I am a committed christian, and I accept Christ as my Savior, but I don't understand some of the things God does to people who do not believe, and I believe this is holding me back from truly feeling Him in my heart.  These are some of the things I do not understand: there are truly great people out there who do not know Christ or do not believe.  Those who are brought up believing something else are innocent, for they have no choice. To them, it is like someone trying to convert you to Buddhism; you would not convert because you were brought up believing something else, and the consequence is to burn in hell for all eternity.  The human mind can’t even conceive of eternity; that’s the most horrifying thing I can imagine. God is like our father, but could you send your son to burn in hell, even if you could do something about it?  Please help me understand this; my faith most likely depends on this.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Voice For The Lost

Dear Voice For The Lost,

There are several things to consider when wrestling with the issue of the lost going to hell.  The first thing to remember is that God doesn’t send people to hell – we choose to go there.  Sin is a choice made by responsible adults (see the story of the first sin in Gen 3:1-7).  When we sin, we die (Rom 6:23).  God didn’t make us spiritually dead; He created us with spiritual life (Gen 2:7).  God originally wanted all mankind to live eternally with Him in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8)… we are the ones who chose to break that perfect pattern.

God says that everyone has the opportunity and freedom to choose Him – regardless of what background we come from.  The very universe screams of the nature of God, so all are without excuse (Rom 1:20).  We all have a responsibility to seek out God, and He promises that all those who seek Him will find Him (Matt 7:7, Matt 5:6).  God never condemned us to hell; we did it to ourselves.  God has offered a payment for our souls through His Son Jesus Christ’s blood (Jhn 3:16).  Jesus is a road back to God (Jhn 14:6), a road we don’t deserve (Rom 5:8).  All of us have rebelled against God (Rom 3:23), and God in His infinite mercy gives us a second chance.

When we start thinking in terms of “God opening the way to heaven through His love” instead of “God condemning almost everyone to hell”, then we begin to get a proper picture of the way God views eternity.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

What is the age of accountability?

Sincerely,
Old Enough to Know Better

Dear Old Enough to Know Better,

The age of accountability is the age when a child becomes accountable to God for their sins and would be judged for them… exactly at what age that happens is the tricky part of your question.  We can tell you what the Bible says on the subject, but it doesn’t say much.

We know any baby that dies goes to heaven.  David’s son died, and David made it clear that his son was in heaven (2 Sam 12:23).  Also, Paul uses the immaturity of children as an example (1 Cor 13:11).  This tells us God doesn’t have the same expectation of a child’s behavior as He does of an adult’s.  Children are not bound by the same rules as adults.  A child doesn’t have the mental capacity or maturity to be held accountable for their mistakes like adults are.

In order to become a christian, there are several things God expects you to be capable of doing:

1. Take responsibility for your sins (Acts 3:19).
2. Hear and understand the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
3. Be responsible for your own spiritual growth (1 Pet 2:1-2).

If a child is not capable of doing those things, they cannot be held accountable for their eternal future.

This still doesn’t answer the question though because every child matures at a different rate.  Everyone agrees that a five-year-old can’t be held accountable, and that a twenty-year-old can.  It is the age spectrum in between where our judgment gets fuzzy.  Only God, who knows our hearts (Lk 16:15), can accurately judge the hour in which a child makes that transition into accountability.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

I committed adultery and divorced twenty years ago.  I was married to an alcoholic; I know that is no excuse for what I did, but I was in a fifteen-year marriage with a man that would not get help for mental abuse and alcohol abuse.  I had three children he was beginning to treat like me.  I am not laying the blame all on him; I have forgiven him for what he did, and I asked for his forgiveness for anything I did to him.  I have been married for nineteen years to a wonderful man; I have asked God to forgive me, but the guilt is killing me… am I not forgiven?

Sincerely,
A Wife

Dear A Wife,

Your question is an important one and is one that many christians wrestle with because of the high divorce rate in American society.  As you stated, adultery is wrong, and every divorce is caused because of sin.  God hates divorce (Mal 2:16), and His desire has always been for men and women to remain married for a lifetime (Matt 19:4-6).

As of late, we have received a numerous amount of questions regarding this issue and normally try and answer these questions privately due to the sensitive nature of this topic.  However, as this particular question was asked anonymously, we have no choice but to publicly answer it to provide the Bible answer to you.  Our hope is that this post will serve as a final AYP post on the topic of marriage, divorce, and remarriage (MDR) for quite some time.

There are many views on MDR, and everyone must be careful to not stand too dogmatically upon any position because good brethren have disagreed over this issue for years.  Within our own congregation, we have had multiple viewpoints on how to appropriately address this doctrinal issue.  In areas of truth, we must stand firm; in matters of opinion, we should bend with the wind, and in all things we should show love.

Because of the complexities of this issue and because every circumstance is unique, we are recommending that people with questions on this subject listen to the sermon series “Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage”, compare the sermons to Scripture, and then faithfully examine themselves to see whether they are living as God intended (Php 2:12).