II SAMUEL 12:22-23

 Q: David mourns the death of his child by Bathsheba, but when he learns of the child’s death he says “Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” I have often heard this passage used to support the notion of “the age of accountability,” the idea that all children who die young go to heaven until they have reached a certain age where they can be held accountable for their sins. Is this a commonly held position? Are there other passages that support this position?

There are hints throughout the Old Testament regarding separate places of eternal bliss or punishment. But the most clear-cut references in the Bible are only found in later writings such as Daniel 12:2 and the New Testament. Heaven is thus a concept that was only slowly revealed to mankind, and many practicing Jews today deny the possibility of an eternal existence after death because they feel it is not taught in the Old Testament at all. Thus, my own personal feeling is that David is merely stating that his child cannot come back from Sheol, the universal abode of the dead, but David will himself eventually meet him there. I am probably in the minority in this particular opinion.

However, the idea that there is an “age of accountability” before which one will not be held responsible for sins can be deduced elsewhere in Scripture:

1. In Deuteronomy 1:39, Moses explains that children who were too young to know right from wrong would be allowed to enter the Promised Land and not be held guilty of the sins of their parents.

2. Isaiah 7:15-16 is a prophecy concerning what would happen to the nation before a certain child became old enough to refuse evil and chose good.

3. The Book of Jonah ends with God trying to explain to Jonah why He is extending grace to the Ninevites. They are so much in the dark spiritually that they are like little children who do not yet know the difference between their left and right hand (i.e. evil and good).

4. On the cross, Jesus asks God to forgive those responsible for his crucifixion “because they don't know what they are doing.”

5. In Leviticus 4-5, Numbers 15, Acts 3:17 and Acts 17:30 it is taught that sins committed inadvertently in ignorance must be dealt with once those sins are brought to our attention.

6. In I Timothy 1:13 Paul says that he received God's mercy because he had acted in ignorance when he persecuted the Christians.

John MacArthur also points to the numerous times in the Old Testament that children (including those who die) are referred to as innocent. “The Hebrew word for 'innocent' is used numerous times in the Old Testament to refer to 'not being guilty' -- literally, 'being taken to court and found not guilty.' It doesn't mean that they are not fallen; it doesn't mean that they are not sinful -- it does mean that God mercifully treats them as 'innocent' in spite of that, and He has to exercise grace to do that, just as He exercises grace to save those who believe.” (Safe in the Arms of God)

This subject is somewhat related to the controversial subject of infant baptism (see ch. 6 of G. R. Beasley-Murray's excellent book Baptism in the New Testament). He concludes, after much discussion that Jesus' saying in Mark 10:13-16 and parallels does not teach the practice of infant baptism, but does teach that children already possess the characteristics of those who will inhabit heaven.

From the above, one could argue that God will certainly welcome into his arms someone who dies before they are mature enough to recognize the sinfulness of their actions. Only God can judge when that occurs in an individual's life. And ultimately, all possibility of salvation still depends on God's grace and Christ's sacrifice.