Is suicide an "unforgivable" sin

[gord]

I believe as a christian taken your life could be a sin. Why a christian would do this I don't understand?We don't belong to are selfs but to christ Jesus. Are fleash is were the holy spirit is with us. By Killing the fleash we destroy the temple of the Holey Spirit.I for one would not want to take a chance that this is not taken the Holey Spirit in vain. Our Brothers That followed Jesus, died some Terrable Deaths. Only one I know of commited suicide his name judas. Not someone I would want to follow. Just my thinking gord.---To God Be the Glory.

[Arthur Durnan]

Thanx, Gord. I appreciate your thots. Good to hear from you.

[eis]

How can there be excepted sin when the Lord thru His prophet stresses completemess in His power to forgive?

Arthur,

It has nothing to do with God's power to forgive, does it? His power remains. Is his forgiveness conditional? I think so, if we refuse to repent then how can there be forgiveness. There is a big difference between His ability to forgive and His willingness to forgive. Suicide, is a conundrum when it comes to intentional sin when one asks God to forgive them and they do it anyway. God's love remains, but His approval in this matter? Well, it's left up to Him. The best advice is "Don't do it."

[Arthur Durnan]

Zowie, I thot I had made it fairly clear: God does indeed forgive all sin - as Apostle John clearly underscores - indeed upon repentance from the heart. No repentance, no forgiveness. Repentance, yes, full & complete forgiveness. No sin in the universe is beyond the Savior's forgiveness & forgetfulness.

[Fez]

Suicide is not THE unforgivable sin.

But considering that the one who commits this act is both the victim and the perpetrator at the same time.

suicide is self murder and no murderer can enter the kingdom of heaven.

So tell me then, where do you think King David is now?

[Guest LadyC]

I believe as a christian taken your life could be a sin. Why a christian would do this I don't understand?

gord,

i would imagine that of all the suicides in the world, those committed by christians are a very small percentage. but even christians can suffer extreme depression or emotional instability. and when a christian becomes so distraught that they commit suicide, they aren't setting out to commit murder, they are setting out to end their pain in desperate act that in their mind is more an act of self defense than anything else. there is no malice in there intent. they're too distraught to think clearly and rationally and give it to Jesus. they think God has abandoned them to their pain. and of course there are other reasons one might commit suicide... if death was eminent anyway, for instance, the people in the twin towers on 9/11 who jumped to their death. or if they were dying of a terminal disease and couldn't take the physical pain anymore, because physical pain can totally cloud one's judgment as they desparately seek a release from their pain.

God sees the intent of the heart. if the person was a child of God, a believer in what Jesus did on the cross for us, then it is fully within God's character to not hold them accountable in the above scenarios. it is NOT in His character to say "oh, you murdered yourself, entrance denied."

there are many to whom God will say "depart from me, i never knew you". scripture is pretty clear who those will be... and who they won't be.

God heals the broken-hearted.

[Rick-Parker]

Suicide is self-murder. Can God forgive it? Listen to 1 John 1:7, "...and ther blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin." And also 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Zowie, sounds fairly complete, no?

How doe that tie in with this?

Hebrews 10:26-28

26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

NASB

1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." Those who continue in the same (repeated) willful sin were never saved to begin with. That is what this scripture says.

[EricH]

As has been pointed out, through Christ we have been forgiven of all our sins - past, present and future.

This is an error in doctrine.

Actually it is not

[Rick-Parker]

eis, what do you think the word "all" means?

We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever [past, present and future] sat down at the right hand of God . . . . For by one offering has He perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:10-12, 14

[eis]

eis, what do you think the word "all" means?

We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever [past, present and future] sat down at the right hand of God . . . . For by one offering has He perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:10-12, 14

It is a a term that indicates completeness. In verse 10 it is indicating that no more sacrifice is needed as compared to the sacrifices done under the Law. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, now no more sacrifice is required. verse 12 indicates "all time", still within the idea that no more sacrifice is needed.

Verse 14 indicates that he has perfected forever those who are sanctified (NASB) - what is sanctification? Being set apart. The question is how are they sanctified? I understand that by being obedient to His will.

Here is a snippet from Nelson's Bible Dictionary:

SANCTIFICATION

Sanctification: God's Work. We are sanctified by God the Father (Jude), God the Son (Hebrews 2:11), and God the Holy Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2). Perfect holiness is God's command (1 Thessalonians 4:7) and purpose. As Paul prayed, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Sanctification is a process that continues during our lives as believers (Hebrews 10:14). Only after death are the saints referred to as "perfect" (Hebrews 12:23).

Sanctification: The Believer's Work. Numerous commands in the Bible imply that believers also have a responsibility in the process of sanctification. We are commanded to "be holy" (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16); to "be perfect" (Matthew 5:48); and to "present your members as slaves of righeousness for holiness" (Romans 6:19). Writing to the church of the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul made a strong plea for purity: "This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God" (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

These commands imply effort on our part. We must believe in Jesus, since we are "sanctified by faith in Him" (Acts 26:18). Through the Holy Spirit we must also "put to death the evil deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13). Paul itemized the many "works of the flesh" from which we must separate ourselves (Galatians 5:19-21). Finally, we must walk in the Spirit in order to display the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24).

(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright