“For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23)
We don’t think much about whether those who commit suicide will go to heaven. That is unless we are members of a family that has experienced the tragedy of suicide.
I remember as a child, a neighbor hung himself in his dining room. We were playing football on an empty lot next to his home when the police arrived late one afternoon. We could see him hanging from a chandelier through the dining room window.
I later asked my aunt if people who committed suicide could go to heaven. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I guess it depends as to whether his heart was right with the Lord.”
Now, as an adult, I have been asked the very same question. It’s one that deserves a straightforward answer, although I’m sure not everyone who reads what I have to say today will agree.
Many of us have been taught that suicide victims cannot go to heaven. In fact, Augustine argued in the fifth century that suicide was a violation of the Sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”. (Exodus 20:13) Later, Thomas Aquinas, being Catholic and believing that confession of sin must be made prior to departure from this world, taught that suicide was the most fatal of all sins because the victim could not repent of it.
The problem is neither of these points of view line up very well with Scripture. In his letter to the Church at Rome, for example, the Apostle Paul wrote that commandment keeping is not what gets us into heaven. “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:20) Moreover, just a few chapters later, he gave us a promise, one to which many of us claim during the tough times: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
The truth is there is one thing which can separate us from the love of God and one thing only, and that’s to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Think about these words spoken by the Lord: “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (Mark 3:28-29)
So while it may be a troubling question, the truth is, but for the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, there is no other sin that will keep us out of heaven because Jesus also said, “I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)
Interestingly, I thought my aunt was dodging the question, the way adults often do when a child asks a hard question. Actually, her answer was a pretty good one. It really did depend on whether his heart was right with the Lord.
In spite of what I’ve just said, let me offer advice those who may be considering suicide. The solution to despair and hopelessness is not suicide, but faith in God. Christ told us that when we feel burdened, we could come to him and that he would give us rest. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)
I read that verse one day when I was down and had a revelation that has provided a way out of my occasional bouts with hopelessness and despair. If the yoke of Christ is easy and his burden is light, then what was going on in my life (and what may be going on in your life) was not from the Lord. It was from the devil, the very author of confusion.
The problems that come our way provide us with an opportunity to find the answers though faith rather than through sin. Try Jesus’ advice, go to Him and He will give you rest.
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