When Does a Person Become Accountable to God? What Happens to Infants and Children When They Die?
There are two different views on these questions:
Original Sin: Every person inherits from Adam sin and guilt. … This doctrine was developed by Augstin around 400 AD and became the view of the Roman Catholic Church. This is what leads to the practice of infant baptisms. The Protestant Reformation holds a view that people are saved by faith alone, noty by baptism. However, the problem of young children dying before professing faith still existed and they needed a solution for it, but instead of infant baptisms, it was said that the faith of the parents saved the babies.
The Baptist View: Every person inherits from Adam a sinful nature but not guilt. … Baptists took the reformation further. We can only be saved by our own faith. The faith of our parents cannot save us. However, Baptists also believe that young children who cannot comprehend the law are not yet held accountable.
What does the Bible say?
Romans 5:12-13: Sin entered the world through one man, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. … This verse indicates that where the law is not comprehended, there is no accountability. Young children do not comprehend the concept of sin or law and are thus not held accountable.
Romans 14:12: Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. … We will be held accountable for our own sin, not anyone else's. We don't inherit sin and guilt from our parents or even from Adam.
Romans 7:9: Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the law came, sin sprang to life and I died. … There comes a time in life when children become not only sinful, but also guilty. This can be different ages for different people. This guilt comes when they not only know the facts that they are sinful and Jesus died for them, but also that they feel the conviction that they have done wrong. Some may never reach this level of mental maturity and may never become accountable for the lack of ability to comprehend the issue. … What about those who never hear about God or sin? Romans 1:20 and 2:14-15 tells us that the law is revealed in creation and in conscience. Everyone is exposed to it.
Deuteronomy 1:39: Your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. … When the Israelites came to the promised land, only two of the adults who spied it out wanted to trust God and enter. They would be the only adults from then that would ever enter the promised land. The young children would also enter for they had no say and did not right from wrong. This gives us hope that children who may die before knowing good from evil will go to Heaven.
Romans 8:1-2 gives the solution for those who do reach the age of accountable. We can be saved by Christ from the law of sin.