Posted on 12/24/2018 8:22:14 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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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