Question:
Dr. Lindstrom, I am happy to see that you have caught up on most of the questions. I say most, because two of the questions I have posted have not been responded to yet. I’m thinking that one of them was overlooked, as it is sort of in the middle. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts. Here are the two questions, and thank you again for your ministry. 1. Dr. Lindstrom, I had placed two questions to your site earlier this week and they are no longer showing up. My first question has to do with the “age of accountability”. What does the Bible say about those who cognitively do not have the capacities to understand salvation and confess Jesus as Savior, such as unborn children who are miscarried or aborted, babies, young children, autistic kids, those with major cognitive deficits and so on? I know David said he would see his young son again, but what about God saying that he hated Esau and loved Jacob? And, even though John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb, that some say is evidence of an unborn baby being filled with the Holy Spirit. Even if that’s the case, do the two examples suggest that this is the case for all? My second question has to do with the resurrection, and why it is that our old body is resurrected, given that we will be given a new body? Finally, I had made a suggestion that it would be helpful (to me, anyway) to group all the questions that you’ve responded to by topic, such as salvation, the rapture, etc. Thank you so much for your ministry. I greatly appreciate your gentleness in answering questions on the air and on the web. 2. Could you tell me which prophecies concerning Israel have been fulfilled, and which are yet to be fulfilled?
Answer:
Jonah 4:11 says, “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” Nineveh was a very large city with 120,000 children who didn’t know their right hand from their left. We believe that this is an indication of when a child becomes accountable. Some children may never mentally develop and never become accountable. The word filled means controlled. The passage about John the Baptist is talking about the Holy Spirit apparently controlling the growth and development of John the Baptist. So Jonah has the best answer for us about accountablity. On the resurrection I Corinthians 15:35-44 says, “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in ncorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:” It seems that we get a new body that will have many of the qualities of the first. It is obvious that we receive a brand new body, but like a seed planted carries the genetic code for the plant. Our old body has a similar role. I Corinthians 15:44 says, “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” On question number 2. This is such a broad question let me recommend a book by one of my favorite authors, John F. Walvoord. “EVERY PROPHECY OF THE BIBLE” is incredible. The book sells for $17.00 and if you can’t find it easily, we have copies here at Calvary. The ISBN is 1-56476-758-2. The book contains 685 pages. John Walvoord is Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, and was on the school’s faculty for 50 years, including its president from 1952-1986.