting your son in Heaven.

[cga]

Perhaps the age of accountability, is when you really understand, right from wrong, the actions that can cause you eternal damnation, knowing, you do them anyways.
Romans 1:18-32 speaks of this. (AKJV)

[dtknowles]

It should have been at my Confirmation when the Priest and Bishop took my oath. I was not ready and they had not paid enough attention to care, I was the correct age, 12 years old, that was what mattered to them.

Tim

[jmort]

^^^ This is true. I was raised Roman Catholic and Confirmation came along regardless of the child's accountability status

[dverna]

"He will go to hell."

I doubt it. But God put me in charge of nothing but me. Generically speaking in Christian terms, there is no judgement for those who do not reach the age of accountability. Some denominations may teach otherwise, but I fully expect to have the honor of meeting your son in Heaven.

Thank you jmort. I hope you are correct. He is a good person and deserves forgiveness much more than anyone I know.

I have been fortunate and have provided for him while he lives his remaining years here on earth. I confess I have not been as good a father as I should have been. Many regrets but all due to my faults.

Don Verna.

[buckwheatpaul]

I was taught when you know the difference between right and wrong....Biblically....

[WILCO]

Perhaps the age of accountability, is when you really understand, right from wrong, the actions that can cause you eternal damnation, knowing, you do them anyways.
Romans 1:18-32 speaks of this. (AKJV)

That works for me.

[dtknowles]

I was taught when you know the difference between right and wrong....Biblically....

Minor point, I would think it is when you "UNDERSTAND" the difference between right and wrong.

Tim

[WILCO]

I confess I have not been as good a father as I should have been. Many regrets but all due to my faults.

Don Verna.

A) We are our own worst critic.
B) Regret and guilt are difficult to tame. At best, one can learn to cope. Ask for forgiveness.
C) Self awareness is priceless. Many never achieve it. Regretful behavior repeats without it.
D) Inner self improvement and a desire for constant life learning, can do much to correct past actions. Makes our time on earth more valuable.

There is much more but in layman's terms, it's a start.

[rl69]

Good post jmort.

One of of my sons is mentally handicapped. He is a good person but does not have the ability to accept God or Jesus as his savior. He will go to hell. Part of God's plan I suppose. Seems unfair but a real bummer. I suppose I could allow my son to be brainwashed by a "Christian". I struggle with it.

Don Verna.

i have no idea who's name is written in the lambs book of life, but the bible is clear he chooses us we don't choose him. Just have faith and know Gods love surpasses all understanding

[Bzcraig]

If someone were to ascribe an 'age of accountability' the only biblical example they may cite would be Jesus who was 12 at the time he was left behind by the family at passover (or maybe the census) and later found in the synagogue. But Jmort hit the nail on the head.

[Traffer]

Only you and God know that. Personally I think that there are kind of two types of this accountability. Not really but two different situations. One is when a small child learns right from wrong. The other is when a person becomes aware that there really is a God and that he will have to face him at judgment. God alone can judge either situation. However I teach 3 to 5 year old kids at our Church. One was a a raving terror for a while. I helped him see that there was authority in the area of his being. Both mine and God's. When he realized that he completely changed. It's been about a year and hasn't had a tantrum since. He sees me as a father figure. He wants to be a dad when he grows up. He loves to sing with the congregation. God I love that kid. ...I digress. But it is an example of a child who came to realize in a spiritual sense that he was not the center of the universe and thus became accountable. I know adults who have never gotten there. That is sad.

[Hickory]

[QUOTE=Traffer;3856141]Only you and God know that. Personally I think that there are kind of two types of this accountability. Not really but two different situations. One is when a small child learns right from wrong. The other is when a person becomes aware that there really is a God and that he will have to face him at judgment. God alone can judge either situation. [QUOTE]

This, in my opinion, is as close as a person can come to a correct answer.
The Bible says It is better to have never known God, then to have known him and turn away from Him.

[Blackwater]

We are never all created quite "equally" in our capacities, but we all have equal opportunities to serve our God, with whatever we have to do so with. As I understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong in this, the "age of accountability" among the old time jews was about 13 - more than a kid but not quite yet an adult - we call it "that clumsy age." Kids who have been raised in the church to that age generally (but not always) do well, and become good adults, though all are challenged by the evils of this world, and Satan pics some off along the way. But it's my present understanding that the parents could and did make their judgments about when to raise the child up to be accountale for his actions, words and thoughts. I think that's pretty rational. At about 13, or somewhere fairly close in there, kids hit puberty, and are changing physically, and start to become the adult they'll wind up being. I still think it takes a little parental judgment, and it seems assured that God always knows when that moment passes. We have to more or less guess at it, on the basis of what we observe in each of our children.

Anything more precise than that, I suspect, is just wishful thinking on our part for a concrete "rule" to go by. My little Down's syndrome cousin may have hit the age of accountability later than your average kid, but she has truly become a wonderful young lady, and more accountable to herself and to God than a great many adults I know.

This is just my opinion, based on what I've read and been given to understand, and my observations of how kids and adults conduct themselves over time. I wish I really knew the answer, but I don't, and this is as close as I've come. I think sometimes we seek "rules" so we won't have to think and analyze, but that's a denial of our God-given obligations, I think. YMMV.