I suffer from a disorder known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in which I have to do a behavior or ritual (such as touching an object a certain number of times) to avoid something bad happening.  My personal fear is that if I don't do the ritual, I will subconsciously sell my soul to the devil and be condemned to hell.  My question is about if it is possible to sell your soul or lose it because of a possible thought or action, or is this concept just a contrivance of literature and cinema?  Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,
Driven

Dear Driven,

Take comfort – your eternal destiny isn’t dictated by how many times you perform a ritual of your own making.  Saying that you will go to hell for these rituals isn’t true any more than saying, “I’ll go to heaven by performing these rituals.”  We aren’t the final judge of our eternal home – Christ is (2 Tim 4:1).  We don’t get to dictate the terms of our relationship with God; God sets the standards for our salvation, and He put those rules in the Bible (2 Pet 1:3, Rom 10:17).  If you have done what Christ teaches you must do to be saved, you will go to heaven.  If you don’t, you won’t.  What personal rituals and traditions we perform have no bearing on the subject.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a real issue, and we know that it isn’t as simple as just being given an answer, and then the problem goes away.  So as you struggle with your fears, try and take comfort in the truth that God doesn’t use the same standards as we do (Isa 55:8-9).

In Revelation, it says that murderers, idolaters, people who practice magic arts, and adulterous people will be left outside the gate.  Could you please explain to me that verse?  Because I may be taking it wrong… to me it sounds like that even though I ask for forgiveness, I will still be left outside of the gate. Thank you so much again and may God bless you!

Sincerely,
Seeking Grace

Dear Seeking Grace,

You will be left outside the gate unless you are washed in Christ’s blood.  The verse you refer to is Rev. 22:15.  The verse before it (Rev 22:14) references the contrast – those let in will be the ones who have washed their robes.  Everyone has sinned (Rom 3:23) and is dead in those sins, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:23).  If you are in Christ, you will be allowed into heaven.  So the question is, how do we get into Christ and receive the gift of eternal life?

We are saved by God’s grace, and we receive that grace through faith (Eph 2:8).  Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).  Faith is defined as ‘belief to the point of action’.  Imagine a child that climbed a tall tree and got stuck.  The child’s father comes out and says, “Jump down, and I will catch you!”  How do you know if the child has faith in their father?  You know they have faith when they hear what he says and trust the words enough to jump out of the tree into their father’s waiting arms.  Faith comes from hearing God’s Word (Rom 10:17).  The Bible is God’s message to mankind; it is His roadmap for our salvation (Rom 1:16).  When we hear what God says and then act upon those words, we have faith (Jas 2:18).  It is only in our actions that our faith is alive (Jas 2:17).  See our post “What Must I Do To Be Saved” to learn what God says we must do to become christians.  Take the Bible and except no substitute.

     My daughter died at five years old.  Do you know anywhere in the Bible where it says if children grow up or stay children in heaven?

Sincerely,
Waiting To See Her

Dear Waiting To See Her,

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about what it will be like in heaven, but we do know that all children go to heaven.  When David’s son died, David made it clear that his son was in heaven (2 Sam 12:23).  You can have complete confidence that your daughter will be there, too.

We also know that we will have totally different bodies when we get to heaven, and that may affect things with your daughter – after all, a large part of what makes children child-like is their bodies and the growing and learning that accompanies those bodies growing and changing.  1 Cor 15:47-49 says that in heaven, we will have spiritual bodies better suited for eternity.  We can’t tell you exactly what your daughter will be like in heaven, but even if she starts out with the spirit of a child, she’ll have eternity to learn and grow just like all the rest of us.

Is it in God’s Word to pray for people who have died?

Sincerely,
Funereal Friend

Dear Funereal Friend,

1 Jn 5:16 talks about not praying for a sin that leads to death, but that doesn’t really deal with dead people; it pertains to people who are purposefully turning their backs on the Lord.  We are told not to request that God forgive people who aren’t seeking to live faithfully.

Your question deals with people that are already dead, and that is an entirely different issue.  Heb 9:27 says that people die and then face the judgment.  There is no room for someone’s fate to be changed once they die.  If your goal through prayer is to make it so someone who already died can go to heaven instead of hell, that won’t work.

I looked at a website of Holy Bible subjects about suicide/heaven and just got confused.  I know suicide is a sin.  My question is: if a person is saved and commits suicide, will they go to heaven?  My belief is being saved forgives our sins, but does suicide not let them into heaven?

Sincerely,
Not Sure

Dear Not Sure, 

People can lose their salvation. Heb 6:4-6 and Heb 10:26-27 outline that if someone rejects God’s Word (even after becoming a christian), they will go to hell just like any other unbeliever. And that is the key to the whole thing – is suicide an example of rejecting God’s Word and sinning willfully?

The Bible never specifically addresses suicide as being worse then another sin. Suicide certainly is condemned. Suicide is murder, self-murder, and is therefore very clearly a sin (Rev 21:8). The only difference between suicide and murdering someone else is that you don’t get a chance to repent after suicide. Suicide is a final decision and leaves no room for correction or for asking forgiveness. Therefore, in most cases, it would be fair to say that suicide will send you to hell. It is a willful act of disobedience against God without opportunity for repentance.

We here at AYP only hesitate to say, “All people who commit suicide go to hell,” because God never specifically makes that statement. The final judgment belongs to God (Heb 12:23), but we certainly wouldn’t want to face that judgment with our own blood on our hands.