Do cognitive impairments prevent a child getting saved?
Q: My heart is troubled and I need godly guidance. How does the Lord deal with children and/or adult persons that are cognitively unable to understand the redemptive work of Christ? Persons that are non-verbal and have significant limitation in intellectual functioning. Would such a child/adult be chosen child of God/able to be saved? Appreaciate Scripture references & resources along with your insight.
A: The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10.3 reads as follows with the Scripture proofs given afterwards. "III. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit,[m] who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth.[n] So also are all other elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.[o]
m Luke 18:15,16 and Acts 2:38,39 and John 3:3,5 and 1 John 5:12 and Rom. 8:9 compared together.
n John 3:8.
o 1 John 5:12; Acts 4:12.
Those who cannot comprehend the Law are not accountable to the Law, it says in Romans.
"To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law."
Rom.5.13
God's work of salvation is not limited by a person's cognitive abilities. He's the one who created them in the first place. Infants who pass away, aborted babies, children too young to understand these things- they're all saved. This perfectly in keeping with the character of God. Read second 2 Samuel 12. David's 7-day-old infant dies and he immediately ceases morning because he knows the child is with the Lord.
We are in a fallen world, corruption entered and deformation, retardation, cognitive impairments, diseases, illnesses etc all exist here, yet God is still sovereign. If you are concerned because you have such a child (or lost a child), or know someone in the family or your greater circle of associates please rest in these truths. 🫂🙂✝️
This talks further about this topic (at near the bottom) as do these points here above regarding a child who dies. And has resources.
God bless.
