Answer:
To answer your question about murder I must divide it into two categories…those acts you commit against someone else and those acts you commit upon yourself (suicide).
First, if someone is truly repentant they can be forgiven of murder, even pre-meditated murder…but there truly has to be a repentance and a change of heart. Jesus told us the only sin that was unforgivable was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which is a willful and long term rejection of all things of God even to the point you accrediting God’s work to the devil. The only people Jesus ever warned about this unforgivable sin were the Pharisees and priests, not even the murderers and thieves he met.
I believe the Power of Jesus blood is able to wash away even the worst of sins, including murder. It’s all about the power of His blood. Even those who murdered and crucified Jesus had the chance for forgiveness because Jesus prayed that His father would forgive them. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul had committed murder and so did King David and yet they were used afterwards to lead many people to God.
Suicide is slightly different, and no one truly knows the full answer to this one but God. Here is what I do know…many people believe that if you commit suicide you will never have the chance to be repentant of that sin so you cannot go to Heaven. However, many people who commit suicide are not in their right mind and may not even be thinking straight. What about people that jumped from the World Trade Center because they were being burned alive…you see there are many factors that lead me to say this in not black or white. I have known people that committed suicide that I doubt they are in Heaven, I know one young man suffering from a mental disorder who accidentally took his own life but loved the Lord with all his heart and I believe he is in Heaven.
God will never forget about us – here is the proof, and it is one of my all time favorite Bible verses:
Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Pastor Brad