http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqNoO7eYbbQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNJubAijOT0

This young adult was the younger brother/son of those I consider friends, yet there was almost no healthy conversation about him. I did end up having two good discussions online with those close to him, but only after I pressed the issue to find out what happened.

As most of you might already suspect, I do NOT believe suicide is the “unpardonable sin”. Scripture does not teach that. Suicide does NOT send people to hell automatically. I find no basis for such horrid teaching in the bible.

Such belief that suicide is a hell-bound action, in my observation, is another fallacy in a long line of fallacies in the social arena taught by well-meaning but ill-informed Christians. Again, I find no support for such teaching in the bible.

“I am surprised that there is not more divorces and sucides.” – See more at: http://www.ubfriends.org/2013/04/06/son-of-rick-warren-commits-suicide/#comment-9515 Yes, there have been suicides in ubf. I think they have primarily been among 2nd gens in Korea. But they are rarely if ever addressed publicly, so that we might truly and collectively empathize with the grieving family and learn from such a painful tragedy.

In Chicago UBF, two suicides occurred that I am aware of over the last few decades. One was of a Bible student. Another was of a mother of an American shepherd. Her husband and all of her three children are still in UBF.

Yes, this is a painful and difficult issue. And yes, we need God’s grace and help to address them and glorify God, as Rick Warren did with the suicide of his own youngest son.

Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/28/rick-warren-preaches-first-sermon-since-his-sons-suicide/#ixzz2aPEkneIj

Viola writes, “I fear for those who made these deplorable remarks. The Scriptures clearly teach that how we treat others is how the Lord will treat us. And if we have the knife out for one of His children, we will eventually end up falling on it ourselves.

Jesus taught that the entire Law and the Prophets is fulfilled in this one statement: Treat others the way you want to be treated in every circumstance. How we respond to bad things that happen to others (be they tragedies, failures, or pain) is a barometer that reveals how well we know our Lord. In fact, there may be no greater test.”

I believe that salvation is from at least five problems: shame, sin, law, curse and death. All of this salvation depends on what God has done on the cross, not what we do. Salvation depends on the faith of Christ, not our faith. Our repentance is to rest in this grace, and it is by grace that we can enter into this eternal rest Today (Hebrews 3,4,5).

Under the law, breaking the smallest commandment (such as getting a tattoo) would send you to hell. But in Christ we have a new covenant, the covenant of grace. Every covenant requires action by both partys involved. The good news is that in this covenant of grace, God fulfilled the requirements of BOTH sides. God did His part, and God did our part because we all fall short. This gospel is foreshadowed numerous times in the law and in the old covenant stories. This is most evident to me in Genesis 15, esp. Genesis 15:12-20. The mysterious vision of God passing through the parts of the bull teach me that God made a covenant with Abram, and that God took the oath of both parties!. This is demonstrated by the fact that only God passed through the bull pieces. Abram was sleeping and did not take the oath that would have bound Abram to do his part in the covenant. God took responsibility to accomplish both ends of the deal.

So then can we “do whatever we want”? Yes. And when Christ lives in you, you want to do what is right more and more, being sanctified by grace not by becoming more moral by obedience to the law. Believers are slaves to righteousness, not slaves to the law.

Are we then free from the consequences of our sin? No. As we live our life, we find consequences of our sin, on a daily basis. And because of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we come to have godly sorrow which invokes eagerness to “make things right” as soon as we are made aware by the Spirit of our sin.

Because of all this, I no longer believe that suicide sends you to hell, nor does being a homosexual either in orientation or in practice. All of the behavior called out in the law will have consequences, but the gospel is that there is no condemnation in Jesus Christ.

Our one command to obey is now to love. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

The mystery is “Christ in you”, and when Christ is in you sin no longer masters you and the law no longer supervises your life. Scripture makes it clear that there is sin that leads to death, and sin that does not lead to death. I only find evidence of one sin that leads to death, and we are told not to be the accusers or judgers of such sin. We are told to love, with faith and hope and joy and justice and peace and grace and mercy and truth.

Our responses to shame, sin, law, curse and death are typically fear, self-condemnation, selfishness, restlessness and bitterness. But the gospel of Jesus is glory, grace, kingdom, peace and life. When we believe this gospel we eventually find our way to respond to tragedy and problems and success with love, forgiveness, generosity, contentment and joy.

The love that never fails, the ability to forgive, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the mystery of all-surpassing power and the promises that give hope are all for our edification.

“At times like these, there really are no words, but there is the Word. There is no manual, but there is Emmanuel.”

From what I have heard, the worst appalling comment from some “Christian(s)” is that Warren’s son went to hell. Why do some “Christians” think they need to play judge and God. Is it any wonder why the sentiment toward Christians is so overwhelmingly negative?

Other “Christians” while offering condolences need to state that they do not agree with Rick Warren’s teachings and doctrine. Is this really necessary???

It sounds like Matthew was very brave to push through each day despite his terrible pain.

So many Christians struggle with some kind of mental illness. I pray the church would become more aware and prepared to address it.

In the end, we are healed by his wounds, but waiting for it to manifest in the present…

Suicide is a sin. But our salvation is through the righteousness of Christ and not our own. Our sins, including suicide, are covered by the blood, though our faith in Him. The question is whether or not one truly believes in the Son, only God knows. Without a doubt, it is not for any man to judge what God himself only knows.

William Cowper is a Christian and hymn writer who suffered with depression and despair to his dying day. This is John Piper’s detailed description of this complex issue of depression in a Christian in Cowper’s life: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/biographies/insanity-and-spiritual-songs-in-the-soul-of-a-saint