Suicide - Forgivable?
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Christ said there was one unforgivable sin blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
It is impossible for any of us to know what may drive someone to commit suicide, but if they have accepted Christ into their life as Lord and Saviour and then for some reason at a later date committed suicide I do not believe that act alone would send someone to hell.
It is only for Christ to judge each person on the day of judgement, not for us to make blanket decisions now
Someone once said to me
If it was left to Christians to decide who went to Heaven, Heaven would be a lonely place!
It is impossible for any of us to know what may drive someone to commit suicide, but if they have accepted Christ into their life as Lord and Saviour and then for some reason at a later date committed suicide I do not believe that act alone would send someone to hell.
It is only for Christ to judge each person on the day of judgement, not for us to make blanket decisions now
Someone once said to me
If it was left to Christians to decide who went to Heaven, Heaven would be a lonely place!
J
Romans Chapter 9 seems to explain it to me best. We are not our own. We are created for God's purposes to do with as He wishes. Verse 15 says:
15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
He can and does relieve suffering when it achieves a higher purpose, but He also allows suffering for the same reason - to bring about good from bad. That can be difficult to wrap our hearts and minds around because OUR view is so very limited by our human condition.
I cared for both of my parents and my spouse through serious illnesses unto death. I suppose that's why this is such an important issue for me. It was heartbreaking to see them suffer. But I know the impact their strength and tremendous faith had upon so many, including...and especially, me. I know in my heart that God will honor them for their faithfulness unto death.
Having said that, this question cycles back around to the other question because most people who are in the last days of a terminal illness in advanced countries are VERY heavily medicated and could very easily take their own lives unintentionally, or their thought processes could become so cloudly that they might request assistance in doing so.
Consider these things:
Masada - 900+ jews made a pact to killed one another until they all died to avoid being captured.
As another person said, the spy who is captured and takes his life to avoid spilling information that could cost thousands of lives.
The soldier/police officer/firefighter who knowingly sacrifices his/her life to save his comrades.
We just don't know what goes on in the hearts, minds and spirits of those who are leaving this life. Only God knows. I'm glad He's the One who gets to decide who is saved and the rest of us don't have a vote.
I don't want to think I would ever consider taking my life because I am unsure about this question. But if I think something MIGHT be a sin, isn't it always best to simply not do it? Then it becomes a non-issue.
15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
He can and does relieve suffering when it achieves a higher purpose, but He also allows suffering for the same reason - to bring about good from bad. That can be difficult to wrap our hearts and minds around because OUR view is so very limited by our human condition.
I cared for both of my parents and my spouse through serious illnesses unto death. I suppose that's why this is such an important issue for me. It was heartbreaking to see them suffer. But I know the impact their strength and tremendous faith had upon so many, including...and especially, me. I know in my heart that God will honor them for their faithfulness unto death.
Having said that, this question cycles back around to the other question because most people who are in the last days of a terminal illness in advanced countries are VERY heavily medicated and could very easily take their own lives unintentionally, or their thought processes could become so cloudly that they might request assistance in doing so.
Consider these things:
Masada - 900+ jews made a pact to killed one another until they all died to avoid being captured.
As another person said, the spy who is captured and takes his life to avoid spilling information that could cost thousands of lives.
The soldier/police officer/firefighter who knowingly sacrifices his/her life to save his comrades.
We just don't know what goes on in the hearts, minds and spirits of those who are leaving this life. Only God knows. I'm glad He's the One who gets to decide who is saved and the rest of us don't have a vote.
I don't want to think I would ever consider taking my life because I am unsure about this question. But if I think something MIGHT be a sin, isn't it always best to simply not do it? Then it becomes a non-issue.
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J
After giving this some thought, I’m wondering how the acts of someone who is not in their right mind might be different from the sins we commit everyday that we aren’t aware of, such as possible envious, lustful or angry thoughts, or sins that someone young in Christ may not yet know due to their lack of scriptural knowledge or revelation not yet given by the Holy Spirit. Which makes me even more grateful that it’s all in the hands of our loving, holy Lord.
For many posters in this thread, it seems to come down to an OSAS issue, and perhaps it is in light of the above. But that’s a merry go round I never jump on in these here parts.
For many posters in this thread, it seems to come down to an OSAS issue, and perhaps it is in light of the above. But that’s a merry go round I never jump on in these here parts.
Have you never seen constantine ? you need to single handedly save heaven and earth to redeem yourself from suicide. But but but say your a solider and your with your squad in a building and a grenade lands in the room you jump on it knowing it will kill you, you save everyone else though by killing yourself does tht still send you to hell.
That's a good point there. But there is a difference between commiting suicide and giving up your life for someone. If you give up your life for someone, then I'm pretty sure you're going to Heaven IF you lived a life pleasing to God. After all, Jesus gave His life for us so that we may live. 
I've heard of many a soldier giving up their life for someone, and let me tell you, that right there is a noble thing to do.
I've heard of many a soldier giving up their life for someone, and let me tell you, that right there is a noble thing to do.
D
I think with we don't have to ask for forgiveness of our sins, it was given us by Grace. The Bibkle says God is faithful to forgive our sins we we confess but it doesn't say we bear the weight of our sins if we don't confess the sin. When Jesus died on the cross just befoe He died He said "it is finished" meaning all of our sins have been dealt with. Jesus and the Father knew every sin we did and would do and Jesus died for all of them. When Jesus discussed the 10 commandments the discussion was to show we sin ALL the the time. No one can they don't. Remember the Bible says "he who says they do not sin makes God a liar". We don't ask for foregiveneess for every specific sin we commit. When we pray and confess we try to hit the ones we remember but we miss so many of them. Jesus said all that was given to Him (that's us) and that He did not lose any of those given to Him. I am in the school of thought once saved always saved and we can't loose our salvation. We can walk away from but one sin (the suicide) does a "lost soul make".
Dough57
Pardon my spelling and typing errors. The only thing wrse than my typing skills is my eyesight.
Dough57
Pardon my spelling and typing errors. The only thing wrse than my typing skills is my eyesight.
A
How much of our lifes sins were hung upon Jesus on the cross?
What if we forget to confess a sin? What if we don'tRealize we have committed a sin? And on and on we could go....one reason our forgiveness, insofar as our salvation is concerned, cannot be based upon our confession is that we are not always aware of our sins... in a hurried insensitive moment with a sharp word we can deeply hurt someone but be unaware of the damage to the person's spirit,how many of those can each of us claim?
in fact only God knows the real depth of our unrighteousness He has made gracious
and adequate prevision for such actions...
John assures us,
"But if we walk in the light asHe Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of JesusHis Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
again our forgiveness is inseparably connected with the blood Christ shed for us
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." -Romans
8:1 "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:35,38-39
and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. -John10.28
the gospel by nature is a God-centered grace-centered message which offers salvation as
a free gift.. a gift without cost through faith in God's work through His Son rather than by mans work.
it is not Christ and good works nor Christ and the church that save... it is not
through Christ and baptism or Christ and the confessional that we may obtain the
forgiveness of our sins...
it is not Christ and doing our best or Christ and the Lord's Supper that will give us new
life... it is Christ alone..
God has plans for all those who were dead in their trespasses and sins and have been
made alive with Christ...
"To hold to a theology in which man can do something that throws him back into a state
of spiritual deadness, thus denying God His predetermined purpose, is to embrace a
system in which man is in the driver's seat and God is just a passenger."
faith is not the reason God saves us. Remember, Paul makes it clear that love is the
reason. we are not saved by our faith. We are saved by grace. The instrument of salvation
was and is grace.
because a believer becomes mentaly ill falls into a season of dispair, which even the apostles dispaired of life at times, doesnt mean they are then disqualified in recieving Gods grace.
Folks will have to show me in scripture where it says that a sin commited by a bornagain saved redeemned believer can result in losing their salvation. Where a believer made alive spiritualy becomes dead again.
i say the weakest believer who is in the boat of salvation--that is believes in Christ Jesus---is as secure as the strongest believer..because if Jesus failed the frail one He would fail the strong one too..
No one can minimize the effect or how bad it would be to take your own life..the pain it causes to family is huge. it would grieve God there is no doubt, but to say Gods grace would suddenly end upon committing that sin is just not in scripture..When we are bornagain in Christ ALL our lifes sins are paid for..all of them...
What if we forget to confess a sin? What if we don'tRealize we have committed a sin? And on and on we could go....one reason our forgiveness, insofar as our salvation is concerned, cannot be based upon our confession is that we are not always aware of our sins... in a hurried insensitive moment with a sharp word we can deeply hurt someone but be unaware of the damage to the person's spirit,how many of those can each of us claim?
in fact only God knows the real depth of our unrighteousness He has made gracious
and adequate prevision for such actions...
John assures us,
"But if we walk in the light asHe Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of JesusHis Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).
again our forgiveness is inseparably connected with the blood Christ shed for us
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." -Romans
8:1 "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... I am convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:35,38-39
and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. -John10.28
the gospel by nature is a God-centered grace-centered message which offers salvation as
a free gift.. a gift without cost through faith in God's work through His Son rather than by mans work.
it is not Christ and good works nor Christ and the church that save... it is not
through Christ and baptism or Christ and the confessional that we may obtain the
forgiveness of our sins...
it is not Christ and doing our best or Christ and the Lord's Supper that will give us new
life... it is Christ alone..
God has plans for all those who were dead in their trespasses and sins and have been
made alive with Christ...
"To hold to a theology in which man can do something that throws him back into a state
of spiritual deadness, thus denying God His predetermined purpose, is to embrace a
system in which man is in the driver's seat and God is just a passenger."
faith is not the reason God saves us. Remember, Paul makes it clear that love is the
reason. we are not saved by our faith. We are saved by grace. The instrument of salvation
was and is grace.
because a believer becomes mentaly ill falls into a season of dispair, which even the apostles dispaired of life at times, doesnt mean they are then disqualified in recieving Gods grace.
Folks will have to show me in scripture where it says that a sin commited by a bornagain saved redeemned believer can result in losing their salvation. Where a believer made alive spiritualy becomes dead again.
i say the weakest believer who is in the boat of salvation--that is believes in Christ Jesus---is as secure as the strongest believer..because if Jesus failed the frail one He would fail the strong one too..
No one can minimize the effect or how bad it would be to take your own life..the pain it causes to family is huge. it would grieve God there is no doubt, but to say Gods grace would suddenly end upon committing that sin is just not in scripture..When we are bornagain in Christ ALL our lifes sins are paid for..all of them...
R
Ok, let's take this back to childrens' sunday school. Most people here who say suicide is NOT forgivable are all assuming you need to repent of your sins AFTER you commit them. God has forgiven both the sins you HAVE committed and the sins you WILL commit. And like someone said earlier, all sins are equal in the eyes of God. Now someone also said, "Maybe I don't have the same idea of grace as you do. Because by these statements it seems that one can do anything or commit any sin as long as they believe in Christ they'll be fine. And I don't believe that." Well the fact is, yes. Someone COULD theoretically do whatever they want as a Christian. They may not be "fine" because all sins have consequences, but they will still be a child of God no matter what. "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. -John 10:28-" Now when this verse says "no man" this includes one's self.
Most people here don't even understand God's grace. This is one of the most important things in the Bible. God isn't going to EVER get tired of forgiving your sins no matter how much you do it or how "big" it is. God is NOT like your earthly father. He is MUCH better. He will not only forgive your sins, he will cast them away as far as the east is from the west. He won't even remember them. If you don't believe me, pick a verse, any verse. If you don't believe the verse, pull out your Bible and read the context yourself. If you still don't believe it, research how reliable the Bible is. Plato and Socrates have nothing on the Bible!
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
“You have put all my sins behind your back.” Out of sight. God no longer “sees” me in light of my sins. He sees Jesus righteousness for me.” Isaiah 38:17
“You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Never to be found at sea. Not “dropped” into the sea, “hurled.” Micah 7:19
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Sins are no longer “kept on file”, record is blotted out, destroyed. God cannot “forget” like in human error, but He chooses to “not remember.” Isaiah 43:25
“But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” Romans 5:20
Most people here don't even understand God's grace. This is one of the most important things in the Bible. God isn't going to EVER get tired of forgiving your sins no matter how much you do it or how "big" it is. God is NOT like your earthly father. He is MUCH better. He will not only forgive your sins, he will cast them away as far as the east is from the west. He won't even remember them. If you don't believe me, pick a verse, any verse. If you don't believe the verse, pull out your Bible and read the context yourself. If you still don't believe it, research how reliable the Bible is. Plato and Socrates have nothing on the Bible!
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
“You have put all my sins behind your back.” Out of sight. God no longer “sees” me in light of my sins. He sees Jesus righteousness for me.” Isaiah 38:17
“You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Never to be found at sea. Not “dropped” into the sea, “hurled.” Micah 7:19
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Sins are no longer “kept on file”, record is blotted out, destroyed. God cannot “forget” like in human error, but He chooses to “not remember.” Isaiah 43:25
“But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” Romans 5:20
R
lol dumbest analogy ever bro. John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." and God DID say the greatest commandments were to love God and to love your neighbor... So no He's not going to send someone to hell JUST BECAUSE he loved his brother..... lol keep trying.
K
At times, when people are suffering from depression, they can literally "lose their minds". People can also suffer from multiple personalities. There's a lot of mental stuff that we don't understand but we can only interact and intercede these people who are suffering.
I just let God be God. Then I worry about the loved ones the person left behind.
It's like working on a boat that is sinking. Our job is to get people to the lifeboats. Whether or not they go to the lifeboats or get in one is up to them. After we're done doing that, we look at the next person we can help.
BTW, one of my co-workers and friends that I've known for 16 years suffered greatly mentally and physically this year and committed suicide on September 30. Now, I'm attending to the living.
I just let God be God. Then I worry about the loved ones the person left behind.
It's like working on a boat that is sinking. Our job is to get people to the lifeboats. Whether or not they go to the lifeboats or get in one is up to them. After we're done doing that, we look at the next person we can help.
BTW, one of my co-workers and friends that I've known for 16 years suffered greatly mentally and physically this year and committed suicide on September 30. Now, I'm attending to the living.
S
2 Cor5:7 - 10
7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
I have been taught that we will go to be judged by Jesus, before we go to hell.
I have herd of people who asked God for forgiveness in a note, before they take their life.
I guess we will find out later...
7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
I have been taught that we will go to be judged by Jesus, before we go to hell.
I have herd of people who asked God for forgiveness in a note, before they take their life.
I guess we will find out later...