Transcript of a published teaching by David K. Bernard, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
The frame and the preface: get help first
- The frame sets the occasion: a very difficult subject, very personal for many people, recorded in national suicide prevention week in the united states, for an audience that includes people who have lost somebody they love to suicide — and the questions it raises: what does the bible say about suicide; is suicide effectively the unpardonable sin; can someone who commits suicide still be saved?
- His preface, before answering theologically and pastorally: if you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, first of all you need to get help — you need to get spiritual help, you need to talk to someone; if you need counseling you should do that; if you need help from a professional, a doctor, you should do that. You should not just condemn yourself for having these thoughts or struggles; you should be able to get help.
The theology: human life is a gift from God
- Theologically, human life is a gift from god, and humans are created in the image of god; therefore it is a sin to take human life without just cause — and suicide falls in that category: it is wrong, it is a sin. The church has to teach that, standing against the taking of human life — abortion as an example, murder as an example, suicide as an example — so that someone entertaining the thoughts is reminded: this is against god's will, this is not acceptable; you must trust god, you must have faith in god. Suicide is rejecting faith in god, because you don't think god can help your life — and it is a profound rejection of other people, hurting loved ones for a temporary desire to end your own suffering.
- Without trivializing the suffering: human life is far bigger than our personal wants, needs, or experience. Some people suffer chronic pain, intense pain, even emotional pain — and medical science can do amazing things to alleviate chronic and physical pain — but first and foremost we should trust god. God has the answer; he has a purpose for your life that's bigger than you recognize; you have a church and a family who love you. Even though pain seems unbearable, it can become manageable, and you can be delivered, you can be healed, and you can find a higher purpose in life even despite pain.
The two promises: sustained in the trial, delivered out of it
- We must trust what god's word says in ii corinthians 12: my grace is sufficient. So first of all, god will sustain you during your trial.
- And first corinthians chapter 10: he will not put on us more than we can bear, but will with every temptation or every trial make a way to escape. So second of all, god will deliver you out of your trial. Have faith in god.
Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 10
The pastoral turn: truth uncompromised, grace trusted
- Now pastorally: what happens when somebody has already committed suicide, and you're left with a grieving family who have just heard that suicide is a sin, that the last act their loved one did was a sin, and therefore they're lost? In times like this we can't compromise truth, but we can trust the grace of god. God is both just and merciful; he alone knows every situation.
- He is not prepared to excuse a suicide — but fortunately god is the judge, and he is not the judge: i give the general principles; god makes the decisions. I am the lawyer who makes the case of here's what the law says; god is the judge who decides here's how i'm going to apply the law (heard 'implies'). And we know that however god applies it, it's going to be right — and we also know that if there's any way to be merciful, he will be merciful.
The two possibilities, and his own pastoral cases
- The first thought: when somebody commits suicide they are distraught — it could be an actual mental illness, or even a physical illness: a brain malady, a tumor, or some chemical imbalance that causes them not to think rationally, or intense emotional distress. While someone is contemplating suicide we would never want to give them an excuse to act on it — but if someone has committed suicide, is it possible god could say, i will not hold them accountable for their sin, where a true physical illness or a classifiable mental illness so impaired their judgment — just as god would not hold a child accountable, or someone who's mentally handicapped, or someone who has alzheimer's? It could be, in a specific situation of a long-term or temporary nature, that god would say: i'm not going to hold that person accountable.
- The second thought: some forms of suicide are instant, but others are over time — is it possible that in the moments between the person's act and their death, even semi-conscious or, as far as we could tell, not conscious, there was a god consciousness? God can speak to people in their sleep, and to people seemingly in a coma or an unconscious state who later recover and tell of experiences. Especially in the case of someone who's been born again but strayed: could god reach in, in one final moment of mercy — not rescuing them back to life, not restoring them (they reap what they sow), but giving one chance: will you repent? He can't guarantee it as a pastor.
- His own experience: as a pastor he has had to deal with such situations — we've had ministers, few and far between, and minister spouses who have committed suicide. In those cases he would say: let's trust the grace of god (heard 'race'). Number one, perhaps there was a mental or physical illness of which we may or may not have knowledge; number two, there may have been one last opportunity, known only to god, for that person to find a place of reconciliation. He offers that hope as much as is possible.
Scripture index: 2 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 10.
Transcript
that's a tough question but an important question so i'm going to answer it theologically and pastorally and i would preface it by saying if you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide first of all you need to get help you need to get spiritual help you need to talk to someone and if you need counseling you should do that and if you need help from a professional a doctor you should do that you should not just condemn yourself for having these thoughts or struggles but you should be able to get help now theologically we do believe that human life is a gift from god that humans are created in the image of god and therefore it's a sin to take human life without cause without just cause and so suicide does fall in that category that it's wrong it is a sin so i think we do need to teach as the church that taking of human life abortion as example murder is an example suicide example we have to stand against that so that if someone is entertaining thoughts they need to be reminded no this is against god's will this is not acceptable you must trust god you must have faith in god suicide is rejecting faith in god because you don't think god can help your life and it's a profound rejection of other people because you're hurting loved ones with a temporary desire to end the suffering for yourself and while i don't want to trivialize that what i want to emphasize is the church that human life is far bigger than our personal wants or needs our experience and i do realize that some people suffer with chronic pain or intense pain maybe even emotional pain but we believe that god has the answer for that and even with pain physical pain medical science can do amazing things to alleviate chronic and physical pain but first and foremost we we should trust god and so we yes we need to say suicide is a sin and therefore don't consider that option instead recognize that god has a purpose for your life that's bigger than you recognize you have a church and a family who love you recognize that even though pain seems to be unbearable it can become manageable and you can be delivered you can be healed and you can find a higher purpose in life even despite pain and we must trust what god's word says in ii corinthians 12 that my grace is sufficient and first corinthians chapter 10 he will not put on us more than we can bear but will with every temptation or every trial make a way to escape so first of all god will sustain you during your trial and second of all god will deliver you out of your trial so have faith in god now having said that let's talk pastorally what happens when somebody's already committed suicide and you're left with a family that's grieving and they've just heard well we know suicide is a sin uh the last act that our loved one did was a sin so therefore they're lost and i would say in times like this we can't compromise truth but we can trust the grace of god god is both just and merciful he alone knows every situation and so let me give you some possibilities obviously when somebody commits suicide they're distraught it could be an actual mental illness or even a physical illness where there's a brain malady a tumor or some chemical imbalance that causes them not to think rationally while if someone is contemplating suicide we would never want to give them an excuse to act on that but if someone has committed suicide what if it was a true physical illness a brain tumor that caused them to act irrationally or what if is intense emotional distress or or even a classifiable mental illness where they weren't thinking straight is it possible that god could say i will not hold them accountable for for their sin so i'm not prepared to excuse a suicide but fortunately god is the judge i'm not the judge i give the general principles god makes the decisions so i'm the lawyer who makes the case of here's what the law says but god is the judge who decides here's how i'm going to apply the law and we know that what however god implies it's going to be right but we also know if there's any way to be merciful he will be merciful so i do think there's always the thought of a physical emotion emotional or mental illness so severe it impaired their judgment to the extent that god would say i don't hold them accountable just like god would not hold a child accountable or someone who's mentally handicapped accountable someone who has alzheimer's accountable so it could be in this specific situation whether of a long-term or temporary nature god could say i'm not going to hold that person accountable the second thought is this now some forms of suicide are instant but others are over time somebody may drown themselves somebody may take pills and gradually drift off an unconsciousness and and or even somebody can use a gun but the the uh they're not killed instantly is it possible that in some moments between their act and their death even if they were semi-conscious or as far as we could tell not conscious but maybe there was a god consciousness could it be and i think this could be especially true in the case of someone who's been born again but strayed could it be that god and his mercy would speak to them in those hours or even minutes between the time they made the decision and performed the act in the time they actually finally died whether they had some type of consciousness that we could tell if we were there could talk to them or whether they were in a semi-conscious or as far as we know an unconscious state but yet we know god can speak to people in their sleep and god can speak to people in that seemingly in a coma or some unconscious state but yet later they recover and they tell us that they had experiences so could it be that god would reach in one final moment of mercy and to say well you made such a bad choice and you did so wrong and you violated my word so i'm not gonna rescue you and bring you back to life i'm not gonna restore you you're gonna you're gonna have to reap what you sow but i will give you one chance of mercy will you repent could it be so while i can't guarantee that as a pastor i've had to deal with situations and i'll be honest with you uh we've had ministers it's few and far between but we've had ministers our minister spouses who've committed suicide in those cases i would like to say let's trust the race of god number one perhaps there was a mental or physical illness of which we may or may not have knowledge number two there may have been one last opportunity known only to god that that person would find a place of reconciliation and i would like to offer that hope as much as is possible
Scripture references as spoken: 2 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 10.