A friend and I had a conversation about people with severe and profound cognitive disabilities, such as those in the latter stages of Alzheimer's, and their salvation. The question arose, how do those who do not understand, who cannot seek God, get saved?
I must answer, who can seek God? Romans 3:10-12, Psalm 14:1-3, and Psalm 53:1-3 says that no one seeks God and that no one understands (emphasis mine). If indeed, we are enemies of God (Romans 5:10), children of wrath by nature (Ephesians 2:3), and sinners at our very conception (Psalm 51:5) how could we seek God? Salvation, you see, is not about us seeking after God- but God seeking after us!
Jesus says that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws Him (John 6:44). Jesus says that those who are taught by the Father come to Him (John 6:45). We do not lean on our own understanding.
I worked with a man once, 'Kevin', who was born with a profound developmental disability. He had the lowest IQ of anyone I've ever known. He had no mobility, no bowel and bladder control, and received nutrients from a feeding tube; the man couldn't even eat. He responded with a smile to soft vocalizations spoken closely in his ear; whether or not he understood what was being said to him, I'll never know, though it was obvious he enjoyed that human interaction. But that smile is all he had to give to the caregivers around him who provided him his every need. This man was utterly helpless and completely dependent.
This is how we ALL are regarding our salvation. Utterly helpless and completely dependent on someone else to save us. We try and we strive under the Law of God to meet His demands and to prove ourselves righteous, but it is to no avail. We all fall short of the glory of God. We all sin. (Romans 3:23) And none can save ourselves.
Even for Kevin, though no outward sign of him sinning was ever seen by me, his heart is what God searches to judge his deeds, and his heart is deceitful and desperately sick. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
But this is what God did for the hearts of Israel in Ezekiel 36:25-27- He gave them a new heart and a new spirit. He took their heart of stone and gave them a heart of flesh. He put His Spirit in them and caused them to walk in His statutes and obey His rules.
This is how God works. "While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly... God demonstrated His own love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6, 8) Weak and helpless all of us, God saves us. "In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10, emphasis mine)
This propitiation, Christ absorbing the wrath of God that was upon us, is what saves us. This is what our salvation is dependent upon. Not on us seeking God or understanding Him on with our own deceitful minds and sick hearts.
God calls us to repentance and faith in this work. By grace we're saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Faith- "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), being sure and convinced of the promises of God regarding the Cross and the Gospel, comes to us by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). It is given to us in a measure (Romans 12:3). His kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4) which He grants (Acts 5:31, Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25).
For Kevin and for us, Christ is our Savior, our Seeker Who came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). God has mercy on whom He wills and hardens whom He wills (Romans 9:18). Should He will, the God Who sent His Son to die for the sins of Kevin will have mercy on him, as He has me, and grant him faith, repentance, understanding, salvation, and a heart of flesh. That is how Kevin, a man with a profound cognitive disability will get saved.
Kevin may never be able to stand on a street corner and proclaim the Gospel. He may never in his earthly body be able to give words to his faith. But the fruits of Kevin's salvation would certainly be evident in ways that would point those around Him to His Savior. Maybe that's what his smile was all about... Speculation. Sorry.
Now, for those of us who are in Christ, including men, women, and children like Kevin, because we have been loved, pursued, given mercy, saved, and regenerated with new hearts, now we are free to seek God. Now we can understand Him. Because He loves us, we can now love Him.
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