Nathalie Zani – Kallos

Dig Deeper: Can People Who Commit Suicide Go To Heaven?

Nathalie Zani — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 04:00:00 +0000

Is taking your own life a sin?

If a loved one has taken their own life, it is inevitable that we would agonise over whether we could have done more to show them how much they matter, or how we could have missed the signs of their suffering. Worse still, should they have been Christian, it is natural to wonder if they are with Jesus.

We ask this question because we know that taking someone’s life is wrong (Gen 9:6; Exod 20:13), even if that life is our own. Yet, we know of Christians, who, in desperation, ended their own lives — perhaps they felt worthless because their grades aren’t good enough; perhaps they were cruelly bullied into believing their lives weren’t worth anything; perhaps they struggled with debilitating mental illnesses that left them hopeless and in despair before deciding to end it all. We have to acknowledge the immense conflict they might have gone through, while not taking it as proper justification for the act of suicide.

But the question still haunts us: even under such desperate circumstances, if a Christian commits suicide, can they go to heaven?

Can sin be forgiven?

The Bible is very clear — when we rebel against God by saying that we are the ones in charge and don’t have to obey what God says, we are in sin. This is what breaks our relationship with God (Rom 3:23). Sin separates us from Him, and disqualifies us from being with Him forever.

However, the Bible doesn’t end with this message of doom and gloom! Instead, it tells us that Jesus offers us forgiveness, and it is through Jesus’ death on the cross that we can be reconciled with God (John 14:6). If we acknowledge our rebellion, turn away from it, and trust and follow Him, we will be with Him eternally where He is, whether in Heaven or on His restored earth (Rev 21).

Our eternity with Jesus does not depend on us deserving it through anything we could do (Eph 2:8–9). Rather, it depends on whether or not we have put our faith in Him!

Can the sin of suicide be forgiven?

When we wonder whether a Christian who committed suicide can go to heaven, we are asking whether the sin of suicide can be forgiven, so that the person can be with Jesus eternally.

No one, whether they lived out their lifespan or committed suicide, can earn their place with God. Faith in Jesus Christ is what saves us (Gal 2:15–16), not how much good or bad someone has done. This is true of those we love who have committed suicide. This is true for everyone.

So, when we ask if someone who took their own life can be with Jesus or not, the difficult answer is, we do not know for sure until we can ask this of Jesus face-to-face. It would be impossible for us to fully know a person’s heart and whether they have truly put their trust in Jesus, even as they struggle in the last moments of their life with depression and despair.

But what we do know is that God desires for all to know Him (1 Tim 2:3–4; 2 Pet 3:8–9). He is also compassionate and merciful (Exod 34:6–7; Mic 7:18–19; Ps 103:8–14), He understands grief and pain (John 11:33–36), and He cares for those who are vulnerable and oppressed (Deut 24:17-22; Jer 22:3; Matt 25:31–46).

If you have lost a friend to suicide and are wrestling with this question, you can find comfort in knowing that God is not blind to those who suffer, and when a person is driven by desperation to take their own life, God grieves with them in their suffering and mourns over them at their death as well.

Is someone you know having suicidal thoughts? Contact the Samaritans of Singapore on their 24-hour hotline at 1800 221 4444 for help.

If you have lost a friend or loved one to suicide, do not be afraid to seek help from your parents, teachers, pastors, or a counsellor. You might want to read Dorothea Wong’s reflections on her friends’ suicides in Issue 36 of Kallos Magazine (below), or download the digital copy from our library.

Dig Deeper: If There Is Evidence That Jesus Rose From The Dead, Why Are People Still Not Convinced?

Nathalie Zani — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 04:00:00 +0000

How do we know that Jesus rose from the dead?

While most scholars agree there was a man called Jesus who existed some 2,000 years ago and that He was put to death by crucifixion, the resurrection of Jesus continues to be debated. What basis do we have for believing it happened?

Women were the witnesses

In first-century Palestine, women were considered unreliable and their testimonies were questionable. Yet, all four Gospels record women as the first witnesses to the resurrection. If the Gospel writers were making up the resurrection, they would not have named women as witnesses.

Jesus' body could not be found

Jesus was publicly crucified in Jerusalem. When the disciples claimed He rose from the dead, the easiest way to disprove it would have been to show everyone Jesus’ dead body. Yet, this did not happen. There was no body!

Few would die for a lie

Could the disciples have been lying? Perhaps they hid the body? Many of the first disciples were actually willing to die for saying Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. We see this in the Bible (in Acts and Paul’s writings) and outside the Bible (first-century Bishop Clement of Rome spoke of Peter’s and Paul’s martyrdoms). We also have evidence of second-century Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna dying for refusing to renounce Christ as Lord. Would early believers have been willing to die for something they knew was a lie?

While the above evidence is not exhaustive, it helps us understand why we can trust Jesus really rose from the dead.

Believing in Jesus is not just intellectual

We all know that exercise is good for us. Research shows immense benefits of exercise, such as a longer lifespan, increased concentration, and better health.

Yet, we find it difficult to even put on our running shoes, favouring instead a comfortable day lounging at home. Why is there a disconnect between what we know, and what we do?

Some have not looked enough into the benefits of exercise to be convinced. Others have chosen to ignore the issue and blindly hope they won’t be struck by disease. Still others are fully aware of the research but won’t take it seriously — this would warrant a serious change in lifestyle, which they aren’t ready to make.

Likewise, even though there is evidence that Jesus existed, died, and rose again, some have never explored the claims of Christianity; they may rely on what they hear in the media or through others but never think through it for themselves.

Others don’t find it important to think about God and eternity because the present reality seems more pressing.

And while compelling or irrefutable evidence should logically lead to change, logic alone is not always enough to sway a person. Christianity is a reasonable faith, but believing in Jesus and His resurrection requires more than just intellectual agreement.

If Jesus really is who He says He is, a Saviour who redeems us from our sin, it means that we no longer get to do whatever we want if we want to follow Him. It requires a total lifestyle change — putting aside our sinful nature and acknowledging that His way is better than ours. That’s saying goodbye to living on our own terms, and hello to seeking holiness!

For some, this is too much. They like autonomy and independence. They don’t like being told what to do. Jesus’ claims and authority are too demanding and that is enough for them not to believe.

We should not give up hope that God can meet them where they are. God has made Himself known to all of humanity and to you and me. He knows how to reach us even when we are uninterested in Him. So, let’s be patient with those who are rejecting Him, and continually love them, talk with them, and pray for Jesus to encounter them.

Dig Deeper: Why Do We Need To Be Part Of A Church?

Nathalie Zani — Wed, 24 Jul 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Have you met friends who say they don’t need the church because they are following Christ just fine on their own? Or perhaps you have had these thoughts or said these things yourself! Christians can recognise how wonderful Jesus is, but the church often doesn’t live up to expectations, whatever they may be. Non-Christians can sometimes get on board with the love offered by the Christian idea of God but are put off by how His followers behave. Do we need the church then? If we do, why?

People have a role in God’s plan

From the beginning, God chose to reveal Himself through humans. He started the story of humankind with Adam and Eve and didn’t abandon them after the fall (Gen 1–3); He continued on to promise to bless all people through Abraham and his family (Gen 12:1–3), and through His people (Deut 10:12–22; Matt 28:18–20; Acts 1:8). While God could have chosen to reveal Himself on His own, He has always given His people the privilege of representing Him on earth.

When Christ came, died and rose again, He offered forgiveness and the possibility of reconciliation with God to all who repent of their sins and follow Him. In turn, we now all play a part in God’s plan by pointing others to reconciliation with God through Christ (2 Cor 5:18–19). The church is therefore vital, not expendable, as we play a role in sharing the gospel with those who don’t yet know Him.

We live out the Gospel in community

It is tempting to think that since Christians belong to the global church, we therefore do not need to commit to a local church. After all, aren’t we part of the body of Christ no matter where and how often we attend a particular church? Well, no! The church has the responsibility of showing the world who God is, and to bring His reconciliation and reign to all people and creation. We can’t do that without committing to a local church community.

Jesus told His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34–35).

The world will know Christ through the way His disciples love one another. But how can we be people who truly love each other if we refuse to commit to being in a community with each other? How can we show the steadfast, long-suffering, loving nature of God if we hop from one place to the next, always looking for something “better”? How can we care for one another if we choose to stay home alone on Sundays and listen to sermons online?

We can only live out the full gospel of Christ, the good news that He is, if we are in community, and we need to be part of the church in order to do that.

Let them know Him by our love

Our world is one of bitter competition, brokenness, self-preservation, greed, and fear, where people look out for themselves first. But if our local churches live as a family who love one another and care for one another as we are called to, imagine what the world would see!

They would see people who selflessly give of themselves even if they gain nothing from it. They would see people extending love, kindness, and forgiveness even to those who don’t deserve it. They would see a community who refuses to give up on each other even when it would be easier to walk away, and they would see a community who accepts all — the businessman, the prostitute, the schoolteacher, even the murderer — because of the Saviour who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal 2:20). In short, they would begin to see God’s kingdom and what life in Christ looks like starting today.

We all need the church

The church is therefore first and foremost about letting God’s love for mankind be known. It is not just about coming to church on Sundays, listening to a sermon, and rushing off for lunch — it is about being with the people who belong to Christ as much as you do, loving one another, and letting the world see Christ’s love by our love. As we choose to love our brothers and sisters day after day, week after week, year after year, we will grow together into Christ-like maturity, and we will show the world who God is and step out to bring His love, redemption, and reign to all the world.

Dig Deeper: Can Science And Faith Co-exist?

Nathalie Zani — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 04:00:00 +0000

Would it surprise you to learn there are many professional scientists who believe in God? Many people think that, surely, all rational scientists must not believe in God, but that isn’t true. In fact, two scientists can look at the same evidence and one will believe that God is real while the other will not. Some scientists look at the complexity of the human genome and conclude that humans must have been created by God. Other scientists look at the same genome and believe it all happened by chance. How can that be?

What is science?

Science is a discipline which aims to find out how the world works. Scientists investigate things such as what matter is made of, how cells replicate, and how the solar system runs. Part of the scientific method involves observation and replication. Scientists can tell us how the world functions because they run experiments again and again and then figure out the rules which govern the natural world. Science is a valuable tool because it helps us understand how this world we live in works.

But, science, like all disciplines, has limitations. It discovers the rules of nature but it does not invent them. Science, for example, cannot answer questions about purpose. For example, if you see a kettle of water boiling, you can use science to figure out how the kettle works and why the water boils. But science cannot tell you why someone decided to put the kettle on. You need to talk to the person who put the kettle on to figure that out. Another limitation is it doesn’t help you investigate historical claims. If someone tells you that a book was first released in 1993, science cannot help you determine if that is true or false (even radiocarbon dating does not have such pinpoint accuracy). You could read the book and see what the “first published” date printed inside the book is. You could call the publisher. There are ways to find out if the claim is true. But science is not one of them.

What is faith?

Faith, on the other hand, does not aim to answer questions about how the world works. Faith, rather, asks if there is a God, why He created us, what our purpose is in life, how we should live, why the world is so broken, and what happens after death. All of these depend on evidence which stands outside the discipline of science.

One of the difficulties we often face is in thinking science is rational and empirical whereas faith is the opposite. But this assumes we should be investigating faith the same way we investigate the natural world — with the scientific method of observation and replication. However, faith seeks to answer questions about God, purpose, morality, and destiny, and since science does not deal with these questions, it is unreasonable to expect science to give us the evidence we are looking for. We should rather be looking to investigate the truth and rationality of someone’s faith using the appropriate disciplines.

Where science and faith coincide

For example, a lot of the evidence to determine the truth of someone’s faith lies in looking into history rather than how the world works. The Christian faith, for instance, stands or falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is a historical event which cannot be investigated with the scientific method because it has happened only once in the past. Someone who wants to find out if this event happened must then look to history and historical evidence to determine if it is true. One of the pieces of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is the fact that the disciples of this man were willing to die for their insistence that they had seen Him alive after His crucifixion. People would not persist in lies that threatened their lives. We can also use other sources to corroborate what is mentioned in the Bible. We can go to documentation of events in first-century Palestine to see if certain things the Bible affirms as having happened really happened. For example, the New Testament mentions a lot of different Roman rulers. Their names and the dates for when and where they ruled can be checked from sources outside the Bible, and they confirm what is said in the New Testament. This points in the direction of the trustworthiness of the New Testament.

These are just some of the evidences for the truth and rationality of the Christian faith. What is important to realise is that someone can both be interested in science and have faith because the two do not stand in opposition to one another. Rather, they aim to answer different questions. In some ways, they also complement one another. We should look to science to understand how our world works, because there are so many interesting things to learn. At the same time, we should also look to faith to tell us about why we are in this world and how we should live in it. Both of these together make for an exciting life!