Here are a couple of questions I’ll pose to you all. I’d like your feedback, so please answer in the comments section below:
- First, according to Romans 10:9, if a person confesses with their mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in their heart that God raised him form the dead, they’ll be saved.
So, can a person who has been born mute be saved?
- And second, Jesus said in John 3:5, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
Are there exceptions to this rule?
1. I think a person can speak in a way only God can hear. If a mute person says it in their head/heart, I think God counts it!
ReplyDelete2. I don't think there are exceptions to this rule. In Acts, when the disciples encountered people who had been baptized (John's baptism) but had not received the Holy Spirit, they were re-baptized with both in the name of Jesus. Of course, God has the final say, and he can allow anyone to enter that he wants to. However, we cannot ignore such a direct command and "hope" we'll get mercy in the end, without being born of water and Spirit.
Great questions! :)
I noticed that you've already posted a follow-up to this question but I'm just getting around to reading your blog so I've vowed to think through these questions before cheating and reading ahead :)
ReplyDelete1. This is a really interesting question I'd not considered before. I'd have to say yes, they could be saved, basically on the same reasoning that Faith gave. But I'd also have to point out that we're talking about a very special case. At the very least we must conclude that Jesus is saying that the 'normative' method of confessing is with our mouth and that it must be done if we're to be saved. Otherwise, we might falsely conclude that we, not being mute, don't have to confess it with our mouth either.
2. Pretty deep question since we haven't postulated as to what this would entail (yet?). Based on this scripture alone, I think you'd have to conclude that there are no exceptions. Of course, ultimately, we'd also want to weigh this with the rest of scripture. Otherwise, we'd fall prey to the same problem people have who cling to the verse about getting whatever we want if we just pray for it and believe, while ignoring other scriptures that suggest there are some caveats to that.