Expert: Marvin Howard - 5/3/2007

Question
Hello there,

Could you tell me if there is anywhere in the bible where a murderer was forgiven?  I remember reading that murderers will not inherit the kingdom of God - I just am curious if there is any hope for those who have had abortions.  

Answer
Hi!

You are correct in your assessment that abortion is murder. I applaud you for both your dilligence in this study, and your paying no heed to the loudest of the voices around you in trying to determine the truth.

From Scripture, I can name several murderers who were forgiven. In fact, there were 3000 of them forgiven at one time on Pentecost. Let's take a quick look at the passage.

Acts 2:23-24, 38, 41, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it...Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost...Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."


On Pentecost, 3000 people were accused by Peter of the murder of the Christ. These people were not Christians, so they were told to both repent and be baptized to be forgiven (be saved).

Moreover, every time any of us sins, we are guilty of the murder of Jesus; for the very same reason. If we could live without sin, the Jesus died in vain. There would have been no purpose of His death. Nevertheless, since we cannot live without sinning, Jesus' death was necessary. It was necessary for my sin, so I am guilty of His death. It was necessary for your sins, so you are also guilty of His murder. What is important is whether the penalty for our sin is paid by us or by another (i.e., Jesus).

I understand these are generic instances. Perhaps you mean a case where someone stops the life of a contemporary. Even so, we have the ultimate example of a murderer being forgiven. Let's look at these passages.

1st Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."

Paul was not just a sinner at one time; he considered himself the worst of sinners. This was for two reasons.

Acts 7:58, 8:1, "Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul...And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."


Saul (Paul) may not have actually thrown the stones. In fact, it is not likely that he did. It is more likely that he filled the role of a witness. Nevertheless, he was still an accomplice. In any case, he was not only guilty of murder, but of the murder of God's people. His sincerity mattered not one whit. If you look at the case of abortion, the doctor is the one who actually does the killing, while the mother watches the death of her child, and actually cooperates with the doctor in the effort. This is the same sin of which Paul was guilty; figuratively holding the coat of the doctor to allow him to kill the child more easily.

As we saw with the Pentecost case, those guilty of the murder of Jesus were told to repent and be baptized. It takes both. Repentence is nothing but a fancy way of saying that you don't want to do it again, and making up your mind that you won't. Baptism is simply immersion in water (c.f. Romans 6:4, Acts 8:38, and 1st Peter 3:21), at the hands of another, in subission to the will of God so that one may become a Christian.

If the murderer is already a Christian, then baptism is no longer necessary; but repentence is still mandatory. Even though the sin was not specifically murder, that was what was required of Simon in Acts 8:22. You must remember, however, that all sin (regardless of the act) is committing murder: if none other than the murder of Jesus.

There is only one sin that is described as being unforgivable.

Matthew 12:31, "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men."

All this means is that the Holy Spirit says something either by revelation before Scripture or in Scripture (c.f., 2nd Timothy 3:16-17), and a person has their heart so hard that they will call the Spirit a liar by denying His teaching in favor of the false teaching of another. It is not insufficiency on God's part that makes this person unforgiven. Rather it is the severity of callousness on the part of the blasphemer that prevents the blasphemer from the required repentence that would result in in forgiveness.

Murder is part of the all-inclusive set of "(a)ll manner of sin." In Revelation 21:8, Jesus specifically lumps murderers in with all liars ("all" would make this passage include "little, white lies"); all suffer the same punishment, for all are equally abhorrant to God. The severity of the actions is unimportant. In God's eyes, sin is sin; He can behold none of it (Habakkuk 1:13). There is hope. It can be forgiven, if forgiveness is sought on God's terms (not man's invention), and accepted.

I pray that this helps you with your further study. I pray this gives you hope for whomever the murderer may be, regardless of how you may be acquainted. Once again, I commend you for your prior study, and your continued desire to seek the truth of God's Holy Word. If I may be of further assistance, please let me know.

In His Service,
Marvin Howard
http://www.geocities.com/preacherman_1962
http://360.yahoo.com/preacherman_1962