Age of Accountability
Many Christians have questioned whether there is a certain age for babies, toddlers, or young children as to when they are accountable to God for their salvation. The same question arises regarding miscarried or aborted babies.
Deu 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it (KJV).
Understanding right from wrong versus good from evil
Babies, including miscarried or aborted babies, as well as young children, have no knowledge of good and evil, therefore, are not responsible for any sin. God does not send them to hell for something they are not capable of comprehending or understanding. As we read in Luke 18, people brought infants and little children to Jesus. The disciples, however, wanted to dismiss them, but Jesus said no.
Luke 18:15-16 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them (KJV).
Jesus said these little children were innocent and belonged to the Kingdom of God. It is clear then that little children are a part of the Kingdom of God until the knowledge of good and evil and its consesquences are understood within them. At that point, they have to make their own choice.
It is the law that tells a person right from wrong and good from evil. A toddler or young child may learn the difference between right and wrong at a young age, but to comprehend good from evil, with a comprehension and understanding of its consequences takes longer. At what age does that happen varies in children. It could be as early as 5 or 6, but generally it happens between the ages of 8-12 years old. That then becomes their Age of Accountability.
Spiritually alive until the Age of Accountability
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians that once, at a young age, he was spiritually alive outside of the law, but when he became of age, he then spiritually died.
Rom 7:9-10 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death (KJV).
The Apostle Paul's writings came from a Jewish perspective on the Age of Accountability. The principle here is there is a time when children become of age to know good from evil. At that time, they become responsible for their actions.
Jewish understanding of the Age of Accountability
To understand the Age of Accountability more fully, it would be good to learn what the Bible says about Jewish accountability in children. It gives a much better understanding of what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote the above passage to the Roman Christians. According to Jewish law, the Torah states that at the age of 12 for girls and 13 for boys is when they are fully held responsible to observe the commandments - the 613 commandments of the Torah. They are then considered to know good from evil and the consequences that come from it. Acccording to the Torah law, a Jewish boy leaves childhood to become a responsible adult at the celebration of his Bar Mitzva (meaning son of the commandment) at the age of 13 years and 1 day. He then becomes a full adult member of the Jewish community with all of its accompanying obligations and privileges. It is also around this age when the Jewish male begins the onset of puberty and physically able to father a child. Similarly, at the age of 12, a Jewish female becomes Bat Mitzva, meaning she is subject to all of the laws of the Torah as they apply to women.
The Book of Life
God has so wonderously created each one of His creation right from conception. In His Book of Life (Psm 139:13-16), God places the names of each of His new creation.
Psa 139:13-16 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb...Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written... (KJV).
Before an understanding of good and evil enters into a child, the child, being alive in the spirit, does not know that he or she has sinned. Should any suffer the pangs of death before the Age of Accountability, he or she will be taken to heaven to enjoy an eternity in heaven. But as soon as a child grows to an age when he or she fully understands good from evil, with its consequences, and chooses not to follow God and His ways, he or she dies spiritually. When a child reaches his or her own Age of Accountability, then he or she is responsible for his or her behavior, and therefore accountable for right and wrong, good and evil, and heaven or hell.