The Case for Children Raptured :: By Terry James

Since my time in the Seventh Street Bible Tabernacle in Pekin, Illinois, where I was saved at age 6, I’ve known that all children who haven’t reached the “age of accountability” will go to be with Jesus at the Rapture.

Yes. I was taught that from the time of the flannel-board productions presented by my teachers. Some would criticize that I and others in my little classrooms in the basement of that church were “indoctrinated”—in effect, brainwashed into believing all children will go to Christ at some point that would never eventuate (the Rapture).

I can understand the criticism. However, I am no longer a child; rather, I’ve come to be governed and taught by the Holy Spirit about the Rapture and the very character of the Heavenly Father.

That inculcation has welded into my spirit the iron-clad assurance that: 1) there is coming that “twinkling of an eye” moment Paul the apostle prophesied in 1 Corinthians 15:51–55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, and 2) all children who haven’t reached the age of accountability will go to Jesus in that great event.

The age of accountability, of course, is the time in a person’s life when they’ve reached the cognitive and spiritual ability to understand God’s salvation message. The individual, having reached that ability, must, after being prompted by the Holy Spirit to come to Christ, either accept Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross or choose to reject that grace gift of redemption from sin.

This age is different among individuals, and only God knows what it is, and at that time, prompts them through His Holy Spirit to make that decision. This prompting often takes place many times throughout a person’s life. But that, too, is God’s grace and mercy at work in calling people to salvation. It is imperative that the person receiving the prompting accepts Christ at the earliest possible time. This is because longevity of life is not promised. The only thing we’re promised is that God wants all people to accept His grace gift of salvation:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

At the Rapture, Christ will take all who are saved through belief in His sacrifice into the clouds of Glory. All children, before they’ve reached the age of accountability, will go to the Lord in the Rapture because they’re considered innocent in God’s eyes, in terms of not being mature enough to make the decision necessary for redemption from sin.

With that groundwork laid, we turn now to the reason for the title of the commentary. The character, the heart of God, makes it clear that all who are without sin (because they’ve accepted Christ and His sacrifice on the cross) will escape the terrors of the Tribulation, the last seven years of judgment leading to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:11). This grace, as stated, covers all children not yet mature enough to accept Christ. But it also becomes clear, when examining these God-rejecting times on this fallen planet, that treatment of children by the evil, wicked purveyors of child abuse through abortion and molestation will be a major reason all children will be taken to Christ at that stunning moment of Rapture.

We’ve read report after report of the most egregious such abuse. The millions upon millions of babies murdered in their mothers’ wombs or murdered right after birth must be considered by Heaven’s justice system among the most heinous activities perpetrated by the God-rejecting world. The sex trafficking, transsexual mutilations, and other satanic treatment of the most innocent among us will doubtless be a major reason for the wrath of God to fall upon rebellious earth dwellers, as the KJV terms people of that era.

The following is mild in comparison to things that have been inflicted on the children, as mentioned above. But it is a report that nonetheless frames the case for children and the Rapture.

Two Christian families have filed a lawsuit against two teachers, a principal, and the Encinitas Union School Board in California for requiring their fifth-grade sons to participate in classroom instruction aimed at kindergarteners on the topic of gender ideology.

Having already encountered gender ideology material back in May as part of the fifth-grade health class program at La Costa Heights Elementary School, both families were notified in advance of the lesson and were able to opt their children out. However, when almost identical instruction was incorporated into the “Kinderbuddy” program—a mentorship program intended to foster healthy relationships between fifth-graders and kindergartners—no advance notification was offered, and parents had no chance to opt out their children.

As part of the Kinderbuddy program, the fifth-graders were instructed to meet with their kindergarten “buddy” and watch a video based on the book titled My Shadow Is Pink, in which a young boy questions his gender. In the story, the boy’s father says his son’s gender identity is just a phase, but eventually, he abandons his prior beliefs and encourages his son to wear a dress. Following the video, the students were compelled to go outside and make the kindergartener choose a color for his shadow, representing his gender identity.

When the families voiced their objections, the school’s principal and the district superintendent said the curriculum would not be changed unless the state legislature were to require it, and the school would not offer opt-outs for the curriculum. The families’ lawsuit points out that under California law, families with religious objections to gender identity instruction should receive notice and have an opportunity to opt out of it.

The families are represented by First Liberty Institute and the National Center for Law & Policy, organizations that specialize in protecting both religious liberty and the parental right to transparency from schools. (“Lawsuit Filed after School Forces Fifth Graders to Recruit Kindergarteners into Gender Ideology,” Decision Magazine, October 30, 2024)

While all children of this Age of Grace will be removed at the time of Rapture, other children will be born during the Tribulation. Most will die, and none of those born during that horrendous time will reach the age of accountability. They will go to Heaven at their death or will go into the Millennium as citizens of Christ’s Kingdom.

God’s unassailable righteous character in receiving all children into His presence for eternity is assured!

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