Do people with significant mental disabilities automatically receive eternal life?

[Sower]

Do Do people with significant mental disabilities automatically receive eternal life?

Ask God..

He will answer, or not, depending upon your intent to know...

If you are concerned about the the eternal fate of humanity,
share the good news.

With  people with significant spiritual  disabilities.....

[Not of the World]

2 minutes ago, Sower said:

If you are concerned about the the eternal fate of humanity, share the good news.
With  people with significant spiritual  disabilities.....

 

I certainly do!

[Marathoner]

6 hours ago, Not of the World said:

Have you shared this story here before?  I would love to read about it!

Here and there. Our dear sister @kwikphilly is acquainted with much of the testimony, so she knows more than most. 

Some things are hard to relate, my friend. Very hard. What can I say? I write about mercy and that is one thing, but then I was clueless for the longest time. We read in the scriptures how it pleases the Lord for men and women to not understand His words at various times, and we might assume this is because those who hear are terrible in some way. Not always. There are times when this is the mercy of Almighty God for the listener, as it surely was for me.

I will offer a brief summary in the hope that it edifies the reader. My testimony relates to the topic you started very well, @Not of the World.

I was clueless in the beginning. I wasn't the least bit religious (no church) and while I believed that God exists, the notion of knowing God was out of the question. Why would the incomprehensible God reveal Himself to an idiot like myself? One day, the impossible happened. 

I was 26 years old and fresh out of the U.S. military when out of the blue, the Spirit of the Lord came to me and said,

You are the work of My hand, set aside for My purpose before you were born. The time has come for you to seek Me; if you will heed My voice and trust My words, you will stand before God.

I knew He is God right away. I heeded His voice and trusted what He said, which is how I abandoned everything to follow Jesus Christ that very day. I'm not going to delve into detail beyond a summary, but that's sufficient to emphasize how I was clueless from the beginning. I did what the Lord said and everything fell into place precisely as He promised it would. 

I was pretty thick-headed back in those days, but the Lord is merciful to me. Over the next four years while I remained with a fellowship the Lord had sent me to (I was baptized in water there), He sent brothers and a sister to speak of things that would come to pass. 

I would wander aimlessly without a home for many years;

I would forget the words of the Lord, but He would never forsake me;

One brother came and anointed me with oil because the Spirit told him to do this thing. The Lord would pour His Spirit upon me at the proper time, he said. 

The hardest words were delivered by a sister whom I knew well. I had to die, she said, before that purpose which the Lord preserved me for would be revealed. She wept because this was a hard thing, but I didn't understand. Ah, but this pleased the Lord. 

After these words were delivered to me, the Lord sent a dream. In this dream, I saw a vision of the mountains which the Lord would send me to over two decades later. Those mountains are where I fell ill and found myself in the shadow of death.  

Everything delivered in those words came to pass, my friend. I wandered homeless and destitute for over 20 years with no place to rest my head. I was a transient and saw much of the U.S. during those years.

I forgot the words of the Lord and His promise. 

I was close to death in those mountains I saw in the vision. The ridge line of the mountains I witnessed in the vision are identical to the ridge line of the Manzano Mountains which run through the center of New Mexico. I had to die before that purpose which the Lord preserved me for was revealed:

The Lord chose to display His power in me so that His name will be glorified upon this earth. Those who had witnessed my lengthy illness (I suffered for two years), and how I was a dead man in the end, would know that when I stood before them healed and restored that the Lord Himself raised me up. Not man.

I shared what the Lord did after He returned me to the land of the living in my previous post, so need to go into that again. Once I was restored to His satisfaction, the Lord called me to stand in the same spot where I had collapsed two years prior. I thought that was going to be my grave.

When I arrived, the Lord declared that He is well-pleased with the work of His hand. I had suffered for many years and had walked in ignorance, but that time was finished. Now, the Lord said, nothing will be the same. I will never wander in ignorance for the rest of my days.

I was lifted up in the Spirit so that I was no longer on this earth, and the Lord breathed on me. As He did this, a great wind of fire washed over me and also into me. This was the fulfillment of being anointed with oil. I didn't understand until that moment. 

The Lord has been so merciful and kind to me, my friend. He spared me from the knowledge of what I would endure from the beginning. 

[Not of the World]

2 hours ago, Marathoner said:

Here and there. Our dear sister @kwikphilly is acquainted with much of the testimony, so she knows more than most. 

Some things are hard to relate, my friend. Very hard. What can I say? I write about mercy and that is one thing, but then I was clueless for the longest time. We read in the scriptures how it pleases the Lord for men and women to not understand His words at various times, and we might assume this is because those who hear are terrible in some way. Not always. There are times when this is the mercy of Almighty God for the listener, as it surely was for me.

I will offer a brief summary in the hope that it edifies the reader. My testimony relates to the topic you started very well, @Not of the World.

I was clueless in the beginning. I wasn't the least bit religious (no church) and while I believed that God exists, the notion of knowing God was out of the question. Why would the incomprehensible God reveal Himself to an idiot like myself? One day, the impossible happened. 

I was 26 years old and fresh out of the U.S. military when out of the blue, the Spirit of the Lord came to me and said,

You are the work of My hand, set aside for My purpose before you were born. The time has come for you to seek Me; if you will heed My voice and trust My words, you will stand before God.

I knew He is God right away. I heeded His voice and trusted what He said, which is how I abandoned everything to follow Jesus Christ that very day. I'm not going to delve into detail beyond a summary, but that's sufficient to emphasize how I was clueless from the beginning. I did what the Lord said and everything fell into place precisely as He promised it would. 

I was pretty thick-headed back in those days, but the Lord is merciful to me. Over the next four years while I remained with a fellowship the Lord had sent me to (I was baptized in water there), He sent brothers and a sister to speak of things that would come to pass. 

I would wander aimlessly without a home for many years;

I would forget the words of the Lord, but He would never forsake me;

One brother came and anointed me with oil because the Spirit told him to do this thing. The Lord would pour His Spirit upon me at the proper time, he said. 

The hardest words were delivered by a sister whom I knew well. I had to die, she said, before that purpose which the Lord preserved me for would be revealed. She wept because this was a hard thing, but I didn't understand. Ah, but this pleased the Lord. 

After these words were delivered to me, the Lord sent a dream. In this dream, I saw a vision of the mountains which the Lord would send me to over two decades later. Those mountains are where I fell ill and found myself in the shadow of death.  

Everything delivered in those words came to pass, my friend. I wandered homeless and destitute for over 20 years with no place to rest my head. I was a transient and saw much of the U.S. during those years.

I forgot the words of the Lord and His promise. 

I was close to death in those mountains I saw in the vision. The ridge line of the mountains I witnessed in the vision are identical to the ridge line of the Manzano Mountains which run through the center of New Mexico. I had to die before that purpose which the Lord preserved me for was revealed:

The Lord chose to display His power in me so that His name will be glorified upon this earth. Those who had witnessed my lengthy illness (I suffered for two years), and how I was a dead man in the end, would know that when I stood before them healed and restored that the Lord Himself raised me up. Not man.

I shared what the Lord did after He returned me to the land of the living in my previous post, so need to go into that again. Once I was restored to His satisfaction, the Lord called me to stand in the same spot where I had collapsed two years prior. I thought that was going to be my grave.

When I arrived, the Lord declared that He is well-pleased with the work of His hand. I had suffered for many years and had walked in ignorance, but that time was finished. Now, the Lord said, nothing will be the same. I will never wander in ignorance for the rest of my days.

I was lifted up in the Spirit so that I was no longer on this earth, and the Lord breathed on me. As He did this, a great wind of fire washed over me and also into me. This was the fulfillment of being anointed with oil. I didn't understand until that moment. 

The Lord has been so merciful and kind to me, my friend. He spared me from the knowledge of what I would endure from the beginning. 

Wow, thank you for sharing!  This post deserves to be framed and pinned somewhere in this forum.  What an amazing and uplifting experience, to say the least.

[Dave-regenerated]

On 10/21/2022 at 1:29 PM, Not of the World said:

If so, isn't it better to be born that way rather than being made "normal" and thereby risk not receiving eternal life?

Were you born that way?

[tim_from_pa]

On 10/21/2022 at 8:29 AM, Not of the World said:

If so, isn't it better to be born that way rather than being made "normal" and thereby risk not receiving eternal life?

I can tell you what I believe the bible teaches, but I don't know if it's popular.  The answer is the same as babies who die before they made a decision for Christ.  They are resurrected physically in the GWT judgement and have an opportunity to follow the Lord there. (c.f. John 7:37 where even on this last day Jesus is calling people to come to him). That is to say, nobody "makes it in" as the cliche goes without deciding for Christ.  On the other hand, the bible teaches He will draw all men to him, not willing any should perish.  The issue is when are we called?  Those lost are those who were called, understood the message and yet deliberately rejected the sacrifice of Christ whether it is now or later. 

The only thing the people in question people fail to attain is the glorious first resurrection, and the opportunity to rule and reign with Christ.  But they don't forfeit eternal life necessarily (nor are they guaranteed it).  Keep also in mind that even with significant mental disabilities, we still don't know what goes on internally in their minds and they may hear the gospel message and understand it as the Spirit gives them understanding better than we think.  So don't assume, either that they don't know Christ. 

Edited October 22, 2022 by tim_from_pa