My cousin recently committed suicide by drug overdose but by the time we got to him, he was lying on the floor still conscious. He repented then died a few minutes later. Is he in heaven?<\/p>\n
Please help.<\/p>\n\t
“Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God<\/em>” (I Corinthians 4:5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When you stop and think about it, there is very little that we fully know about any person. We know about many of the things the person has done in his life, but not all of them. And we are certainly not privy to his thoughts and motivations. Just think how many times someone misunderstood what you’ve done, said, or written and that is dealing with a single incident.<\/p>\n
I’m glad your cousin had a chance to consider and repent of his actions before his end. Repentance is required for forgiveness of sin (II Corinthians 7:10-11). But what you and I can’t answer is why. Why he committed suicide and why he changed his mind. Nor can either of us say what other issues remained in his life: resolved or unresolved. What we can know is that God is a just God and merciful God. We can pray that God has mercy on his soul, but the final decision will be up to the Judge who knows all things.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, we need to teach others the truth. We don’t want anyone lost or teetering on the edge of the cliff of suicide or, for that matter, drug use. Preventing sin at its start is the best thing that we can do for others. “For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion<\/em>” (Ecclesiastes 9:4). Your cousin has passed on and his fate is now sealed. But those of us still living have the potential of improving our lives and that is where the focus should be.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: My cousin recently committed suicide by drug overdose but by the time we got to him, he was lying on the floor still conscious. He repented then died a few minutes later. Is he in heaven? Please help. Answer: “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[109,372,50,39],"class_list":["post-50964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-death","tag-drugs","tag-repentance","tag-suicide"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38499,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-son-just-died-of-a-drug-overdose\/","url_meta":{"origin":50964,"position":0},"title":"My son just died of a drug overdose","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son just died of an overdose and you judgmental hypocritical sheep wouldn't know up from down. Answer: I'm sorry to hear of your grief. I'm a bit puzzled why you think someone literally on the opposite side of the world had something to do with this. I realize\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-someone-who-was-abusing-drugs-and-died-of-an-overdose-be-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":50964,"position":1},"title":"Could someone who was abusing drugs and died of an overdose be in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My pastor's son recently died of a drug overdose. He was always in and out of jail and had a drug problem that ultimately ended his life. At the son's funeral, my pastor said that he was confident that his son was in heaven because he witnessed his son\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53706,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-christian-dying-of-an-overdose-does-not-send-him-to-hell\/","url_meta":{"origin":50964,"position":2},"title":"A Christian dying of an overdose does not send him to hell!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A Christian dying of an overdose\u00a0does\u00a0not\u00a0send him to hell. He was saved by faith in Christ not his works. All of us Christians sin. You sin, and I sin. If a drug user was never saved that is up to God. Answer: You are correct that the conditions of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33966,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-wont-my-drug-using-cousin-leave\/","url_meta":{"origin":50964,"position":3},"title":"Why won’t my drug-using cousin leave?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I've been praying for a cousin of mine who lives with my family to leave this house or change. His mother has left with his sister to another state but he stayed behind. He uses drugs and steals from us. 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Answer: I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44379,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-father-just-died-can-he-be-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":50964,"position":5},"title":"My father just died! Can he be in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have sad news, my father just died of an overdose! Are there any verses that you can point out to me that say he can be in Heaven! I'm so scared he is in hell because he said he was mad at God and all. 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