It’s encouraging to know that God is placing a similar burden on the hearts of some of the saints.

Blessings to You,
D.L. Kane

Thank you for the kind words,
Nathan

“As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Both seeds readily and sincerely received the gospel, but did not endure to the end. A sad reality

I don’t think that they are mutually exclusive.

I’m blessed by your posts Nathan, keep ‘em coming

How do you think that the truth you expound in this post impacts the question of whether a suicide may be admitted into heaven?

Andrew, excellent and very challenging question. Here are a few thoughts:
 
-I hesitate to speak where scripture is silent, for I’m not aware of a scripture passage that speaks to the issue of suicide.
 
-Secondly, we must not read your question with the underlying assumption that suicide is always, without exception, clear-evidence that the person did not persevere in faith. We all stumble in many ways, and sinning right before death should not be looked at as any worse than sinning a week before death. For example, what of the person who has an unrepentant grudge within his heart at the time of death? Hate, of course, is murder in its infancy. Unrepentant and habitual hate is evidence that someone is outside of Christ, but inward ‘hate’, in a fleeting moment right before death (if real ‘hate’ is even possible for a child of God), would not necessarily be evidence of a false faith.
 
-Lastly, I’m inclined to say that more often than not, a person committing suicide was probably not a true believer, but that we cannot affirm this with 100% certainty. Faith in Christ is just that, it is faith in and the resting in the merits of Christ as our only hope for reconciliation with the Father and escape from our deserved condemnation. Faith in Christ is not a complete absence of sin –even a sin as heinous as suicide.
 
Ironically, I just read about this very issue in the excellent John Piper book, The Hidden Smile of God. In the book, the great hymn-writer William Cowper is described as attempting (but failing) to commit suicide on many occasions –even after his conversion. Piper briefly considers whether or not we can affirm that Cowper was in Christ given these troubling facts, but he concludes without a doubt (in his mind) that Cowper was indeed a true believer, though troubled with deep depression.

I appreciate your answer. It’s always easy for people to gloss over these questions in order to attempt to bring comfort to the hurting, but (as I think your answer demonstrates) true comfort comes through dependence on God’s Word and a whole-Bible understanding of how to address difficult situations.

-Andrew