Questioner: "S"
Subject: Suicide and salvationQuestion:
- AT THE AGE OF 11 MY SON GAVE HIM SELF TO THE LORD. HE WAS
BAPTIZED.HE DID THIS ON HIS OWN. WE RAISED HIM RELIGIOUS WITHOUT GRAMMING
IT DOWN HIS THROAT. WE ALWAYS LET HIM MAKE HIS OWN CHOSSES.AS HE GOT
OLDER THE MORE HE STARTED TO QUESTION RELIGION. HE IS NOW 26 AND HE
COMMITTED SUICIDE ON JAN 28TH 2007.
MY QUESTION --- IS MY SON WITH THE LORD ?
John of AllFaith's reply
Hi "S",My heart goes out to you and your family. I know how difficult this can be. May God bless and give you all consolation.
As you know, Christians differ on their understandings. In my opinion, the biblical teaching applicable here is known as the doctrine of eternal security.
When your son was 11 he came to understand his need for God and so, on his own, sought salvation. When he did this, he was adopted into a God's family. God is the perfect father and we know from examples such as the Prodigal Son parable that even when God's children move away from Him into 'distant lands' where they do things not befitting a child of the Kingdom, God's love for us never fails. In other words, your son was accepted as a child of God when he was 11. Once saved he is eternally saved because God is able to keep His own.
Scripture tells us that not only is it impossible for people to save ourselves ("for by grace are ye saved..."), it is also impossible to keep ourselves saved. God saves us through His grace and He keeps us saved by his grace. Paul makes this point clear, arguing that IF it were possible to lose one's salvation, which it is not, one would never be able to be 're-saved' (because that would require Jesus to die a second time, and a third and so on). Hence, the biblical teaching is that your son is safe with the Lord in Heaven. As such, I am positive he is praying that you and his other loved ones find peace in your lives and not be too distraught by his unfortunate decision. One day your family will be reunited.
Write back anytime,
-
~John of AllFaith
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