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What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible?

What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible? The concept of the “age of accountability” is that children are not held accountable by the Lord God for their sins until they reach a certain age and that, if a child happens to die before reaching the “age of accountability,” that child will, by the grace and mercy of the Lord God, be granted entrance into heaven. Is the age of accountability Biblical? Is there such a thing as an “age of innocence”? Does the Bible support any of these claims in any way? What are we as Christians supposed to know about these pertinent matters? Often omitted in most discussions regarding the age of accountability is the pertinent fact that children, no matter how young, are not “innocent” in the sense of being sinless. Inherited sin is that which is passed on from our parents.
The Bible explicitly tells us that, even if an infant or child has not committed a personal sin, all people, including infants and children, are guilty before God because of inherited and imputed sin.
Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

In Psalm 51:5, David wrote, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Notice that David recognized the fact that even at conception he was a sinner. The sad fact that infants sometimes die demonstrates that even infants are impacted by Adam’s sin (The Fall of Man), since physical and spiritual death were the results of Adam’s original sin. Everyone, infant or adult, stands guilty before God; each person has offended the holiness of the Lord God. And as such, the only way God can be just and at the same time declare a person righteous is for that person to have received forgiveness by faith in Christ (Matthew 9:6). Behold, Christ is the only way. In John 14:6, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In addition, Peter states in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible?

The Bible explicitly tells us that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. As such, one may ask, what about babies and young children who never attain the ability to make the personal choice to believe in Christ? Some believe that those who die before reaching the age of intellectual or moral accountability are “automatically” saved by God’s grace in Christ. The reasoning is that, if someone is truly incapable of making a decision for or against Christ, then the person in question is extended the Lord God’s mercy. Charles Spurgeon held this view: “I rejoice to know that the souls of all infants, as soon as they die, speed their way to Paradise. Think what a multitude there is of them!” (C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography, Vol. 1, ch. XVI, “A Defence of Calvinism,” Passmore and Alabaster, 1897, p. 175).

Brethren, the Bible does not directly address an age of accountability. And as such, we do not know at what age or at what point in one’s life God would deem them “old enough to know better.” But we can see clearly the evidence of God’s heart for children displayed in Jesus. Also, one verse that may indirectly be addressing this issue is Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” According to this Scripture, mankind’s guilt before God is based partly on a rejection of what can be “clearly seen” of God’s existence, eternality, and power. So, what about children who have no mature faculty for “clear seeing” or reasoning about God – wouldn’t their natural incapacity to observe and reason excuse them from judgment?

At What Age Are We Accountable?

We’ll preface this discussion by stating that there is no definitive age explicitly written in Scripture. The ages that are commonly adopted are born out of verses that insinuate them and tradition. Most people will say that the age of accountability is at 12 or 13. Their reasoning for this is twofold. The first reason is that Jesus Christ was twelve (12) when he went to the Temple with his family at the Feast of Passover (Luke 2:41-42). While he was there, he began teaching and as such demonstrated his understanding of right and wrong. The second reason is that according to Jewish custom, at the age of 13, a male enters manhood. This is celebrated with a Bar Mitzvah. Other inquiries have led some to believe that twenty is the poignant number. At this age, males are enlisted in the Israeli army. Still, others believe that the age of accountability is when a child recognizes their own nakedness. This thought would refer to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Although the Bible does not state a specific age at which we become accountable, it clearly teaches us how we can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When we re

Having this in mind, we should also consider that Christ’s death is presented as sufficient for all of mankind. 1 John 2:2 says Jesus is “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” This verse is clear that Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for all sins, not only the sins of those who come to him in faith. The fact that Christ’s death was sufficient for all sin would likely allow at least the possibility of God’s applying that payment to those who were never capable of believing. Some see a link between the age of accountability and the covenant relationship between the nation of Israel and the Lord. In that dispensation, a male child was brought into the covenant through circumcision, which was totally out of his control, being performed on the eighth day after birth. No other requirement was imposed on him (Exodus 12:48–50; Leviticus 12:3).

What Happens to Children Who Never Get the Chance to Accept Christ?

Some Christians believe that children who are taken at an early age go straight to heaven while others believe God judges them. The passage cited most often in support of an age of accountability is 2 Samuel 12:21–23. The context is that King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, with a resulting pregnancy. The prophet Nathan was sent by the Lord to inform David that, because of his sin, the child born to him will die. David responded by grieving and praying for the child. But once the child was taken, David’s mourning ended. David’s servants were surprised to hear this. They said to kind David, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” David’s response was, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” Notice that David’s words might indicate that infants who die are safe in the Lord. David could have simply been referring to the fact that his child was in the grave, but he seemed to be comforted by the knowledge. The peace he felt suggests that he believed he would see his son again (probably in heaven).

In Matthew 19:26, Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Conclusively, it is possible that the Lord God applies Christ’s payment for sin to young children and others incapable of faith, but the Bible does not specifically say that He does this. Therefore, this is a subject about which we should not be dogmatic. Behold, God’s extending grace to children who do not get the chance to accept Christ whether through death or physical and mental disabilities would seem consistent with His character. As such, we are more likely to support the position that God does apply Christ’s payment for sin to babies and those who are mentally handicapped since they are incapable of understanding their sinful state and their need for the Savior. Again, we cannot be dogmatic. What we are certain of is the fact that the Lord God is loving, merciful, holy, just, and gracious. As such, whatever the Lord God does is good and right, and He loves children. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 21:15-16 says, But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
Matthew 18:3-5 says, And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Matthew 18:10 says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven”

What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible?

James 4:17 – “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Romans 7:9 – “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”

Deuteronomy 1:39 – “And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

Matthew 19:14But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Isaiah 7:16 – “For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

Romans 14:12 – “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Proverbs 20:11 – “Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Matthew 18:3And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Ezekiel 18:20 – “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Group 1 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Psalm 51:5 – “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

2 Samuel 12:23 – “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Psalm 58:3 – “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.”

1 Corinthians 7:14 – “For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Luke 2:42-46 – “And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Group 2 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 7:9-11 – “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

2 Samuel 12:22-23He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Exodus 30:14 – “Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering.

Numbers 14:28-30 – “Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Group 3 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Romans 7:9 – “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.

1 John 2:2 – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 Samuel 12:21-23Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Numbers 14:29 – “Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,

Matthew 18:10 – “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Romans 2:12 – “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Group 4 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Luke 1:15 – “For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. …

Mark 10:14But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 5:12-14 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Group 5 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Ephesians 2:3 – “Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Romans 7:7 – “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Proverbs 27:17 – “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Psalm 51:1-19 – “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. …

Group 6 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

John 3:3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Romans 8:7 – “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

Romans 5:8 – “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 7:2 – “For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.”

Romans 9:15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Romans 10:14 – “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Group 7 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Romans 7:10 – “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.

Revelation 1:1-20 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood …

John 9:41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Isaiah 3:1-26 – “For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. …

Group 8 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Luke 2:41-42 – “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.”

Revelation 21:27 – “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Psalm 51:4 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 18:25 – “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?

Revelation 20:12 – “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”

Ephesians 2:2 – “In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Group 9 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Matthew 18:4 – “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 9:2 – “That I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Romans 7:11 – “For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

Isaiah 3:2 – “The mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder,

Ephesians 1:5 – “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Ephesians 1:4 – “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

Ezekiel 18:1-32 – “The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— …

Group 10 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

1 Thessalonians 4:2 – “For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

Romans 5:2 – “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 1:19-20 – “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 7:4 – “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

John 3:2This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

2 Samuel 12:13-23 – “David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. …

Group 11 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

John 1:9 – “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John 1:9 – “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Colossians 3:1-25 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. …

Psalm 51:2 – “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

2 Samuel 12:22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’

Jonah 4:11 – “And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?

Luke 1:3 – “It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,”

Group 12 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Romans 9:5 – “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”

Matthew 20:8-16 – “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ …

Romans 7:5 – “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

1 Kings 14:1-31 – “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman. …

Group 13 – What is the Age of Accountability in the Bible

Genesis 1:5 – “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

Mark 10:5And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

Romans 1:20 – “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Matthew 16:1-28 – “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” …

Romans 7:5 – “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.”

Romans 9:5 – “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Acts 14:17 – “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

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What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability?

What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability? The concept of the “age of accountability” is that children are not held accountable by the Lord God for their sins until they reach a certain age and that, if a child happens to die before reaching the “age of accountability,” that child will, by the grace and mercy of the Lord God, be granted entrance into heaven. Is the age of accountability Biblical? Is there such a thing as an “age of innocence”? Does the Bible support any of these claims in any way? What are we as Christians supposed to know about these pertinent matters? Often omitted in most discussions regarding the age of accountability is the pertinent fact that children, no matter how young, are not “innocent” in the sense of being sinless. Inherited sin is that which is passed on from our parents.
The Bible explicitly tells us that, even if an infant or child has not committed a personal sin, all people, including infants and children, are guilty before God because of inherited and imputed sin.
Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

In Psalm 51:5, David wrote, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Notice that David recognized the fact that even at conception he was a sinner. The sad fact that infants sometimes die demonstrates that even infants are impacted by Adam’s sin (The Fall of Man), since physical and spiritual death were the results of Adam’s original sin. Everyone, infant or adult, stands guilty before God; each person has offended the holiness of the Lord God. And as such, the only way God can be just and at the same time declare a person righteous is for that person to have received forgiveness by faith in Christ (Matthew 9:6). Behold, Christ is the only way. In John 14:6, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In addition, Peter states in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability?

The Bible explicitly tells us that salvation comes through Jesus Christ. As such, one may ask, what about babies and young children who never attain the ability to make the personal choice to believe in Christ? Some believe that those who die before reaching the age of intellectual or moral accountability are “automatically” saved by God’s grace in Christ. The reasoning is that, if someone is truly incapable of making a decision for or against Christ, then the person in question is extended the Lord God’s mercy. Charles Spurgeon held this view: “I rejoice to know that the souls of all infants, as soon as they die, speed their way to Paradise. Think what a multitude there is of them!” (C. H. Spurgeon’s Autobiography, Vol. 1, ch. XVI, “A Defence of Calvinism,” Passmore and Alabaster, 1897, p. 175).

Brethren, the Bible does not directly address an age of accountability. And as such, we do not know at what age or at what point in one’s life God would deem them “old enough to know better.” But we can see clearly the evidence of God’s heart for children displayed in Jesus. Also, one verse that may indirectly be addressing this issue is Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” According to this Scripture, mankind’s guilt before God is based partly on a rejection of what can be “clearly seen” of God’s existence, eternality, and power. So, what about children who have no mature faculty for “clear seeing” or reasoning about God – wouldn’t their natural incapacity to observe and reason excuse them from judgment?

At What Age Are We Accountable?

We’ll preface this discussion by stating that there is no definitive age explicitly written in Scripture. The ages that are commonly adopted are born out of verses that insinuate them and tradition. Most people will say that the age of accountability is at 12 or 13. Their reasoning for this is twofold. The first reason is that Jesus Christ was twelve (12) when he went to the Temple with his family at the Feast of Passover (Luke 2:41-42). While he was there, he began teaching and as such demonstrated his understanding of right and wrong. The second reason is that according to Jewish custom, at the age of 13, a male enters manhood. This is celebrated with a Bar Mitzvah. Other inquiries have led some to believe that twenty is the poignant number. At this age, males are enlisted in the Israeli army. Still, others believe that the age of accountability is when a child recognizes their own nakedness. This thought would refer to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Although the Bible does not state a specific age at which we become accountable, it clearly teaches us how we can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When we re

Having this in mind, we should also consider that Christ’s death is presented as sufficient for all of mankind. 1 John 2:2 says Jesus is “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” This verse is clear that Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for all sins, not only the sins of those who come to him in faith. The fact that Christ’s death was sufficient for all sin would likely allow at least the possibility of God’s applying that payment to those who were never capable of believing. Some see a link between the age of accountability and the covenant relationship between the nation of Israel and the Lord. In that dispensation, a male child was brought into the covenant through circumcision, which was totally out of his control, being performed on the eighth day after birth. No other requirement was imposed on him (Exodus 12:48–50; Leviticus 12:3).

What Happens to Children Who Never Get the Chance to Accept Christ?

Some Christians believe that children who are taken at an early age go straight to heaven while others believe God judges them. The passage cited most often in support of an age of accountability is 2 Samuel 12:21–23. The context is that King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, with a resulting pregnancy. The prophet Nathan was sent by the Lord to inform David that, because of his sin, the child born to him will die. David responded by grieving and praying for the child. But once the child was taken, David’s mourning ended. David’s servants were surprised to hear this. They said to kind David, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” David’s response was, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’ But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” Notice that David’s words might indicate that infants who die are safe in the Lord. David could have simply been referring to the fact that his child was in the grave, but he seemed to be comforted by the knowledge. The peace he felt suggests that he believed he would see his son again (probably in heaven).

In Matthew 19:26, Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Conclusively, it is possible that the Lord God applies Christ’s payment for sin to young children and others incapable of faith, but the Bible does not specifically say that He does this. Therefore, this is a subject about which we should not be dogmatic. Behold, God’s extending grace to children who do not get the chance to accept Christ whether through death or physical and mental disabilities would seem consistent with His character. As such, we are more likely to support the position that God does apply Christ’s payment for sin to babies and those who are mentally handicapped since they are incapable of understanding their sinful state and their need for the Savior. Again, we cannot be dogmatic. What we are certain of is the fact that the Lord God is loving, merciful, holy, just, and gracious. As such, whatever the Lord God does is good and right, and He loves children. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 21:15-16 says, But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
Matthew 18:3-5 says, And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Matthew 18:10 says, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven”

What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability?

James 4:17 – “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Deuteronomy 1:39 – “And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

Matthew 19:14But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Isaiah 7:16 – “For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.

Romans 14:12 – “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Proverbs 20:11 – “Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

Matthew 18:3And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Ezekiel 18:20 – “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Group 1 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Luke 2:42-46 – “And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Psalm 51:5 – “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

2 Samuel 12:23 – “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Psalm 58:3 – “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.”

1 Corinthians 7:14 – “For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Group 2 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Exodus 30:14 – “Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord’s offering.

Numbers 14:28-30 – “Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 7:9-11 – “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

2 Samuel 12:22-23He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Group 3 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Romans 7:9 – “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.

1 John 2:2 – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 Samuel 12:21-23Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Numbers 14:29 – “Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me,

Matthew 18:10 – “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Romans 2:12 – “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Group 4 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Mark 10:14But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 5:12-14 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Luke 1:15 – “For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. …

Group 5 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Ephesians 2:3 – “Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Romans 7:7 – “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Proverbs 27:17 – “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Psalm 51:1-19 – “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. …

Group 6 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Romans 9:15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Romans 10:14 – “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Romans 8:7 – “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

Romans 5:8 – “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 7:2 – “For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.”

Group 7 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Romans 7:10 – “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.

Revelation 1:1-20 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood …

John 9:41Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.”

Isaiah 3:1-26 – “For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. …

Group 8 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Luke 2:41-42 – “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.”

Revelation 21:27 – “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Psalm 51:4 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.”

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 18:25 – “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?

Revelation 20:12 – “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”

Ephesians 2:2 – “In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Group 9 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Ephesians 1:4 – “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

Ezekiel 18:1-32 – “The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— …

Matthew 18:4 – “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 9:2 – “That I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.

Romans 7:11 – “For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

Isaiah 3:2 – “The mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder,

Ephesians 1:5 – “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Group 10 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

1 Thessalonians 4:2 – “For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

Romans 5:2 – “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 1:19-20 – “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 7:4 – “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

John 3:2This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

2 Samuel 12:13-23 – “David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. …

Group 11 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

John 1:9 – “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John 1:9 – “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

Colossians 3:1-25 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. …

Psalm 51:2 – “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

2 Samuel 12:22 He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’

Jonah 4:11 – “And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?

Luke 1:3 – “It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,”

Group 12 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Romans 9:5 – “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”

Matthew 20:8-16 – “And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ …

Romans 7:5 – “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

1 Kings 14:1-31 – “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child.” Jeroboam’s wife did so. She arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age. And the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus shall you say to her.” When she came, she pretended to be another woman. …

Group 13 – What Does the Bible Say About Age of Accountability

Romans 7:5 – “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.”

Romans 9:5 – “To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Acts 14:17 – “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Genesis 1:5 – “God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

Mark 10:5And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.

Romans 1:20 – “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Matthew 16:1-28 – “And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” …

Also Read

What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible?

What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible? Although the word “adult” is not explicitly found in the Bible, there is much that the Bible says about adulthood. Studying the Bible has helped us to deduce many interesting things about adulthood as well as what the Lord God is saying about adulthood. Biblically, a person becomes an adult when they reach the age of 20 (twenty). “Adults” are referred to as “men” or “women.” In simple terms, an “adult” is “a person who is not a child.” As such, a person who is under the age of 20 (twenty) is a child. The Bible refers to people from conception through the age of 19 (nineteen) as “children.” The Lord God Almighty refers to children in the womb as “children” – not “embryos” (children from conception to eight weeks) or “fetuses” (children from eight weeks to birth) or “tissue.”

Biblically, babies in the womb cannot on their own do good or evil. Romans 9:11 says, “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, …” Notice that the Bible also makes use of various words to describe children, some of which are very similar: babes, babies, infants, boys, girls, little ones, young children, children, youths, etc. We can deduce from Biblical stories, examples, happenings, and instructions that a male under the age of 20 is a boy and a male aged 20 or over is a man. Similarly, a female under the age of 20 is a girl, and a female aged 20 or over is a woman.

What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible?

What The Scriptures Say About Adulthood

The Israelites In The Wilderness (Numbers 14)

In the Biblical book of Numbers, chapter 14, the Lord God Almighty pronounced judgment on all the Israelites who were 20 years old or older (except for Joshua and Caleb and their families) because they had willingly refused to believe Him even after all the great signs and wonders that He had done in Egypt and in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. Behold, they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until they dropped dead. Numbers 14:29–30 says, “Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”

Numbers 14:31–33 says, “But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness.” In this Scripture, notice how “little ones” is used interchangeably with and means the same thing as “children.” As punishment to the Israelites, the Lord God sentenced them to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness until all the people who were 20 years old or older – at the time of sentencing by God – died.
Notice how all the people who were not yet 20 years old, the “little ones,” the “children,” were allowed to live. Nevertheless, they still had to wander for 40 years in the wilderness before entering the promised land.

Significance of Age 20 in the Bible

The age of 20 signifies adulthood. It’s important for Christians to understand and to be able to clearly make the difference between childhood and adulthood. Understanding that a person becomes an adult at age 20 is important in accomplishing one’s purpose. The Word of the Lord God commands parents to discipline their children and commands children to obey their parents in the Lord (Proverbs 22:6, 15; Ephesians 6:1). Obedience to your parents in the Lord is a quality that will guide you into successfully entering adulthood with favor in the side of the Lord God.

In Numbers 14:29–30, we see the difference that the Lord God makes between people who are age 20 and over, and people who are age under 20. It’s without a doubt that there were numerous teenagers and other children who were just as sinful and murmured and complained just as much as their parents. But the Lord God did not sentence them to die, as He did the adults. The simple reason is that the Lord God does not hold children to the same accountability as He does adults.
1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” As a matter of fact, children ( age19 and below) think and understand like children. Although there are few exceptions, they do not always act like adults in every way.

From Teenagehood to Adulthood

Occasionally, we meet teenagers that seem more mature than their age. By the age of 17, 18, or 19, they may seem to act like adults. This is very rare and they probably do not act like an adult in every way. But because they are children who think, understand, and act like children, the Lord God does not hold them fully accountable for their actions as He does adults. The Lord God holds adults (age 20 and above) fully accountable for their own actions. But with children, the Lord God holds them accountable on a sliding scale.

A baby, of course, has no accountability for his/her actions. He/she does not even know what he/she is doing. But as that baby grows, the Lord God begins to hold that child more and more accountable for his/her actions until the time when he/she reaches the age of 20 and is fully accountable for his/her actions. This explains why the Lord God allowed the children to live and enter the promised land, but He sentenced the adults to death in the wilderness. The adults were allowed by God to raise their children to maturity and prepare them to enter the promised land but did not themselves enter the promised land.

What to know about the age of accountability as a Christian

The Bible does not explicitly give any age as being the age of accountability. And as a result, many people think differently on this subject matter. Some people consider the age of 12 as being the age of accountability. Others consider the age of 13 as the age of accountability. And others completely consider different ages with each and everyone trying to support his/her point of view Biblically.

In Judaism, when a boy is around twelve (12) years of age, he memorizes sections of the Torah (the Law of God) and with his prayer shawl around his shoulders will recite in committal before his family and rabbi to become a man. This is similar to the long period of silence between the birth of the Lord Jesus and the time He was twelve (12) years of age. Just like Jesus Christ, children of age 12 and above should be concerned about doing God’s Will and keeping His commands as they flee from sin (Luke 2:41-52). And as such, thirteen (13) is the most common age suggested for the age of accountability, based on the Jewish custom that a child becomes an adult at the age of thirteen (13). Nevertheless, the Bible does not explicitly support the age of 13 as always being the age of accountability.
It likely varies from child to child. And as such, it is thought that a child has passed the age of accountability once he/she is capable of making a faith decision for or against Christ. With this in mind, we should teach the children how to keep and honor the ways of the Lord God. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Census and Military Service

In studying the Bible, we notice that whenever the Lord God numbered the people, whether it was for census or military purposes, or whatever, He counted the people who were age 20 and above (Exodus 38:26; Numbers, chapter 1; 2 Chronicles 31:17; Ezra 3:8). This is important because the age of 20 and above signifies adulthood.

The Blind Man (John 9)

John 9:1-3 says, “And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents….’
One of the things which we can deduce from this Scripture is that the person had been blind for at least 20 (twenty) years, given that he had been blind from his birth and was now an adult. We are further told in the story how Jesus Christ healed the man so that he could see. When the Pharisees questioned the man’s parents how their son recovered his sight, they answered in verse 21 saying, “He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.” Once again, we can deduce from this Scripture that a “man” is a person who is of age and can speak for himself. This would equally be true for a “woman.” Therefore, a “woman” is a person who is of age and can speak for herself.
In other words, a person must be 20 years of age or above to speak for himself or herself. And as such, if a person is not yet 20 years of age or above, they are under the authority of their parents who are to speak for them.

What Does The Bible Say About Manhood?

Like Jesus of Nazareth, a true man is obedient to the Father’s Will and is about His Father’s business (Hebrews 10:19). In Jesus Christ is righteousness for He lived a sinless life. And because we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, it is our duty to seek the light that comes from no other but Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23 and John 14:6). It is in this light that the godly man will flee away from sin and strive for a righteous life through Christ. Through the Power of the Holy Spirit, the godly man seeks to keep God’s Law as well as dwell in God’s will. With grit and determination, he steps forward to accomplish God’s will regardless of what it might cost him (Isaiah 50:7). Such a man endures persecution, opposition, hardship, and suffering for Christ’s sake without losing his heart (Hebrews 12:3).

A godly man is a man whose heart goes after God’s Word. He makes use of the Scripture to overcome temptation (Matthew 4:1-10). Joyfully praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), he is considered a man of prayer (Mark 1:35). Such is the man of love and sacrifice as we can read from John 13:1.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” With this verse in mind, we can say without a doubt that a true man is vigilant against sin, and danger, and is faithful to the Truth. Also, he is brave in the face of opposition, persistent in carrying his cross to follow Jesus Christ on a daily basis, and, above all, loving in all things.

What The Scriptures Say About Manhood

There is much that the Scriptures say about manhood. We can find a good description of a godly man by reading the Bible’s qualifications for elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3:2-4; 7 which says, “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well. . . . He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.”

In addition 1 Timothy 3:8-9 says, “Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.”
According to 1 Corinthians 13:11, a true man is a person who has “put away childish things.” He knows what is right and with confidence, he stands for it without fear of persecution. Also, a true man is one who loves God with all his heart, spirit, and soul (Matthew 22:37). Likewise, he also loves his neighbor as he loves himself (Matthew 22:39).

What The Bible Says About The Purpose Of Man (Humanity)

The Bible clearly tells us that we were created by God in order to bring Him glory (Genesis 1:25-31). Thus, the ultimate purpose of man (humanity) is to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7). As His creatures, it is our duty to know Him and make Him known by glorifying Him with our lives. The question now is: how do we glorify God?

Ways To Glorify God

1. Worship Him with gladness and thanksgiving (Psalms 100:2-4)

One of the ways to glorify God, the Father of Creation, is to worship Him with gladness and thanksgiving. That is, we are to acknowledge Him as our creator and worship Him as such.
In support of this point, Psalms 100:2-4 says, “Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

2. Honoring and serving Him with our lives and decisions (1 Samuel 12:24)

Honoring and serving God with our lives and decisions is one of the greatest ways to glorify Him for Who He Is. The ability to do this comes from the love in our heart for Who He Is as we can read from 1 Samuel 12:24, “Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” Always remember that we were created in God’s image and as such, we fulfill our life purpose through a life devoted to Him (Genesis 1:26–27). After a significant period of living a life of self-indulgence, King Solomon came to the conclusion that living for oneself was useless. With this conclusion, he pointed to the fact that the ultimate purpose of man is to live a life of obedience to God (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).

Humans are naturally sinful. It takes the sin-cleansing ability of Jesus Christ for us to be found righteous in the presence of God. Thanks to Jesus Christ’s sacrifice of His own Life on the Cross at Calvary, we have a reconciled relationship with God. That is, there is no longer a sin barrier between those who are in Christ and God. When we submit our lives to Christ, we are able to glorify God in truth and in spirit. This submission comes through Sincere Repentance and obedience to the Key Teachings Of Jesus Christ. In living our lives by following the example of Jesus Christ, we are glorifying Him as well as glorying the One who sent Him (2 Corinthians 3:1–6).

Understanding Your Blessings As A Child Of God

In the New Testament, Apostle Paul affirms that God “had set me apart before I was born” (see Galatians 1:15–16). Whatever you do, always remember that God’s plans and purposes for our lives will always result in His glory. In support of this, 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Today, we have the ability to glorify God because He first crowned us with glory and honor (Psalms 8:4-6 and Hebrews 2:6-8). In addition to this glory and honor, God gave us dominion over the Earth (Genesis 1:28–29). By so doing, God conferred to us the task of stewarding the earth to the best of our ability and above all for the sake of His Glory.

Five Themes Of Biblical Manhood

1. A man knows the importance of self-control (Titus 2:11-12)

Titus 2:11-12 says, For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…”

A true man values self-control. That is, he controls his emotions and passions. Whether single or married, a real man tames his passions. As a mature man, he doesn’t abuse women or children but rather protects and provides for them. Knowing where he is coming from and where he is going, he keeps his hands off a woman who is not his wife. He treats his wife with love, respect, and dignity. He teaches his household the importance of loving God and obeying His commands. Also, he protects a single woman’s virginity and innocence. He keeps his eyes off pornographic images and is not defined by his exploits below the waist. Such a man is a God-fearing man. He is a man with a heart and a conscience.

For more info, read our Bible Verses About Self Control.

2. A man provides for his household (1 Timothy 5:8)

1 Timothy 5:8 reads, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” It is without a doubt that any man who does not work and provide for his household ends up with a sense of shameful feeling. That is his self-worth sinks. As a man, you must embrace work. You should learn what it takes to obtain a job, work hard, maintain high performance, and be able to meet the needs of your household. Behold, a man who is unable to keep a job, who is always moving from one job to another, or who refuses to willingly assume his family responsibilities is actually putting his household in a state of insecurity. A responsible man is one who provides for his family -emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially, and educationally.

3. A man protects his family (Proverbs 4:10-15)

Here, we’ll borrow an expression from Wayne Grudem and John Piper on the essence of masculinity: When you are lying in bed with your wife and suddenly hear the sound of a kitchen window being opened at 3 a.m., do you shake her awake and say, “The last time this occurred, I was the one who took our baseball bat and investigated to see if someone was breaking into our house. Now it’s your turn, Sweetheart. Here’s the bat!”? Obviously No! However, being a protector of your household calls for far more than just ensuring physical safety. Proverbs 4:10-15 portrays a father who protects his son by passing on wisdom, teaching him the ways of God Almighty, teaching him to reject the lies and temptations of the world, and helping him build godly character. This father is protecting even the generation to come as this wisdom will be passed on.

For more info read What The Bible Says About Fathers.

4. A man serves and leads his family (Ephesians 5:23)

While the world quickly sees serving and leading as contradictions, the Bible clearly tells us that they are inseparable. In Ephesians 5:23 where Apostle Paul says, “the husband is the head of the wife,” he quickly dismisses any notions that this leadership allows for selfish male dominance. Apostle Paul does this by completing the sentence with “as Christ also is the head of the church.” The passage goes on to say in verse 25 that husbands should love their wives “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” This definition of leadership is quite contrary to that offered by the world. We are trying to say here that a man is called to be a servant-leader in taking responsibility for his wife and children as he puts their needs ahead of his. Also, a man is invited to demonstrate selfless, and sacrificial love.

5. A man follows God’s design for true masculinity (Micah 6:8)

In support of this point, let’s read from Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” The core or essence of every man’s life should be his relationship with God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven, and Earth. A man who goes after God’s heart knows the importance of embracing his responsibilities.

What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible?

Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Ephesians 6:2-3“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

1 Corinthians 13:11-12 – “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

2 Timothy 2:22 – “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 – “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Luke 2:40 – “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

1 Timothy 5:8 – “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1 Timothy 4:12 – “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

Ephesians 4:15 – “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Group 1 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Ephesians 4:14-15 – “So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Luke 2:52 – “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Ephesians 4:13-15 – “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Group 2 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

1 Timothy 3:3 – “Not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.

James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Psalm 23:1-6 – “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. …

Proverbs 20:20 – “If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.

Psalm 127:3-5 – “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”

Hebrews 6:1 – “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,”

Group 3 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Titus 2:1-6 – “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. …

Proverbs 19:26 – “He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.

1 Peter 2:2 – “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

1 Samuel 2:26 – “Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man.”

Judges 2:10 – “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

Group 4 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Romans 2:1-3:31 – “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. …

Group 5 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Luke 2:52 – “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Luke 1:80 – “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”

1 John 2:13-14 – “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

Numbers 1:1-54 – “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; …

Group 6 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Deuteronomy 22:5 – “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

1 John 2:13-14 – “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 – “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”

Group 7 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Isaiah 40:30-31 – “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Psalm 25:2-3 – “O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”

Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Romans 8:15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Group 8 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

1 Chronicles 16:11 – “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Judges 13:24 – “And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.”

1 Timothy 5:1-2 – “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.”

Genesis 3:10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Numbers 14:29-33 – “Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.

Group 9 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Ephesians 6:1-3Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

1 Corinthians 13:11 – “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Psalm 90:12 – “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Hebrews 13:5-6Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

2 Samuel 6:16 – “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

Group 10 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Proverbs 23:22 – “Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 – “Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed. I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. ...”

Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Proverbs 20:29 – “The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.”

Group 11 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Job 4:17 – “‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?

Hebrews 2:7 – “You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,

Genesis 1:26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Proverbs 20:27 – “The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.

Isaiah 43:7 – “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Psalm 8:6-8 – “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”

Group 12 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Genesis 2:7 – “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Psalm 33:13-15 – “The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.

Psalm 144:4 – “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”

James 2:26 – “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

Psalm 8:4 – “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 100:3 – “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

Group 13 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Psalm 8:3 – “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,”

Hebrews 9:27 – “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”

Psalm 8:5 – “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Psalm 144:3 – “O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?

Psalm 119:73 – “Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.”

Job 4:19 – “How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.”

Psalm 138:8 – “The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Group 14 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Job 14:1-5 – “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

Ecclesiastes 1:8 – “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.”

Ecclesiastes 12:7 – “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

John 4:24 – “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Job 15:14 – “What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

Job 31:15 – “Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Group 15 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

1 Corinthians 2:11 – “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 15:49 – “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

James 3:9 – “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”

Job 10:9 – “Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?

Group 16 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

John 3:3-8Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ …

Romans 7:14-25 – “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ...”

Group 17 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Job 31:13-15 – “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Job 32:8 – “But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.

Ecclesiastes 2:14 – “The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.”

Job 33:4 – “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Ecclesiastes 3:21 – “Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?

Isaiah 64:8 – “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Group 18 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

1 Corinthians 11:7 – “For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.”

Job 10:2 – “I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me.”

Job 25:4-6 – “How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!

Malachi 2:10 – “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Genesis 1:28And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

1 Corinthians 6:20 – “For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Group 19 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Ecclesiastes 7:29 – “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Proverbs 16:4 – “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.”

Acts 7:59And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Isaiah 42:5 – “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

Genesis 9:6 – “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

Job 35:10 – “But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,”

Job 38:4 – “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.”

Job 10:8 – “Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether.

Group 20 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Job 4:18-21 – “Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth. Between morning and evening they are beaten to pieces; they perish forever without anyone regarding it. Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them, do they not die, and that without wisdom?’”

Genesis 9:3 – “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 – “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 2:8 – “Putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.”

Genesis 5:2 – “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.”

Group 21 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 – “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-9 – “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. …

Group 22 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Acts 17:26 – “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

Matthew 10:28 – “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Mark 10:6 – “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

1 Corinthians 15:21 – “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.”

Luke 23:46 – “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

1 Corinthians 15:22 – “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:48 – “As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.

Group 23 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Jeremiah 28:14 – “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put upon the neck of all these nations an iron yoke to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him, for I have given to him even the beasts of the field.’”

Jeremiah 27:5 – “It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.”

Zechariah 12:1 – “The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him:

Matthew 23:8 – “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.”

Daniel 2:38 – “And into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold.”

Group 24 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Psalm 31:5 – “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”

Job 38:13 – “That it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?

Isaiah 17:7 – “In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel.”

Proverbs 22:2 – “The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.

Ecclesiastes 3:20 – “All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

Jeremiah 27:6 – “Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him.”

Isaiah 45:12 – “I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.”

Group 25 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Romans 2:29 – “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

Job 4:18 – “Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error;

Ephesians 4:4 – “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

Job 10:3 – “Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the designs of the wicked?

Job 38:12 – “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,

1 Corinthians 14:14 – “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.”

Job 35:2-8 – “Do you think this to be just? Do you say, ‘It is my right before God,’ that you ask, ‘What advantage have I? How am I better off than if I had sinned?’ I will answer you and your friends with you. Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? ...”

Group 26 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

1 Corinthians 7:34 – “And his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband.”

Mark 10:42-44And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”

Matthew 4:4But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Isaiah 26:9 – “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.”

Romans 1:9 – “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you.”

Matthew 23:11 – “The greatest among you shall be your servant.”

Group 27 – What Age Do You Become A Man In The Bible

Ecclesiastes 2:15 – “Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

Ephesians 6:1-4 – “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Matthew 20:25-28But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Also Read

What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

What Does The Bible Say About Accountability

What Does The Bible Say About Accountability? Behold, the Bible says much about accountability. In fact, we need to understand that all of us are accountable before God. In support, 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” The Almighty God is holy in all His ways. He is a God of righteousness and justice. God knows everything that happens and therefore all our words, thoughts, and actions will be judged. Amazingly, God is Omniscient and Omnipotent. It is without a doubt that God is absolutely just. With this in mind, it is clear that judgment is necessary for the holiness of God to be preserved and enacted, and we will all stand before God one day in judgment.

In addition to the fact that all of us are accountable before God, accountability is essential to the body of Christ and to the way each of us can know God and make Him known to others. Individual/personal and Collective Accountability are vital to the health and the well-being of the body of Christ. Brothers and sisters, whether we accept it or not, the Scriptures are clear on the fact that we are all accountable to God, and since nothing is hidden from Him, we will all have to give an accurate account. The tricks, lies, and manipulations that we are all tempted to employ in this life won’t work when we’ll be standing before God Almighty to give an account of all ours thoughts, words, and actions. For this very reason, we must pay attention to all our thoughts, words, and actions.

What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

What Is Personal Accountability?

Before we go deep into answering the question, “what does the Bible say about accountability,” we should first take some time to understand what the Bible says about personal accountability. We’ll start by breaking the word and finding some definitions. The root of the word is account, and the definition of account, in this case, is a report or description of an event or experience. Therefore, to be accountable for something is to be “able to give an account,” or to be able to report or describe that thing. To be accountable to someone is to have the responsibility of offering an account to that person. In one way or the other, we are accountable to someone (a boss, partner, board members, or shareholders) in our jobs, but that’s not personal accountability but corporate accountability. Romans 14:12 says, “Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.

Accountability Versus Responsibility

Some people think and argue that responsibility and accountability are the same. Some sources even go to the extent of using one of these words to define the other. However, in reality, there is a very important difference between the two. We need to understand that the word responsibility carries with it culpability or fault, while accountability simply necessitates giving an answer. This point is easily demonstrated in the corporate world in the relationship between boss and employee. The boss is not responsible to do the job of each employee but is accountable for whether or not the job gets done rightly.

How do we handle our own sin before the judgement day?

Behold, we’ll all have to answer to God, not for whether or not everything went perfectly, but for how we responded. We’ll answer for what we did do even when things happened that were out of our hands. We’ll stand before God who knows everything and give Him an account of everything we did and that which we failed to do. With this in mind, how do we deal with our own sin before we’ll be judged by God? The Bible says that a day is coming when we’ll stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ. Thus, if there is anything that we can do about our sins, this is the right time because a time is coming when it will be too late. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The Lord God Almighty forgave David for murder, adultery, and all that went into his affaire with Bathsheba. If Paul can be forgiven, not only for rejecting Jesus Christ but for persecuting and killing Christians, if Peter could be forgiven for denying the Lord three times, then you yourself can as well be forgiven by God. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the good news of God’s Grace that was poured on mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we confess our sin to the Lord God Almighty, not only does He forgive us from all and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, the Bible says that He separates our sin from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). 

Importance Of Accountability

Today, we live in a world where temptation is all around us and if we are not careful, we’ll fall into it one way or the other. And behold, Satan is always striving to create more temptation. In the face of such temptations, many Christians seek out an “accountability partner” to pray with and help share the burdens that come with doing spiritual warfare. It is important to have a Christian brother or sister that we can count on when we are facing temptations. King David was alone the evening that Satan tempted him into adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). The Biblical Book of Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we fight a war not of the flesh but of the Spirit, against powers and spiritual forces that threaten us.

Having in mind that we are in a continuous battle against the forces of darkness, it is clear that we need as much help as we can gather around us, and this may include making ourselves accountable to another believer who can support and/or encourage us in the fight. Apostle Paul tells us that we must be equipped with all the power that God supplies to fight this battle. In support, Ephesians 6:13 says, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” It is without a doubt that temptation will come. However, we should always be in prayers so that when it comes, it should find us prepared and ready to overcome it by the power and authority that Christ has given to us.

More on the importance of accountability

The Devil knows our weaknesses and tends to attack when we are vulnerable. When you are in the face of challenges or temptations, support or encouragement from a Christian brother or sister to whom you are accountable can go a long way to restore your strength to overcome the situation. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.” A friend’s countenance is a look or expression of encouragement or moral support. Moral support and encouragement from a Christian friend can be of great help. In support, Hebrews 10:24–25 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

It is important for us to understand that the Body of Christ is interconnected. And as such, we have the duty to each other to build each other up. In the same light of accountability, James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Behold, accountability can be helpful in the battle to overcome sin. An accountability partner can be there to comfort you, rebuke you, encourage you, teach you, support you, rejoice with you, remind you of God’s ways, and weep with you. Having this in mind, it is advisable for every Christian to have an accountability partner with whom he/she can confess, confide, talk and pray.

How can I hold others accountable?
  • Holding others accountable requires a measure of grace and humility
  • You’ll need to understand that helping people deal with the sin in their life is really an act of grace in their lives
  • Holding others accountable is done in a spirit of humility that recognizes that we are all sinners
  • Before holding others accountable make sure that you yourself are accountable
How to hold yourself accountable
  • Learn to fear the Lord (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
  • Be accountable to others or get an accountability partner (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
  • Be honest with yourself and to others (Psalm 32:2-5)
  • Develop a personal accountability plan
  • Make use of an accountability software

What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Romans 14:12 – “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 – “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Proverbs 27:17 – “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

Luke 17:3 – “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,”

Matthew 12:36-37 – “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Hebrews 4:13 – “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Group 1 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Jeremiah 17:10 – “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Galatians 6:1-5 – “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 – “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Group 2 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

James 4:17 – “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Hebrews 13:17 – “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Ezekiel 18:20 – “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Luke 12:47-48 – “And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

James 3:1 – “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

Group 3 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Matthew 7:3-5 – “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Luke 12:48 – “But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Luke 16:10-12 – “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

Psalm 51:5 – “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Matthew 12:36 – “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Group 4 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Galatians 6:2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

1 John 2:1-29 – “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: ...”

Ephesians 4:25 – “Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”

Hebrews 10:25 – “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

1 John 2:2 – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Deuteronomy 1:39 – “And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.”

Group 5 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”

Matthew 18:15-17 – “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Romans 2:12 – “For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Revelation 20:12 – “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”

Group 6 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

1 Timothy 6:3-7 – “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.”

Ephesians 6:12 – “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Hebrews 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Romans 14:10-12 – “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Romans 1:20 – “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

Ezekiel 33:8 – “If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.”

Hebrews 10:24 – “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew 19:14But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Ephesians 4:32 – “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Ezekiel 3:18-19 – “If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

1 Peter 4:4-5 – “With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

1 Timothy 3:4 – “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,”

2 Samuel 12:21-23Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Ephesians 5:21 – “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

1 Timothy 3:1-5 – “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?

Proverbs 24:24-25 – “Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.”

Isaiah 7:15 – “He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.”

Galatians 6:1 – “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Galatians 6:1-2 – “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Acts 4:12 – “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

James 1:19 – “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Proverbs 15:22 – “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

2 Samuel 12:23 – “But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

1 Timothy 4:11-12 – “Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

Romans 12:1 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Matthew 18:3And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,”

1 Peter 5:1-4 – “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Hebrews 3:13 – “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

James 5:19-20 – “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Revelation 1:1 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Romans 14:10 – “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

Psalm 23:1-6 – “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. …”

John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Group 13 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Matthew 25:19 – “Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 – “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. …

Matthew 23:34 – “Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,”

Colossians 3:1-2 – “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

Luke 19:15 – “When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business.”

Group 14 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Ezekiel 33:6 – “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

Hebrews 9:27 – “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,”

Proverbs 3:1-35 – “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. …

Group 15 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Revelation 20:11-15 – “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. …

Hebrews 3:12-13 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Ephesians 6:13 – “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

2 Corinthians 6:2For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Group 16 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

1 John 3:17-21 – “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

James 2:10 – “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”

1 Peter 3:15 – “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

Galatians 1:8-9 – “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Group 17 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Isaiah 40:31 – “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; …

Ecclesiastes 11:9 – “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”

Ezekiel 3:20 – “Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Ephesians 6:14-18 – “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Romans 3:19 – “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.”

Group 18 – What Does The Bible Say About Accountability?

Romans 8:7 – “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Romans 14:11For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

Ezekiel 3:20 – “Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.

1 Corinthians 4:2 – “Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.”

Genesis 2:18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Romans 12:15 – “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Ephesians 4:2 – “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”

Acts 17:10-11 – “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

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