Inquiring Minds… On Salvation and the Age of Accountability

Part 1

Nathan Jones: And so onto our new series, there are just so many topics that we could cover that hold such rich blessings for those willing to engage in a dirty little five letter word, S-T-U-D-Y.

Both Together: Study!

Nathan Jones: We all need to dive into the Word of God to allow it to penetrate our hearts. God’s prophetic Word will provide revelation as we wrestle with those troubling questions that challenge our understanding of our great God. For as Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever.”

Tim Moore: Likewise, when challenged by the Pharisees, Jesus Himself liked to respond with, “Have you not read?” Isaiah also asked, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?”

Nathan Jones: These are the questions Tim and I will be challenging you with in this new series we’re titling Inquiring Minds, because as that old tabloid, The National Enquirer has been asking since the 1920’s, “Inquiring minds want to know.”

Tim Moore: And on that note, let’s launch into this new series with a little humor. America has been blessed with poets and witty humorists, but perhaps none has been as poignant as Yogi Berra who said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else” or “The future ain’t what it used to be.” He also said, “You can observe a lot by watching”, and “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.” And finally, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Or in Yogi Berra style as a close friend of mine once said, “If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know.”

Alright Nathan, well if we didn’t know, we wouldn’t know, but we’ve got a resource to go to. And so when it comes to God’s prophetic Word, how do we know and what is it that people want to know?

Nathan Jones: Well, our ministry is inundated by questions all the time. And folks, we encourage you, if you want to go to our website at christinprophecy.org, click the contact button at the top there and Tim and I’d be happy to answer your Bible questions if you keep them related to Bible prophecy, of course.

So, discounting all the questions that come in about marriage and raising kids and what do we know about the future and the way of people’s finances, which we can’t answer. We are going to deal with questions that of course relate to Bible prophecy.

Big question in this time and age is with Donald Trump as a president now, how is that going to affect the prophetic timeline, with Israel at war with Hamas and that winding down, well hopefully, then that question is, you know, is what’s Israel’s future? And I think the third question a lot of people are asking is, how does artificial intelligence play into the antichrist’s coming kingdom?

Tim Moore: Wow, you’ve given some really deep topics there, just in that series. I often find that people want to know things like, is my pet going to be in Heaven?

Nathan Jones: Yeah.

Tim Moore: And so we can explore that kind of question.

Nathan Jones: Okay, I’m ready for that.

Tim Moore: We talk about the age of accountability. Will my children be taken to Heaven if they were to die or if the Rapture occurs? What is the provision for children of the unrepentant and what is the status of those in Paradise who were awaiting Christ’s finished work at Calvary?

There are so many questions that resonate through our minds because sometimes it’s not spelled out directly in black and white, but for those who are willing to study and let the Holy Spirit lead them into understanding, and that’s exactly what we pray for every day, Nathan. We do have an understanding that comes through the Word of God.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, and a lot of the questions that come heartfelt into the ministry is about people who have lost their children, they want to know they’re going to Heaven. So I’m ready to tackle it. Tim, do you want to deal with the age of accountability? Is it true that the Bible teaches that a child who’s born before they can mentally decide to choose Christ and be saved automatically goes to Heaven?

Tim Moore: I think that a child is still under an age of innocence. And that’s a Jewish understanding. There’s an age at which a young person becomes responsible for their own choices, their own actions. And so I think that before that age, the Lord in His grace covers over children. And we obviously know that there is a covering over for the children of the saved, for Christians.

And so we trust that the Lord will be just and righteous even in providing for our children. That is our prayer. We also pray, most importantly, that as they cross that age of accountability, they come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and make that decision for themselves.

Nathan Jones: Right, and Tim and I aren’t going to make it based on what we think, but we know what the Bible says. In Matthew 19:14, this is Jesus’ own words. “He says, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them,” for what, “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these'” We know that King David back in II Samuel 12, when his baby, the first one born of Bathsheba died, he knew that one day he would see that baby in Heaven again.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: And Jesus also said in Matthew 18:3 “Truly I say to you, unless you were converted”, to become what? “Like children”, in other words, innocent like children, “You shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” So we know that children then who died, and I think you got it right, that the Jewish people have set 13 for their bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah because they knew from Scripture that before that age they don’t quite understand what salvation’s about, and the Lord then won’t hold them accountable for it.

So if a child dies, and especially an abortion, people ask me, you know, will we see all those tragic babies aborted? Yes, they’ll be in Heaven. If our children die before the age of accountability, they’ll be in Heaven, too. There are some caveats though, and some believe that well you have to be, have saved parents in order for the children to be specially protected.

And there are verses in the Bible like 1 Corinthians 7:14, that say “The Christian wife brings holiness to her marriage and the Christian husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise your children would not have a Godly influence. But now they are set apart.” So there is a caveat that maybe there’s an umbrella of protection, especially for the children of believers.

Tim Moore: Right, I think you hit the nail on the head even in our intro when you said Deuteronomy 29:29 is guiding to us even as we have questions that we bring for the Lord. There are certain secret things that belong to Him. We are not allowed to know. Our minds could not contain it. I certainly could not contain the mind of God. I’ve said oftentimes if He tried to pour all of His knowledge into my head, my brain would explode because I just cannot contain it. But things that have been revealed through His Word have been given to us for understanding. Yes, sometimes it takes study as you indicated, but there is understanding to be gained.

I think too often, folks, people think of Job who wanted to inquire upon the Lord as he was suffering great infliction. So in Job 23:2-3, he said, “Even today my claim is rebellion. Complaint is rebellion, for his hand, the Lord’s is heavy against my groaning. Oh that I knew where I might find him, that I might come to his seat, I would present my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn the words which he would answer.”

In other words, answer to my questions, “And perceive that which he would say to me, he would contend with me by the greatness of his power. Surely he would pay attention to me.” So Job had questions. We also know that when the Lord appeared to Job in Chapter 38, the Lord’s response was somewhat off-putting it would appear because He said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now to gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you and you’ll instruct me.”

And so it would seem that the Lord is rebuking Job for his questions. But I don’t think that’s the case because over and over again in Scripture we have examples where men and women of God had questions that they asked in pure hearts and the Lord did not rebuke them for asking questions.

Nathan Jones: Yes, I mean you’ve probably heard that God always answers yes, no, and wait. A lot of times it’s wait. That was Habakkuk. Habakkuk wondered, “Lord, why are you letting the, your own people sin so grievously?” And the Lord answered, “I’m going to send the Babylonians down to destroy them.”

Tim Moore: No, not that.

Nathan Jones: And Habakkuk’s like, “What kind of answer is that?” And the Lord as He, through Daniel, through the angels told them, “Go your way Daniel. You’re not going to understand it until the end times.” When it comes to the age of accountability, I’ve always really studied this because I have a special needs son, he’s autistic, he’s nonverbal. And I’ve wondered, does the age of accountability apply to him because he can’t understand who God is or make a…

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: Suggestion even though he’s well over say 12,13 or whatever it is. I believe that because Heather and I are saved we have that umbrella of protection over him because the mentally disabled would fall under the age of accountability.

Tim Moore: I think the age of accountability is a perfect example of the kind of question that we grapple with. We think we have some pretty clear guidance in Scripture, but it’s not directly stated in black and white. So we trust in the Lord that He is good, that He will do what is right and that He will be glorified.

And so I think it is to His glory that children would be provided for, especially in homes where their parents are faithful, not always faithful, that’s perhaps the wrong word, but we have put our trust in Christ. And so He is faithful to us and to our children. You know Nathan, I’m reminded, you mentioned Habakkuk wanting to ask a question and Daniel said, “I don’t understand”. Even David wrote Psalms where he said, “How long, Oh Lord?”

I’m reminded of Psalm 13 where he said, “How long, oh Lord?” Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” David wanted to engage with the Lord and his heart had questions that he pondered and he was not chastised for that. As a matter of fact, he was called a man after God’s own heart. And I think it is because he leaned in and trusted upon the Lord even when he did not have full understanding of himself.

Nathan Jones: I think you bring up a key point. He trusted God, when we trust God, the yes, the no, or the wait, and the wait I think is the hardest, is that we just have to trust that God is sovereign. He’s got all the answers and we get to Heaven I don’t think we’re going to be given all the answers to the universe otherwise we’d be, you know, omniscient. But He’s going to give us what we need to know at that time. The Bible itself, Tim, is a revelation of God, but it’s not the overall revelation of God.

Tim Moore: No.

Nathan Jones: It’s just what He wants us to know in this time period. I’d love to know more about the eternal state, but two chapters, Revelation 21 and 22, that’s all we get. And it’s pretty much a diagram of what the New Jerusalem will look like. So there’s so much we want to know, but the Lord has given us what we know now.

But I think it’s a good point that we make. We need to trust the Lord and then we need to study, we need to get in the Word because the answers to our questions are found in the Bible, maybe, and this happens, you know, it might not be spelled out per se, but there’s times where you’re reading a passage and the Holy Spirit will move and you’re like…

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: And opens up this revelation and you get the answer that way as well.

Tim Moore: You know what? The Lord Himself has invited us to do that. He said to Isaiah in Chapter 1:18, “Come, let us reason together.” He wants us to engage in this dialogue. The very name Israel is because Jacob wrestled with God. The people of Israel wrestled with God. They’re still wrestling with Him we could argue, but in wrestling they gained insight and understanding because God has revealed Himself.

But He does that first and foremost through His Word. I would say even Jesus Christ models for us that there are questions. When He hung on the cross, He, repeating the words of David from Psalm 22 said, “Oh my Lord, why have you forsaken me?” It is a deep call of the heart seeking understanding from God the Father. And so we who want to follow after God’s own heart, want to know what He has revealed and let it permeate our being.

Nathan Jones: Right. Well let’s tackle another question that people are asking, because we’ve established that God’s given us the answers and people want to know where did the Old Testament saints go when they died? We get that a lot.

Tim Moore: Well, that is a great question. We probably could spend a whole episode on that. But we know that the Old Testament teaches that those who died who were righteous went to a portion of Hades called Paradise. And there they were awaiting some fulfillment of a prophetic promise. And so they were on a side of Hades that was Paradise. It was not like the Torments.

So Jesus used the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man had gone to Torments and it was tormenting because it was fire and brimstone and he wanted just a drop of water to cool his tongue. But the poor man had gone to Paradise and there was a great divide between the two.

Nathan Jones: Isn’t it interesting? You’ll find most Christians believe that when you, everybody died throughout history, they went right to Heaven or they went to Hell. But there’s nobody in Hell right now. And that surprises people. You’re right. There’s another place, a prison called Hades or Torments with a giant bottomless pit in the middle, which someday Satan will go into.

And then the Paradise on the other side, as we learned about in Luke 16 and what happened? They were waiting for that ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. We’re told in II Corinthians 12:4 that Paul attests that he states that that Paradise was taken up to Heaven so that the Old Testament saints were delivered into Heaven upon His death. And then we… when we die we know we go right to Heaven.

Tim Moore: And when He was resurrected, Scripture says He led forth a train captive…

Nathan Jones: Captives, yeah.

Tim Moore: I believe it’s those people who are waiting, being held in Paradise and He brought them forth. I don’t understand every provision of God, even through Scripture for the people of the Old Testament, but I do understand every promise for us. And that gets to another bottom line, which you touched on before.

All of the revelations of God that He wants us to understand point to the person of Jesus Christ and the provision for salvation through the Gospel. That is clear and evident throughout His Word. It’s obviously evident throughout the New Testament and the Gospels. And so only by grasping the salvation that is ours as a free gift of God’s grace can then we have our hearts open, the Holy Spirit indwell to lead us into even greater understanding.

Nathan Jones: Right, I remember being in camp back in the early ’90s I was a camp counselor and we did orienteering. We’d go into the wilderness; we’d have a map and a compass. We’d lead our kids that we were, I was a counselor over and we go out in the wilderness.

Well, I had the information needed to get around not too far from the camp mind you, I could have got lost. I didn’t bring a globe with me and I didn’t bring maps of Portugal and all that. I didn’t need all that stuff. What I needed is what I was given, the map and the compass.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: And that’s what the Lord’s done with the Bible. He’s given us all that we need to know to understand Him, His Word and salvation. The rest that we want to know, well, we might have to wait until 1) prophecy’s revealed or 2) to be up with Him in Heaven one day.

Tim Moore: You know, oftentimes the Pharisees, the Sadducees would come to Jesus to ask Him a question. And more often than not, they were trying to trick Him or trap Him into making a response that perhaps they could accuse Him of something.

But one time they came in Matthew 22 and asked about a man who, or yeah, a man who had a series of wives because they, they kept passing on and so they said in the eternal state after the resurrection, whose wife will she be? And Jesus’ response I think is telling for so many of these questions that we would ponder over, He said, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

And so His go-to answer said, you need to go to the Word to have understanding. You haven’t studied it, you haven’t read it, you haven’t understood it. And people might say, “Well I’ve read it. I don’t completely understand.” That’s why you have to study and that’s why you have to lean upon the Holy Spirit who guides us into all understanding.

Nathan Jones: I think a third way that we learn and you’re watching Christ in Prophecy, so you want to know about the Lord, you want to know about the Bible is getting with other Christians, especially those who are deeper, spiritually mature, who are deeper in study.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Nathan Jones: And learn under them and not just suck up everything they say and soak it up in your mind, but be the good Berean, to get back into the Bible and say, “Well, did that teacher get that right and all?” And that also helps us grow in our understanding of God. And usually we’ll get answers to questions that we didn’t even realize we were asking while we get to go to a Bible study.

Tim Moore: That is a wonderful insight, Nathan, that brings up one of my favorite proverbs, Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” You may have had an experience that gave you understanding. And then as I later in life, perhaps go through a similar experience, you can say, “Tim, here’s what I learned as the Lord walked with me through that time.”

Some of you may have had tremendous traumas in your past, but the Lord led you to great understanding of His Word or appreciation of His providence. And now you can be a conduit of that blessing, helping to sharpen others who are experiencing the same kind of circumstance.

Nathan Jones: When my wife and I were dating, we were going to Bible college and we worked at a church plant and there was a couple, Roger and Sonny Glick and they were kind of leaders of that church. So they weren’t the pastor, but he was, I think, one of the most spiritually mature men and she was the most spiritually mature woman I’d ever met. So I put it in my life goals that I would mature into a Roger one day and my wife would mature into a Sonny one day.

She’s matured into Sonny. I’m still working on the Roger part. But I think having mentors in your life that are spiritually deep, spiritually mature, that you can go to in one-on-one talk is another way that we learn about God’s will. Because like you said, it’s those experiences that they have that we haven’t had yet that we can learn of God from.

Tim Moore: I’ll flip the coin because you’re exactly right. We can learn from mentors who perhaps have had more experience, maybe a little older or at least wiser than us, but there’s another great blessing to being in a position of teaching others, whether it’s younger people, children, or just being a Sunday school teacher.

Because as you study to prepare…I have gained so much knowledge when I dedicate myself, Lord, I’ve got to prepare so I can teach this class or this lesson, well then I’m forced to get into the Word of God because I am expected to lead others.

It also makes me be very conscientious about living in a way that would be representative of the Lord. And so it helps refine even me. I think there’s great blessing to being under the authority and under the mentorship of others and also being a mentor to someone younger or perhaps less experienced in the Lord than any of us are.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, I mean, where do you think all these videos that we write, books we write and you know, all this stuff that we teach, it comes from our own personal studies and studying other great writers. You know how Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, David Reagan…

Tim Moore: Of course.

Nathan Jones: …Ron Rhodes, and all these, and so you’re right, I, there’s a lot of times where I learn more preparing for a lesson than I would if I just taught it.

Tim Moore: You sure do. I think that sometimes it almost feels audacious to think that we could engage with God Himself, but that’s what He calls us to do. I already referenced, come let us reason together. You think of Adam as he walked in the garden with the Lord and the insinuation is that the Lord showed up regularly to commune with him. And yet the Lord invited Moses to be in an intimate relationship and communion also with Him in that day and age. And yet Moses wanted to see God’s face.

You and I have the great privilege and blessing of being able to look with hindsight at fulfilled prophecies that Moses was just anticipating in the distant future. We can see them already having been fulfilled and we have the complete canon of Scripture written by Moses and so many others after him to be able to glean from.

Nathan Jones: It shows that what a disservice it is for pastors and other teachers who ignore the 31% that’s Bible prophecy because Bible prophecy reveals God…

Tim Moore: Oh yes.

Nathan Jones: We get to know who God is. We know His plans and purposes. We know all He’s had to suffer and endure to bring us back to that Garden of Eden relationship where one day the Lord wants us to be back where we were face to face with Him, we’re walking with Him, we’re talking with Him.

We can say, “Lord Jesus, you know, why did you do this?” “Well, I had to do this.” And you can share the big picture then. And so understanding Bible prophecy helps us understand what God has in store for us and that that’s His supreme desire is to reconcile mankind with Him so we can have that relationship again.

Tim Moore: You know, you mentioned earlier the Jesus in the Old Testament series and we joke that the time that that I love Leviticus.

Nathan Jones: Yeah.

Tim Moore: And people say, Leviticus, that’s so boring and dry. Well, I love it.

Nathan Jones: To each his own, right?

Tim Moore: Because if you understand that it is prophetic in nature, then you see Jesus reflected throughout the book of Leviticus. And it reminds me of another anticipation that David had. And when he wrote in Psalm 15:1, “Oh Lord, who may abide in your tent, who may dwell on your Holy Hill?” well the children of Israel couldn’t. It was a very perilous thing to be in close proximity with the Lord while He was tabernacling with them.

But Jesus has come revealing Himself and now we’re called into that very intimate relationship. And regarding things of the end, I’m reminded of the disciples as they walked with Jesus during His ministry. In Matthew 24, one of our favorite chapters captures their questions as they inquired of Jesus, He had revealed the destruction of Jerusalem. And they asked in verse three, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

He didn’t chastise them or rebuke them for asking those questions. He knew they were curious. He said, “It’s not for you to know the time. But then He went on to describe the signs of the times. And that becomes one of our go-to messages here at Christ in Prophecy because we, too, don’t know the day or the age, but we know the signs of the time. And so Nathan, I think the Lord would encourage us to have inquiring minds.

Nathan Jones: There’s times though, where the apostles didn’t have faith, and you need to have faith and that trust to understand God’s answers.

Tim Moore: Yes, you do.

Nathan Jones: So when Jesus would give an answer and they just couldn’t understand it, they weren’t putting their trust and having faith. And there’s times where Jesus would be like a little exasperated, He’s like “You knuckleheads.” You know, “Why can’t you understand this?”

And I never want to ask God, and I think that’s why a lot of us are a little timid about asking. We don’t want Him to say, “You knucklehead, how come you don’t get it?” It’s so rare, but if we approach it in faith and open-minded and not trying to take our own desires and overlay them upon the answer we hope to achieve, then we can understand God’s true answer better.

Tim Moore: Understand God’s true answer. I think that’s a great segue to one cautionary note.

Nathan Jones: Okay.

Tim Moore: Because there are some people who would have inquiring minds to gain much knowledge for the sake of knowledge.

Nathan Jones: Yeah.

Tim Moore: And I dare say there are even some Bible teachers who seem to have much knowledge, but the way that they share it is for the sake of knowledge or to be lifted up in terms of their own reputation. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived touched on this, this risk and danger when he said in Ecclesiastes 1:17, “I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.” He knew the whole realm and realized that this also was striving after wind.
In other words, it’s vanity or vain because in much wisdom there is much grief and increasing knowledge results in increasing death or pain. And so we are not striving after knowledge for knowledge sake. We are asking questions and we will seek to answer questions to point to the Lord God and to Jesus Christ. Our knowledge is not for our own benefit or for knowledge sake, it’s to glorify and honor Him.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, it’s not like Paul on Mars Hill where they like to get around and talk about the latest idea and philosophy…

Tim Moore: Right.

Nathan Jones: To no end or purpose. We study God’s Word; we ask questions for the purpose of knowing our loving savior and developing and growing that relationship with Him.

Tim Moore: We certainly do. Well folks, we’d like to invite you to partner with us as we seek to understand God’s revealed Word, His prophetic Word. And as we seek to share that with others who have inquiring minds, some people who don’t know that the answer has already been provided. So listen for just a minute as we explain to you how you can partner with Lamb & Lion Ministries.

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Part 2

Nathan Jones: Well, Tim, okay, we’re going to tackle these questions, these inquiring mind, what are inquiring minds want to know? What are some of the topics we’re going to tackle over the next few weeks?

Tim Moore: Well, in the next several weeks and throughout the rest of the year, and really going forward, we’re going to touch on questions to include, are we on the cusp of Armageddon? Is the war of Gog and Magog right around the corner? What about the Seal Judgements, the Trumpet Judgements, the Bowl Judgments?

We’ll go back to the Old Testament and ask, was Nebuchadnezzar a prophet talking about the visions that he and Daniel saw and recorded? We’ll talk about Daniel’s very bad vision, and even the sign of Jonah, which Jesus refers to in His own death, burial, and resurrection. So many questions, Nathan. We could spend years and years exploring, and I hope until the Lord’s coming, we’ll continue to have inquiring minds ourselves.

Closing

Well folks, at the end of his Gospel account, John revealed something surprising. There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Hyperbole? I don’t think so. We’re talking about the same Lord Jesus Christ, who not only created the cosmos but holds it together even now. God’s works remain vast and endless.

Nathan Jones: And John also revealed the reason why his own account was not longer is because he wrote for only one purpose, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that by believing you may have life in His name. Our goal here on Christ in Prophecy is the same. Not to merely help you know about God, but we pray to know God personally through the living Word, His Son, Jesus Christ.

Tim Moore: We’re excited about this new series because throughout the weeks ahead, it will offer you a wide range of interesting conversations that are meant to draw you into the Word of God. We will wrestle with God and with what He has chosen to reveal about Himself, His Son, and His great plan of redemption for mankind.

For when it comes to Bible prophecy, and even as the world grows darker by the day, another of Yogi Bert’s timeless witticisms certainly applies. “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” And on that encouraging and forward looking note, we hope you’ll join us with your inquiring mind on the next episode of Christ in Prophecy. Godspeed!

End of Program