Posted on 12/24/2018 8:22:14 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Responding to the question of whether or not Christians who commit suicide go to Heaven, ethicist Russell Moore said that because the blood of Christ covers sins past, present and future, the “last thing we do” does not determine where we will spend eternity.
Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he’s often asked the question by worried individuals whose loved one committed suicide.
“They worry,” he said. “Does this mean because this person essentially the last act on earth was a sin, does this mean that that person is in Hell? And the answer to that is no.”
“This person is in Christ. That means that the blood of Christ covers that person's sins, past, present and future. And so we're not saved on the basis of the last thing that we do being something that is acceptable to God. We're saved by the grace and mercy of God.”
But sometimes, Moore said he’s hesitant to weigh in on whether or not Christians who commit suicide go to Heaven because he fears some will view it as permission to commit suicide.
“It’s not OK,” he underscored. “A suicide is murder. Suicide is the attacking of the image of God. And suicide is horrible. It’s not only a sin but a sin that leaves wreckage and devastation all over the place.”
“And so if you're someone who's asking that because you're contemplating suicide, I would just plead with you to talk to people in your life and get help because life is worth living."
Many individuals who commit suicide are in a place of “deep, deep anguish and distress of various sorts” or suffering from mental illness, Moore pointed out, adding we “ought to view them with compassion.”
“The response that we ought to have when someone we love commits suicide is not to blame people, not to blame that person, not to be angry at that person,” he concluded. “Nor is it to wonder, ‘Does this mean that this person is outside of the reach of God's grace?’ God's grace covers a multitude of sins, including those that are so hurtful that we hesitate to even talk to them.”
Amid a dramatic increase in suicide over the last two decades, a number of faith leaders have weighed in on whether or not those who commit suicide are condemned to Hell.
Recently, a Michigan priest came under fire for suggesting at the funeral of an 18-year-old college student that he might not go to Heaven because he took his own life.
"It was his time to tell everybody what he thought of suicide, [and] we couldn't believe what he was saying," the teen's father, Jeff Hullibarger, told the Detroit Free Press. “He was up there condemning our son, pretty much calling him a sinner. He wondered if he had repented enough to make it to Heaven. He said 'suicide' upwards of six times.”
Apologist and New Testament scholar Dr. Jeremiah Johnston has argued that suicide is not the unforgivable sin.
"The only sin that God cannot forgive is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior," he told CP earlier. "Do people who commit suicide go to Hell? Some people teach that suicide is the 'unforgivable sin.' God forgives that sin. Is it a sin? Absolutely. But the salvation we receive from Jesus Christ is eternal, regardless of our mental state or our spiritual maturity or immaturity. Otherwise, the Gospel is void. Do you know how many Christians die unexpectedly with unconfessed sin in their life?"
Kayla Stoecklein, widow of late Inland Hills Church Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, who died after attempting suicide at his California church in August, also debunked the commonly held view and wrote on a blog, "This is a common misbelief about suicide and it breaks my heart ... I believe with 100% of my soul that Andrew is in heaven. Andrew had a real, raw, authentic, and infectious relationship with Jesus. Thousands of people will be in heaven because of him."
Saddleback Church co-founder and best-selling author Kay Warren whose son, Matthew, died by suicide at age 27 in 2013, has also emphasized that suicide doesn't condemn a Christian to Hell.
"God's promised us that Matthew's salvation was safe and secure. Matthew gave his life to Jesus when he was a little boy. And so, I'm absolutely 100 percent confident based on the work of Jesus that Matthew is in Heaven," she told The Christian Post in an earlier interview.
Can a person lose their salvation? This question has been debated many times over the ages. Some denominations preach ‘once saved, always saved’. Does, ‘once saved, always saved’, mean, well..., EXCEPTING SUICIDE?
One of my best business friends lost his direction via alcoholism.
He took his own life with a .38 revolver in a parking ramp near his home at Green Bay.
This was in 1989 or ‘90.
I think about him often.
I don’t know the real answer to this question.
But I’m troubled by parts of the article. This, for example: “Do you know how many Christians die unexpectedly with unconfessed sin in their life?” Lots of people do, but this question is almost totally irrelevant to the discussion.
The discussion is about whether a Christian who dies as a direct and intended result of a knowing and wilful sin will go to Hell. Bringing up something irrelevant that has a fairly easy — and emotionally acceptable answer — seems like verbal trickery to me.
When people do that, I begin to wonder about their sincerity.
It is for the Lord to judge each of us.
There is not a human alive who possess His knowledge, His Wisdom, but also His mercy.
I will leave such questions to Him, in whose capable hands the right judgement will certainly be made.
Bs. He was arrested and whipped to the point of collapse. Others in the crowd carried his cross to Calvary.
Wow. I would say she really visited you, yes.
I do think God is merciful and will show love and mercy for those in those troubling times when they took their own lives.
Mental health is on what they call a continuum. Sometimes we are well, sometimes we are not. Circumstances.
No only did Samson in the Bible take his own life, this act was called an act of faith in Hebrews 11. By today’s standards it would have been labeled an act of terrorism.
God has different standards than we do.
Usually someone choosing to die is an act of selfishness. It is the culmination of selfishness without considering the needs of others who will be impacted. Usually this act is properly called “murder” which is something uncharacteristic of a child of God.
1 John 3:15
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
How about those who jumped out of the windows of the twin towers to escape the flame? They probably knew they were jumping to their deaths. I don’t think anyone can blames someone for running away from severe pain. And suicide is usually similar to this in nature.
This is not an excuse for those who do such things, but we need to be careful not to use a broad brush to address delicate issues such as this.
When someone commits suicide it is not Biblical to say that person automatically must go to Hell. That is up to God. He knows everyone’s hearts. On the other hand, it does cause those left behind grief over whether we may have failed to help such people and whether they are lost forever because we have difficulty being certain of someone’s salvation when that person’s life is ended in such a away.
And also, those contemplating suicide should never rely on the theology of “once saved always saved” to think some act of conversion is their get-out-of-hell-free card. Salvation is about a genuine relationship with Christ, not getting fire insurance. There will be plenty of people on judgment day expecting to escape judgment but discover to their shock and horror that Christ says, “I never knew you, depart from Me.”
Suicide is NOT the way anyone wants to face God.
I kind of wonder that myself.
Seems like it is the one area that God told us not to get into. That of judging what happens to the soul of someone where the sin is not clear.
And if suicide is a sin and sin is actually one of desire then is "just let me die" also a sin?
Elijah was not reproved for it.
There is a verse about "why die before your time?" but that could also apply to being reckless with your actions or even not keeping yourself healthy by diet and exercise.
Do I think God approves of it? No. But just because something is not in our best interests does not make it a for sure sin.
So do people that are terminally ill and refuse food and water and meds that might prolong their suffering commit suicide?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.”
Of course...
“1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice.”
And:
“2282 Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.”
Thus:
“2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.”
Sorry for your troubles.
Don’t give up.
This too shall pass.
Try to find and celebrate the good in every day.
None of us knows if Heaven or Hell awaits our end. But we do know that we are called to put on Christ, seek sainthood, love the God of life, and love our neighbor as ourselves.
When I’m in a funk, I try to do something good for someone else; relieves me from staring at my own navel.
God Bless.
Your co-worker doesn’t appear to be following any Christian doctrine I can think of. Not intimately familiar with all such varieties of faith, but I’m relatively confident that sex outside of holy matrimony is generally considered sinful.
BM
It's also a one-way door.
What if it turned out, that the next world is a clear view to all the pain and suffering inflicted upon those left behind, and/or of the knowledge of what was supposed to have been, if only the deceased had stayed with the plan.
It would be a hell of a person's own making. Yikes.
Hang in there everyone, and Merry Christmas.
I think suicide is up in this day and age because Redemption really is right around the corner.
You’re right, it is. But as the brilliant ethicist noted in the above article, “...the “last thing we do” does not determine where we will spend eternity.”, my co-worker is deciding not to worry about it.
Mental illness is a very very difficult. And non spritusl. Problem
>> Jesus committed suicide by refusing to fight, is he in hell? <<
Congratulations, you broke the internet with the unfathomable depths of your stupidity. Allowing oneself to die is not the same as pointlessly killing yourself.
(And yes, he did go to Hell, bearing all our sins, but conquered Hell.)
I suppose one could ask for forgiveness before the suicide. As for a murderer getting into Heaven; I'd like to think they spend X amount of time in torment paying for their crime (if not warranted like in self-protection or war) then get into Heaven. There must be a price to pay.
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