Session 7 - Issues of Life - Part 2

In our last session we began to look at “issues of life.” We saw that life is a gift of God and that the fact that men and animals were set apart from plants by the fact that we have blood. We also learned that shedding of another human’s blood is forbidden because we are made in God’s image, and saw that “life is in the blood.” We read where Scripture called the intentional taking of life is called murder and those that did it were called murderers.
We saw that there was grace for those that accidentally took a life and that intentional killing could be justified if it was authorized directly or indirectly by God. We saw in Romans 13 that indirect authority could be given through the use of Government. Using that logic, at the end of class we determined that soldiers that are instructed by their governments to kill are not condemned.
Today we are going to extend this thinking a little further and then we are going to discuss suicide and assisted suicide.

We said that we were going to base each discussion on three Scriptures.

Phill 2:3
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Eph 4:2-5
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Gal 3:28
28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

I wanted to start today with a quote by Thomas Jefferson:
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”

Last week we had a question that I don’t think was adequately answered, and that was the understanding of whether revolution is Scriptural.

Here is a link to the Declaration of Independence. In your spare time I would like us all to read it so that we have an informed opinion about it’s our countries history.

http://www.friendsacrossamerica.com/declaration.html

Let’s’ look at some Scriptures.

Psalm12:5
5"Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise," says the LORD.
"I will protect them from those who malign them."
Isaiah 10:1-2
Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
2to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.

Proverbs 14:31
31He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

The Americans that revolted did so because they felt an overwhelming sea of oppression, of persecution. Scripture shows that God opposes those that oppress the weak. Many times throughout Scripture He mentions this. In the case of leading the people out of Egyptian bondage, He clearly demonstrated His disdain for oppression.


While we can say with a degree of certainty that the first Americans felt three things were true. God created all men equal, granted them the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and government exists by the consent of the governed.
I believe that these are all scriptural to an extent.

• We are all created equal, however God makes a distinction between the saved and the condemned.
• We are all given the gift of life and it cannot be taken away by any man, that is our spiritual life,, our eternity.
• We all are guaranteed freedom, but only in Christ.
• Pursuing happiness – demonstrating joy is a fruit of the Spirit.

From my perspective I believe it’s probable that the Americans that warred with the British believed that the revolution was serving the purposes of God. I think they believed that God had their back and that they were duty bound to their fellow men, and to God, to throw off the oppression that engulfed them.

It's an issue we can't fully answer. Certianly we can make the statement that it turned out well for us as Americans today.

However, considering Romans 13, it appears that it was an unrighteous uprising. In the final analysis it’s like lots of things in that we can’t supposed to understand the intricacies of God, we can only strive to understand what His Word means to us today.

Let's move on in our study.

Matthew 5:21-22
21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

So we have been talking about issues of life, specifically the term murder. What did we conclude that murder was? The intentional taking of a human life.
In the verse we just read, what does Jesus say about murder? Actually it’s more of a comment on anger, that anger is just as evil and destructive as murder.

James 1:13-15
13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Anger, full grown, can become murder.

Do you remember our discussion on authority and how God can authorize, directly or indirectly for people to take a human life intentionally and in those cases since it’s authorized, it’s not murder?

We looked then at Romans 13 where we are told to be obedient to the authorities because God has granted them their authority.

How did we say that affected the guilt or innocence of those that took a life while under the direction of the appointed military?

The authorization given to the government transmutes to the soldier such that taking a life as part of the government armed forces is not murder.

Can the same argument can be given for those in the Police force.

Yes it can.

What about the use, or even the performing of, capital punishment?

If it is authorized by the government it’s not murder.

Now I don’t want us to take any of this lightly. It’s a really difficult subject, and I think most of us would not choose to be executioners, and that a few more might be police, and a slightly larger group would be soldiers. I would expect that the decision to fulfill your duties in any of those roles would be heart wrenching and painful. But I don’t believe in situations God is displeased with the person performing their duty.

Ok, now that we understand the difference between murder and authorized killing let’s take this discussion a step further.

2 Samuel 17:21-23
21After the men had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, "Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you." 22So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.
23When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father's tomb.
1 Kings 16:15-19
15In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. 16When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp. 17Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, 19because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD and walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit.

Matthew 27:1-8
271Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
3When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4"I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
5So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. 6The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. 8That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
What do we see in these passages? These are examples of what?

Suicide.

Two questions I want us to consider.

Is suicide self-murder? Is it done intentionally?

Yes and Yes.

What do you think of people that commit suicide?

• Are they selfish?
• Are they cowardly?
• Are they “crazy?”

It’s easy to make judgments about people that commit suicide but here are some facts. Now there are cases where the death was reckless but not intentional, crashing your car while under the influence, etc. We are not talking about those cases.

• They may be depressed.
• They may have experienced some sort of loss.
• They may have done something that they cannot bare to face.
• They don’t have anyone they believe they can turn to.
• They can’t find an escape from whatever is troubling them.
• In each and every case they are without hope.

Romans 15:4
4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

As Christians we have hope.

What is our hope?

Salvation. through Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-13
11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Our hope comes from the Lord.

One more question.

Is suicide an unpardonable sin?

Romans 3:22-25
.22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

1 John 2:1-2
21My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

I don’t believe that suicide is any different from anger, or lust, or stealing. When our relationship with God deteriorates it is not because God deserts us, it is because we desert God. A person who was truly saved may still somehow become so despondent that they take their own life, but I don’t believe they lose their eternal inheritance because of one final sin.

Our destiny is not dependant on asking forgiveness for any unmentioned sin, it's dependant on our personal relationship with God.