Please Support the Bible Translation Work of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
$5.00
EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 120 books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Matthew 7:1-5 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 7“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you are judging you will be judged, and by what measure you are measuring, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
The judging here is not evaluating whether someone is a good person or not. It is judging others in a condemnatory way, saying that they will or will not receive eternal life. At 1 Corinthians 16:33, Paul tell us, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” So, with this verse alone in mind, we do not have the right to say a person who commits suicide will not receive a resurrection. It is God alone who judges who is worthy of a resurrection.
THE shocking, heartbreaking news of suicide does not end in the lives of relatives and friends. Rather, it opens up a new storyline of jumbled feelings of compassion and anger, pain, sadness and guilt. And it begs the question: Can we have any hope for our friend or family who took his or her life that they may receive a resurrection?
When someone commits suicide, we can take comfort in knowing
Psalm 103:10-14 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our errors.[1] 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is his lovingkindness toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so Jehovah has compassion on those who fear him. 14 For he himself knows our formation; he remembers that we are dust.
It is God alone, who can reach into the recesses of one’s mind and heart so as to fully understand the level of mental sickness, extreme stress, even genetic defects that pushed them to the point of suicide. Wise King Solomon being led along by the Holy Spirit tells us in Ecclesiastes 7:7, “Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.”
It is true, the common argument that the Catholic Church uses, anyone who commits suicide has no opportunity thereafter to repent of his self-murder. So, they mistakenly reason that if John Smith who commits suicide cannot repent of egregious willful sin, he will not receive a resurrection. Generally, this would be true but in this case, it is relative. The reason people get convicted of murder in the Bible as opposed to manslaughter is, intent. The intent of the murderer (self-murderer for suicide) is the unlawful premeditated willful killing of one human being by another. Many suicides are the direct result of extreme mental distress that if they had survived or waited a few months, or even years, they would have had changed circumstances and a repentant heart for even thinking such a thing. God alone would know their heart and mind and would know what they would have done. – 2 Kings 21:16;2 Chronicles 33:12-13.
Thus, since the Father gave his only-begotten Son as “a ransom in exchange for many,” he alone and the Son who has been given all authority have the right to extend mercy, even to a distressed person who commits self-murder, by giving them a resurrection into judgment day, where they will have the opportunity to “repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” – Matthew 20:28; Acts 26:20.
[1]Error: (Heb., ʿāwōn; Gr. anomia, paranomia) The Hebrew word awon essentially relates to erring, acting illegally or wrongly. This aspect of sin refers to committing perverseness, wrongness, lawlessness, law-breaking, which can also include the rejection of the sovereignty of God. It also focuses on the liability or guilt of one’s wicked, wrongful act. This error may be deliberate or accidental; either willful deviation of what is right or unknowingly making a mistake. (Lev. 4:13-35; 5:1-6, 14-19; Num. 15:22-29; Ps 19:12, 13) Of course, if it is intentional; then, the consequence is far more serious. (Num. 15:30-31) Error is in opposition to the truth, and those willfully sinning corrupt the truth, a course that only brings forth flagrant sin. (Isa 5:18-23) We can be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.–Ex 9:27, 34-35; Heb. 3:13-15.
SCROLL THROUGH THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BELOW
BIBLE TRANSLATION AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM
BIBLE TRANSLATION AND TEXTUAL CRITICISM
BIBLICAL STUDIES / BIBLE BACKGROUND / HISTORY OF THE BIBLE/ INTERPRETATION
It is true, the common argument that the Catholic Church uses, anyone who commits suicide has no opportunity thereafter to repent of his self-murder. So, they mistakenly reason that if John Smith who commits suicide cannot repent of egregious willful sin, he will not receive a resurrection. Generally, this would be true but in this case, it is relative. The reason people get convicted of murder in the Bible as opposed to manslaughter is, intent. The intent of the murderer (self-murderer for suicide) is the unlawful premeditated willful killing of one human being by another. Many suicides are the direct result of extreme mental distress that if they had survived or waited a few months, or even years, they would have had changed circumstances and a repentant heart for even thinking such a thing. God alone would know their heart and mind and would know what they would have done. – 2 Kings 21:16;2 Chronicles 33:12-13.
