The Age of Converts

The Age of Converts
Every Christian parent has a need to address the question of conversion of his or her children. Certainly, faithful parents want their children to share their faith and hope for salvation. Can anyone doubt that this has been true since the earliest days of the church?

Defining Terms
Let us define a "child" for the purpose of this study. A child is one who might be converted not as a result of his or her own faith or choice but through the decision and actions of his or her parents. Let us also consider the various relevant terms from the New Testament.

Household

Greek oikos: house, home; household, family; descendents, nation (Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament Second Edition, F.Wilbur Gingrich, Frederick W. Danker 2nd Ed. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. 1983, p. 137).
In Biblical times, a household could consist of parents and children of many generations, co-workers, friends, household servants, slaves, boarders, and the like. (Ref. Luke 14:21, Acts 7:11, Acts 10:2, 7, Acts 18:3, Romans 16:10-11, 1 Timothy 5:4, Hebrews 11:7).
Elders and deacons were expected to manage their own households well (1 Timothy 3:4-5, 3:12).

Child

Greek paidion: young child or infant (Matthew 2:8); child (Matthew 14:21); figurative child (Matthew 18:3) (Gingrich, Danker op. cit. p. 146).

Generally describes a child still under the authority and training of his or her parents (Matthew 14:21, Luke 1:80, 2:40,42).
Characterized by immaturity (1 Corinthians 14:20)
Refers to a twelve year old girl (Mk 5:39).
Figurative address for adults (John 21:5, 1John 2:18)
Sometimes used to discussing descendants (Hebrews 2:13-14)

Greek teknon: child, descendents, posterity; figurative child (Gingrich, Danker op. cit. p. 198)

Infants (Matthew 2:18)
Descendants (Matthew 3:9, 1 Timothy 5:4)
Old enough to rebel (Matthew 10:21, Titus 1:6) and work (Matthew 21:28)
Figurative address for Israel (Matthew 23:37, Acts 13:33) and disciples (Mark 10:24, John 1:12)
Expected to obey parents (Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:20, 1 Timothy 3:4)

Oikos and teknon used together in 1 Timothy 3:12.
There is no implication of age by the use of various terms. The context of usage provides a stronger indication of age than the mere use of any particular term itself.

Relevant Texts from the New Testament
In examining the question of the baptism of children, we should examine if any conversion instances in Acts or the rest of the New Testament touch upon the question of child conversion.

Acts 2:39- promise is for your children (teknon).

Those who received the promise that day were those who accepted the message (2:41) and presumably were able to repent.
This text does not seem to support the idea of converting young children, but rather suggests that the gospel promise extends to the subsequent generations. This is a common usage of "children" (teknon), ref. Lk 23:28, Mt 27:25, Acts 13:33.

Acts 11:14, household saved through message.

10:2- Cornelius and his household (Greek oikos, NASB "household," NIV "family") was devout and God-fearing.
10:7- included two servants and a devout soldier.
10:24- he had called together close friends and relatives ("many people" 10:27).
10:44-48- those baptized had also spoken in tongues and received the Holy Spirit as the listened to the message.
No spouse or children are mentioned, but two servants and a devout soldier are mentioned as part of his household.
Could young children be devout and God-fearing? Could they listen to the message? Did they speak in other languages as the Spirit came upon them?

Acts 16:15- members of Lydia's household baptized.

Members of her household had accompanied her to a place of prayer by the river.
She invited Paul and Silas to stay with her, strongly suggesting that other adults also comprised her household.
Her household seems to have become a meeting place for the church in Philippi (16:40).
There is no indication that Lydia was married or had any children.

Acts 16:31-34- Jailer and household baptized.

16:34 says they believed.
There is no mention of a spouse or any children.

Acts 18:8- Crispus and his household baptized.

No mention of a spouse or children.
18:8 his household believed and was baptized.

1 Corinthians 1:16- Household of Stephanas baptized.

16:15 says that the household of Stephanas devoted themselves to the ministry.
16:17 the household of Stephanas may have consisted of Fortunatus and Achaicus, other adult members of the church. Or perhaps these two men were part of the household of Chloe (1:11).

1 Corinthians 7:14- Sanctified children.

This cannot mean they are saved, because the unsaved, unbelieving spouses share in this sanctification.
This seems to suggest that the unbelieving families of Christians merit some special consideration or status to God by their relationship to the believer.

Titus 1:6 children (teknon) of an elder must believe and not be open to the charge of being wild or rebellious.

The Greek term translated "wild" is asotia, also translated "debauchery" in most cases (ref. Ephesians 5:18, 1 Peter 4:4). The Greek term translated "rebellious" is anupotaktos, also used in 1 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:10, Hebrews 2:8 to discuss rebellion. These are very "adult" sins.

From this examination, we can make several conclusions concerning the topic of child conversion:

There is no explicit evidence that any child was baptized as a result of his or her parents' faith and decision.
In instances where "households" were baptized, the texts also say those who were baptized had various adult qualities-- acceptance of the message, faith. This precludes children unable to have these traits from being baptized.
Neither parents nor church leaders are commanded to baptize children, though parents are told to raise them in the instruction and counsel of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:20), apparently with the intent of promoting the child's sincere faith in God (2 Timothy 1:5).

For a further discussion on the topic of Infant Baptism, see the section of this study entitled What about Infant Baptism?

The Age of Spiritual Accountability
Implicitly, the age of spiritual accountability is defined as an age when a child is able to sin and believe in (or reject) Jesus as the Savior. This would likely vary with the individual and is not precisely defined by Scripture.

Interestingly, the only discussion of Jesus' life between infancy and adulthood is his visit to Jerusalem when he was twelve (Luke 2:42ff). Here he shows traits of both maturity and immaturity. While he was aware of his identity and had made a conscious choice to be involved in spiritual matters, he is still subject to the authority of his parents. This text provides a suggestion that the age of twelve might be pivotal in considering when children become spiritually mature.

It is also interesting that the age of twelve roughly coincides with the onset of physical changes associated with puberty. This provides a further "natural" suggestion about the general age at which children may indeed begin to reach a point of spiritual accountability. Yet, these observations must be tempered with the realization that the Scriptures do not define this age explicitly, and each person is an individual that reaches spiritual accountability at his or her own rate.