Around The Web-March 21, 2018

Shorts Studies in Biblical Theology up to 50% off till March 27th

The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon Volume 1 and Volume 2 are now available at WTS Books

Doctrine and Devotion on Baby Dedications

Stephen Hawking, the End of the World, and the Bible by Sam Storms

It Was Your Sin that Murdered Christ! by Tim Challies

A Guide to the Music of Andrew Peterson by Trevin Wax

How Not to Read the Parables by Jared C Wilson

Check out the new Open Book Podcast with Stephen Nichols

For those attending or thinking about attending seminary: 15 Things Seminary Couldn’t Teach Me

H.B. Charles, Jr. on what it means to examine oneself as you partake of the Lord's Supper

Does The Bible Support The Age of Accountability?

The age of accountability is the idea that a child is not accountable to God before he or she reaches a certain age. If you have read the Bible, you know that this belief is not found anywhere in scripture. Where did this idea come from? I have yet to find a direct answer to that question. In my opinion, I think the idea of the age of accountability got started when certain Bible scholars refused to believe in the doctrine of election.

What are some arguments for the age of accountability? One writer believes the age of accountability is the age of twenty. He writes:

I believe that we may know exactly what that age is, and it is Biblical. Here is how I arrived at my conclusion. Consider the following passages:

'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob- (Num 32:11)

In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. (Num 14:29)

And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. (Deut 1:39)

By harmonizing these three verses, I believe we can infer that:
1. There is an age (at least there was among the Israelites in the desert) before which a person did not know good from bad.
2. This age was the age below which children were allowed to enter the promised land.
3. That age was 20 years of age.

Okay, that may sound like God is showing Himself merciful to men before the age of 20, but the way I read these passages is that God is showing His judgment to those of a certain age when they left Egypt up to this point in Biblical history. Remember the generation that was wandering the desert, except for Joshua and Caleb, were not allowed to enter the Promise Land. The previous generation doubted God quite a bit during their wilderness wanderings. I am still wondering what the passage in Deuteronomy has to do with the age of accountability.

Another argument is the age of twelve. Why twelve? It was the age that Jesus was when he was separated from Mary and Joseph then found later in the temple "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Luke 2:46-47). Yes, Jesus was twelve when this happened, but He was also God Incarnate. To say that because Jesus was twelve gives proof to the age of accountability is simply pulling straws. Jesus was God in the flesh who was also a perfect child as well as a perfect teenager. He was tempted every way we are yet was without sin including his childhood years.

One article that I read years, which I spent time looking for it but could not find it, even had passages from Jeremiah that affirmed the age of accountability. As I recalled, the passage in Jeremiah did mention salvation, judgment, or an age. Once again, I will have to locate that article if it still on the web.

We have seen support for the age of accountability, but does the Bible really support it? Sure the passages mentioned above might give us some evidence of it, but the Biblical answer is no. There is no support for the age of accountability in the Bible.

Now we have to address the elephant in the room, what about a child who dies before receiving Jesus? This question, I believe, is why some have adapted the age of accountability. I have even asked this question myself after witnessing the funeral of a 20-month baby girl a few years ago. John Piper was asked this very same question, which he did address in an interview that was conducted eight years ago. The following is an excerpt from that interview:

Why do you believe that infants who die go to heaven?

I believe it not because of a sentimental notion that babies aren't participants in the Fall. They are. Babies are participants in original sin.

The question is whether God has a way to cover their sin even before they have a chance to believe. Babies are not mentally able to put faith in Jesus yet, at least not in any terms that we ordinarily understand. And so I think that God provides another way to cover their sin.

I base my belief that God does not condemn babies who die on Romans 1:19-20:

For what can be known about God is plain to them [that is, to mankind] 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. Therefore, they are without excuse.

The "therefore" at the end says that mankind would seem to have an excuse if they had not seen clearly in nature what God is like. And so, because I don't think little babies can process nature and make conclusions about God's grace, glory or justice, it seems they would fall into the category of still having an excuse.

The way I see it is that God ordains, for his own wise purposes, that at the judgment day all the children who died in infancy will be covered by the blood of Jesus. And they will come to faith, either in heaven immediately or later in the resurrection. And God will not condemn them because he wants to manifest openly and publicly that he does not condemn those who did not have the mental capacities to put their faith in him.

Piper, as well as other scholars, believe that a child, especially an infant, are giving grace because they have no way of knowing that Christ died for their sins. This is the belief that I hold. This is the hope that I have. I can't imagine God holding a baby accountable for sin when he/she cannot comprehend the truth of the gospel. Our God is a God of grace and mercy. He has compassion on whom he has compassion.

Around The Web-March 11, 2016

Albert Mohler on the Best Books for Preachers in 2015

Christopher Ash's new book Zeal Without Burnout is available

How Not To Teach Your Kids The Bible by John West

3 Reasons To Stay In A Church That's Not Cool Enough by Michael Kelley

Amswering Life's 8 Ultimate Questions by Bob Kelleman

Darrin Patrick talks with Zack Eswine on the Acts 29 Podcast

Ray Ortlund on what does it mean to be born again

Alistair Begg on knowing vs feeling in worship.

Music Monday: The Ology by Sovereign Grace Music

This album from Sovereign Grace Music is based on the new children's book, The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski, which is designed to teach children the truths found in Scripture.

Resources on Teaching Kids Systematic Theology

Parents and teachers in the church, teaching kids is a privilege, joy, and challenge. We want our kids to know the truth of the Bible at an early age to equip them as they go about in their daily life. There are great resources for the grown ups that have lasted for years. It only has been recently when more good resources for kids have become available especially theological issues.

Most churches avoid teaching kids theology like the plague. "It just doesn't happen," they say. We live in a day where our kids are getting hammered with non-Christian worldview that it would be ignorant to not teach children theology.

Here are some resource that are available for parents and church teachers can use (some of them are at reasonable prices right now):

The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski

The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden by Kevin DeYoung

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Everything a Child Should Know about God by Kenneth Taylor

Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God by Bruce Ware

Book Review: Answering Your Kids' Toughest Questions by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson

Every parent feels unequipped to answer their kids' hard questions. They even feel terrified when they help with homework over things they have no idea what it is. As a parent, I sometimes find myself wondering would I have been able to get through school with all these things they teach my kids.

As a Christian parent, I know it is my primary duty to teach my children spiritual truths. I must admit they have asked me hard questions I had to do some research on. Some parents do not feel that way. They freak out when their kids ask them questions such as, "what is sin?," "why grandpa have to die?," or "why are my friend's parents getting a divorce?"

Mother and daughter team, Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson tackle how parents can answer their kids' hard questions in their book, Answering Your Kids' Toughest Questions. This book deals with the questions of sin, divorce, natural disasters, and even who is Satan. Fitzpatrick and Thompson takes the questions kids will have and writes what the Bible says about those certain topics.

What I love about this book is that Fitzpatrick and Thompson even break down what should said about the topic in each chapter to different age groups. Let's face it, sometimes talking to child about sexual sin is more difficult than addressing this issue to a teenager. The last chapter of the book deals with the gospel. The gospel is be shared at all times in the home. Fitzpatrick and Thompson tell their readers that their kids need to trust in what Christ has done and not their good behavior. I love this book. I think every parent, whether you a one month old or a 10-year-old, should read this book. Children and Youth Pastors give this book to your parents.

Thanks Bethany House for letting me review this book.

Around The Web-June 13, 2014

Should Augustine's Name Be Pronounced AW*-GUS-TEEN OR AW-*GUS*-TIN? by Justin Taylor

Southern Baptists Oppose Gender Reassignment

Hillsong Pastor Dodges Social Issues

4 Ways Pastors Kids Need Grace by Dave Bruskas

What Parts of The Bible Are You Ignoring by Barnabas Piper

UNC-Wilmington Ordered to Pay $710,000 for Discrimination Against Christian Professor

Jesus Storybook Bible on Sale.

With Christmas coming next month (yeah I know it's hard to believe) many parents and grandparents are thinking about what to give to their kids/grandkids. One gift you can never go wrong with is the Bible. However, I would like to recommend one Bible that is suitable for kids of every age, The Jesus Storybook Bible.

This Bible was written with the intent to show that the Bible is not just a collection of stories, but it is one story with one central character: Jesus Christ. The subtitle to this Bible says, "Every Story Whispers His Name." This is purpose that Sally Lloyd-Jones set in writing this storybook Bible and she accomplished just that. I have read this storybook Bible to both of my kids when they were younger and they loved it. I think with my son we read it through three times in one year.

This is without a doubt the best storybook Bible in the market. It is currently on sale at Westminster Bookstore for one week. I know it is not Black Friday, but this is one sale you do not want to miss.

Around The Web-July 12, 2013

15 Characteristics of Today's Unchurched Person by Carey Nieuwhof

Senate Committee Passes LGBT Protections

Teaching Children The Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Greg Thornbury was named President of King's College

Three Things We Should Know About God by Jonathan Parnell

Where Do Unborn Children Go?

The other day, I posted about where infants go when they die. Recently I ran into a post from The Resurgence addressing another difficult issue and that is, do unborn babies go to heaven or do they end up in hell?

Another tough question to ask consider we just observe the 40th anniversary of Roe V Wade which legalized abortion in the United States. This question is not reserved for those children that died as a result of abortion, but also for babies who died from miscarriage or when they die after birth following a mother's healthy pregnancy.

This post is written by Alex Early, lead pastor of Mars Hill/Ballard:

I write this with incredible sensitivity in my heart.

In London in 2008, while I was going to school, my wife and I lost our first child, our son Adam, through miscarriage. This experience was devastating—our faith was rocked. It sent us into a season of asking innumerable questions of God: Could we go on? Is God good? Can he be trusted with our lives being that Adam’s was lost? Does he even care?

Even today, we are affected by our loss. Today, Adam would be five years old. Many of you know what this is like. There is an empty chair at our dinner table every night, birthdays that go by, and imagined holidays and experiences that are left only to the imagination of what could have been.

As a pastor, I am often asked what happens to babies like ours who are lost in miscarriage or to children who are killed through abortion. The one thing we do know is that they, like all of us, are image bearers of God who came into existence, even though they never had the joy of being loved, kissed, and cherished by their earthly mom and dad.

Where do the unborn babies go? Some would argue that they don’t go to heaven because we are sinful beings and the only way to be reconciled to God is through faith and repentance. Since these babies didn’t repent or have faith, they are forever separated from God in hell. Others argue that Jesus died for the world and therefore those children who are born in Adamic guilt have their sins atoned for because they haven’t committed personal sin.

Check the rest of Alex's entry here.

What Happens To Infants When They Die?

A few years ago, my wife and I attended the funeral for a 20-month-old girl who died in a drowning accident. Believe me when I say, this was one of the hardest funerals I have ever been apart of. My wife and I asked ourselves, "Would we look at the baby if the casket was opened?" We could not answer one another until we got there and the casket was opened. We did not go to the front because, to be honest, I am not sure what we would do if we saw this little girl's lifeless body. We mourned with the family and prayed for them and with them.

As we left Burkburnett, the city this family lived in, I began to think about the question, "Are we sure this child is in heaven?" The preachers at the funeral gave the audience assurance this child was in the Father's arms right now. I wish I could say I found some good definite answers, but this is one issue that seems to come time and time again especially when tackling the issue of abortion. Matt Perman wrote a great lengthy post as he biblically answers this question:

This is a difficult and sensitive issue. Any answer must take into account that all of us are born sinful and thus worthy of judgment. The consistent New Testament emphasis upon the need for a second birth indicates that our natural state is that of sin, not innocence (John 3:1-12; Ephesians 2:1-5; cf. Psalm 51:5). We are "by nature children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3).

In addition to having sinful natures, we also come into the world with Adam's sin imputed to us. Because of our union with Adam, we are born guilty of his first sin (Romans 5:12-21). We go into this doctrine in detail elsewhere, but for now it is enough to point out that, according to Paul, the fact that all die physically (even those who, like infants, did not have the opportunity to knowingly transgress a law of God-Romans 5:13-14) is a demonstration that we are connected with the guilt of Adam's sin.

If we are all born under sin, and salvation is by faith in Christ (which infants do not seem to have the mental capacity to exercise), then it might at first seem that no infants can be saved. We are not, however, aware of anyone who actually takes this position. We are convinced that it would be a premature, unbiblical conclusion.

One reason is that there are apparent examples in Scripture of infants who were saved. We are told that John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit while yet in his mother's womb (Luke 1:15). In Luke's theology, being filled with the Spirit is consistently seen as an aspect of the Spirit's work among those who are regenerate (Luke 1:41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 6:3, 5; 9:17; 11:24).

Read the rest here.