Hello; I'm wondering if a person is born with mental deformities and can't understand the concept of the Lord, will they still reach heaven?

Sincerely,
Heart For Others

Dear Heart For Others,

Those with mental handicaps would fall under the same rules as children.  In order to obey the gospel, we must have the maturity to:

1. Take responsibility for our sins (Acts 3:19).
2. Hear and understand the Word of God (Rom 10:17).
3. Be responsible for our own spiritual growth (1 Pet 2:1-2).

Children and those with certain mental handicaps do not have that ability, and God only holds us accountable for what we are able to do (2 Cor 8:11-12).  Just like children, they will go to heaven.

(This question is a follow up to “Whose Servant?”)

     Help me understand how Philippians 1:1 deals with elders having scriptural oversight over deacons?  How does this passage say that "deacons serve elders"?

Sincerely,
Context Please

Dear Context Please,

In hindsight, Php 1:1 does seem like a rather obscure reference without a little clarification.  Our point was that the only time that deacons are ever mentioned is with elders.  There are multiple references of elders without deacons, but zero Bible examples of deacons without elders.  Paul told Titus of the urgency to appoint elders in every church (Tit 1:5).  Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in the congregations that they had started (Acts 14:23).  As Paul said, the elders have the responsibility to feed the church (Acts 20:28), and that is the pattern we see over and over again.  Congregations need elders because elders lead those congregations.  On the other hand, we are never told that congregations have that same need for deacons, nor do we see any congregations that had deacons without elders.  Php 1:1 was a reference (albeit all too vaguely) to that fact.

The word ‘deacon’ just means ‘servant’ and is used throughout the Scriptures.  Matt 22:13 uses the same Greek word to describe a king’s servants.  Rom 15:8 refers to Jesus as a deacon of God to the Jews.  Deacons are always mentioned alongside those that they serve.  Since the deacons we are talking about are never mentioned without elders, the implication is that the deacons serve the elders, and if you don’t have elders, you wouldn’t have deacons… the exact pattern we see throughout the New Testament churches.

The Bible gives no example of a congregation having deacons without elders.  Where the Bible is silent, we must be to (1 Cor 4:6).  Hope that provides the clarification we should have given in our first answer.

     Sixteen years ago, when I was nine years old, I made a profession of faith and was baptized, but I don't think I fully understood what it means to truly follow Christ until years later when I was in college.  As a child, I thought you just had to mentally believe and not follow Christ.  Is there any biblical reason why I could not be baptized a second time now that I fully understand what it means to be a Christian?

Sincerely,
Older And Wiser

Dear Older And Wiser,

The word ‘baptism’ simply means ‘immersion’ – it is the reason for your immersion that makes baptism a soul-saving act.  When we understand that baptism saves us from our sins (1 Pet. 3:21) and are baptized by the authority of Christ (Acts 2:38) and believe in His Name (Mk. 16:16), then that baptism saves us.  Many people are baptized without understanding these things… in which case, they just get wet.  You will have to evaluate for yourself whether or not you understood what you were doing when you were baptized.  If you did, there is no need for re-baptism.  If you believe you didn’t know what you were doing, then you should be rebaptized.

     I have been hearing that Jesus’ real name is Yeshua.  Is this right, and if it is, then what is His last name?

Sincerely,
Identity Please

Dear Identity Please,

‘Yeshua’ is Jesus’ name in Hebrew.  Jesus is the Anglicized version of the Hebrew name that is used in English Bibles.  The name ‘Jesus’ or ‘Yeshua’ mean ‘God is salvation’.  Jesus didn’t have a traditional English last name.  In His day, a man’s last name was their father’s first name, so Jesus would have been called ‘Jesus, son of Joseph’ (Matt 1:16).

     My grandmother died this year; she was ninety-four years old.  She had two daughters.  In her will, she left the major portion of her estate to her younger daughter.  When my grandfather was alive, they had a living trust; their estate was divided equally between the two daughters.  My grandmother always favored her younger daughter and her family, and it was very noticeable to an outsider.  When the reading of the will was done, it hurt my mother, making her feel even more unloved.  My mother never did anything to deserve this.  My mother is a God-fearing Christian and has always done the right thing.  My aunt won't have a thing to do with my mother, which was another blow to my mother.  What does God think of a woman who would cause so much pain?

Sincerely,
Appalled

Dear Appalled,

Your question is a loaded one.  Realistically, we all cause others pain, and every story has two sides to it.  We won’t even begin to talk about the eternal fate of someone we’ve never even known.  After hearing your perspective, we can’t imagine why anyone would behave like that, but that is always the way you feel when you only hear one side of a story (Pr 18:17).

Jesus was once asked by two men to settle a family dispute about money, and His answer was, “Who made Me a judge or divider over you?” (Lk 12:13-14).  We would have to take the same tact – it isn’t our place to try and unravel family financial squabbles.

We are very sorry for your pain, and we are so sorry that your mother is hurting.  The best advice we can give is to not focus on what others think of us and remember that if we serve the Lord, He will cause all to work together for good (Rom 8:28).