Thursday, July 30, 2009

Suicide Questions

Last week during the teaching about Samson I mentioned the subject of suicide. As a result we had a few questions. I will list the questions and then deal with them as a whole.

Q1. Is suicide forgivable?

Q2. At what point do you repent after killing yourself?

Q3. Can you repent at the judgment seat?

Answer. Suicide is self-murder, so, technically, if murder is forgivable, then suicide is forgivable. The tough part is that forgiveness happens after repentance, and it is impossible to repent when you are dead. That being said, God is God and he knows the heart and we don't. We all know people who were in desperate levels of depression who took their own life. I am not ready to say all suicides are eternally lost, and neither will I say that all suicides are forgiven. This is another one of those times I am glad God is the judge. Suicide is an incredibly risky venture, from a spiritual point of view. It is never a good idea and if you are contemplating suicide you should tell someone safe who will take it seriously.

In terms of repenting at the judgement seat, there is no mention in the scripture of repentance at that point. It is a judgment seat, not a repentance seat. The time for repentance is before you die. Some teach that there are second and third choices to follow Christ after you die, but Hebrews says, "It is appointed to man once to die, after that to be judged." If you need to repent. do it now!