Tony Scott, Diane Arbus, Mark Rothko… Is Suicide the One Unforgivable Sin?

August 21, 2012
Is Suicide Unforgiviable?

A Walk With Life and Death

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can Tony Scott be forgiven? Or any other suicide from the famous to the infamous, for that matter?  Photographer Diane Arbus , Painter Mark Rothko,  writer Sylvia Plath committed suicide. What about them? What about anyone who takes his own life?

This is a popular question given the tragic and sad suicide of a member of our film family, Director Tony Scott.

So what is the answer from a Christian perspective?

The answer is that suicide is forgivable.

Hebrews 8:12 is very clear. “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”

According to Scripture, God Almighty will forgive all sins, we only need to ask for forgiveness.

Not only does God forgive, but he also forgets.

Why does he forget? Because God is Holy, what does he want all the bad  unholy stuff hanging around for, getting in the way of a relationship with us?

God wants to be in a true relationship with us, a holy relationship, where we walk with Him, engage with Him, and love Him.

What is sin anyways? It is turning our back on God and refusing to love Him.

Can life become overwhelming, can the tragedy of life become overpowering?

Of course.

Apparently that was the case for dear Tony Scott, the consummate pro, the great encourager who jumped from a bridge and ended his life this past Sunday.

Even Jesus was overwhelmed.

In the garden, He asked God to take away the suffering if it be his Father’s will.

God did not for Jesus needed to die for all of us.

Jesus says that  murder,  adultery, theft is all forgivable.

Then is there one unforgivable sin?

Yes, according to Jesus, there is only one.

It is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus says in Luke 12 :10 “…Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man (Jesus) will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against The Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”

What is the Holy Spirit? It is a spiritual  gift  from God available to all men and women through Christ Jesus. By inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives we become changed. And what does the Spirit do? “According to Romans 8:26,” …the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Galatians 5:22-25)

And once the Spirit takes hold of us, we are transformed for “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law….Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in touch with the Spirit.”

So to those who have been asking, Tony Scott, according to Scripture, did not commit a unforgivable sin.

So where Tony Scott, Diane Arbus, Mark Rothko and Sylvia Plath now? God knows for God knows every heart.