Acts 2:38 is a verse I have heard quoted thousands and thousands of times in my lifetime. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV) When I place this scripture beside all of the conversion accounts in the New Testament and the meaning of the original Greek word for baptism, two things become clear. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins is clearly a command and the person who is baptized must understand and be capable of repenting.
In Christian circles, the age when a person is capable of understanding sin and repenting of it so they can be baptized for the remission of their sins has become known as the “age of accountability”. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t give us a specific age when this accountability kicks in, although it does tell us it exists.
Recently, I found the most interesting scripture while I was reading my Bible. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.” (Isaiah 7:14-16 NIV Emphasis mine.)
Clearly this is a prophecy about Jesus, the coming Messiah. What to me is really interesting is the part I italicized. Evidently, even Jesus had a point in his childhood when he did not know enough “to reject the wrong and choose the right”. In fact the verses go on to imply, Jesus reached that age earlier than most (if not all) because he was still eating curds and honey when he reached that “age of accountability”.
Continue reading Kids, Baptism and the Age of Accountability
Atlanta is weather obsessed. Television programming is scuttled multiple times a year for our local stations to give us minute by minute weather updates for hours on end. Whether it is snow, a tornado or a hurricane, we watch the skies and our televisions carefully to be prepared for whatever happens.
When I was a child, our family had a garden about a half acre in size. It doesn’t sound like much for a yard maybe; but as a garden – it was huge. Besides providing our family with year around practically free fruits and vegetables, that garden taught us a lot of lessons about work, life and even faith.
Kids ask the best questions. Because so many things are new to them, they often develop an interesting perspective on what will later become common knowledge. Unfortunately, many schools are designed in ways that discourage questioning and a love of learning. Children who just a few years ago were full of wonder and questions lose the light in their eyes and begin to lose interest in learning new things as well.
Proverbs is one of the Bible books I encourage kids and teens to read first when they attempt independent Bible reading. Proverbs is an awesome book. I know, every book in the Bible is wonderful, Proverbs is special. I love it because it is full of hundreds of tiny bits of wisdom, any of which can be life and eternity changing for those who heed them.