Good Morning!

There was a lot of reaction to my post about Cris’ death. Some people had experienced suicide of family member. Some were surprised that I wrote that suicide was not the unforgivable sin. Some had not heard that, and wanted to know more. I’ve written about this before.  Times like these make me wish I would index these posts for cross reference. I can’t easily refer back to other posts. So, I started my research all over again. Honestly, the statistics on suicide are overwhelming. I’ll leave you to research all that on your own.

The primary question many readers were concerned about is what happens after someone dies. We want to find comfort that a loved one has gone to spend eternity with Jesus. We want everything to be all right. This is particularly important with suicide because it is so evident that everything up to the point of death wasn’t “all right.” In fact, everything was terribly wrong. So wrong that it seems we need to talk ourselves into the idea that anything could possibly be OK after suicide.

For the most part, we form our opinions about the afterlife based upon the faith community that we were raised in. This is difficult to change. In general, people of faith have a hard time with suicide or euthanasia. However, those who lean atheistic find it much easier to accept, and this is the trend we are seeing.

With regard to the Christian denominations, Catholics have (or at least had) a strong position against suicide. It is considered a mortal sin – one that excludes a person from the possibility of entering heaven. I considered making a study for us about this position but decided against it. For now, let’s categorize Christian faith into two camps, those that embrace the “Solas” or “Alones” – by Christ, Grace, Faith, Scripture, and God’s Glory alone – and those that don’t. Those that don’t add some sort of works. I recommend the series “What Is Reformed Theology?” as presented by Ligonier Ministries. It will definitely challenge you, yet I am confident it will also provide answers to many nagging questions you have about the Christian faith.

Let me provide a bit to get you started. First, we come to the understanding that each and every human is a sinful creature and is excluded from heaven because of it. We are unable to rectify this, but we want to think we can. God demonstrates his mercy for his glory through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. All that is required of us is faith in Jesus. Now, here is the tough part. That faith itself is a gift of God. Yes, we profess it, but  our faith is a manifestation of his specific gift to specific individuals. Works apart from saving faith actually count against us. Work that is to God’s glory is a natural result of the new person that God has created through salvation. All this is God’s doing. We are unable to change any of it. In fact, our sin – past, present, or future – cannot change what God has decided.

There is one requirement from us – to believe and profess as we see in Romans 10. However, we also find this is a result of the saving faith God has given to us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If Scripture is truth, then we see this all spelled out for us through its pages. We may not choose to believe it, but that doesn’t change anything. Careful examination will demonstrate the Bible stands on its own.

So, the real question isn’t whether or not suicide is the unforgivable sin. The real question is who you say that Jesus is. And that answer, my friends, is revealed in our bibles.

Father, I thank you for your Word to show us your will. I ask that the readers of this post examine their bibles closely to see for themselves if these things are indeed true. Grant them mercy. Amen.

Copyright ©️ 2018 Scott Powers