Most Baptists (and most Protestants) do not believe that it is possible for a Christian to lose his or her salvation, even if that person commits suicide. Here is a summary of the typical Baptist position on the subject of "eternal security."

Know what you can know

The Bible assures us, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). A literal translation would be, "We can actually and with full assurance know intellectually and personally that we have eternal life." This phrase does not mean that we gradually grow into assurance, but that we can possess here and now a present certainty of the life we have already received in Jesus.

But first we must "believe in the name of the Son of God." "Believe" means more than intellectual assent--it is the biblical word for personal trust and commitment. I can assent to the fact that an airplane will fly me from Dallas to Atlanta, but I must get on board before it can. No surgeon can operate on the basis of intellectual assent--we must submit to the procedure.

If you have, you can claim the biblical fact that you "have eternal life," present tense, right now. You are already immortal. Jesus promised, "whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:26). We simply step from time into eternity, from this life to the next.

Nowhere does the Bible say how it feels to become the child of God, because our feelings can depend on the pizza we had for supper or the weather outside the window. No circumstances or events can guarantee our salvation. It takes as much faith to believe I am a Christian today as it did to become one more than thirty years ago. I still haven't seen God, or proven my salvation in a test tube. If I had, I could question the reality and veracity of what I saw or thought. So could you.

Either the Bible is true or it is false. Either God keeps his word or he does not. He promises that if you "believe in the name of the Son of God," you "have eternal life" This moment. You cannot lose your salvation, for you are already the immortal child of God. This is the fact of God's word.

What about "falling from grace"?

Those who believe that it is possible to trust in Christ and then lose our salvation are quick to quote Hebrews 6:4-6. These interpreters assume that the text speaks of people who have experienced a genuine conversion, then "fall away" (v. 6). They typically believe that such a person needs another salvation experience. But others disagree.

Some believe that the writer is stating a hypothetical case: if genuine Christians "fall away," then "it is impossible" for them "to be brought back to repentance" (vs. 4, 6). Not that they can in fact fall from salvation, but if they could, they could not be saved again. Note that if the text deals with a Christian who actually falls from faith, it teaches that the person has no chance to be saved again.

Others (myself among them) believe that the writer is speaking not of a Christian but of someone who considers the faith, perhaps even joining a church, but then rejects Christ. If such a person persists in unbelief, he cannot then be saved. If a person claims that he once trusted Christ but does so no more, I would believe that he was never a genuine Christian.

The Bible seems clearly to teach that a Christian is forever the child of God:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand" (John 10:27-29).

"Whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:26).

What about the "unpardonable sin"?

Jesus has just healed a demon-possessed man. The crowds think he might be the Messiah, but the Pharisees say that he drives out demons by the devil himself. So Jesus responds, "the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven" (Matthew 12:31). He repeats his warning: "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (v. 32).

Peter could deny Jesus, Thomas could doubt him, and Paul could persecute his followers, yet they could be forgiven. But "blasphemy against the Spirit" cannot be forgiven, now or at any point in the future. This is the "unpardonable sin."

So, what is this sin? Let's set out what we know. We know that Christians cannot commit this sin. 1 John 1:9 is clear: "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." "All" means all. No sin is unpardonable for a Christian.

We know that this sin relates to the work of the Holy Spirit in regard to unbelievers. Jesus is warning the Pharisees, those who rejected him, that they are in danger of this sin. So what does the Spirit do with non-Christians?

He convicts them of their sin and need for salvation: "When [the Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me" (John 16:8-9).

He tells them about Christ their Savior: "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me" (John 15:26).

He explains salvation: "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

When they confess their sins and turn to Christ, the Spirit makes them God's children: "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. . . . And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you" (Romans 8:9, 11).

In short, the Holy Spirit leads lost people to salvation.

So we know that it is the "unpardonable sin" to refuse the Spirit's work in leading you to salvation. To be convicted of your sin and need for a savior, but refuse to admit it. To be presented the gospel but reject it.

Why is this sin unpardonable? Because accepting salvation through Christ is the only means by which our sins can be pardoned. It is "unpardonable" to reject the only surgery which can save your life, or the only chemotherapy which can cure your cancer. Not because the doctor doesn't want to heal you, but because he cannot. You won't let him. You have rejected the only means of health and salvation.

The unpardonable sin is rejecting the Holy Spirit's offer of salvation, and dying in such a state of rejection. Then you have refused the only pardon God is able to give you. Don't do that. Be sure you have made Christ your Lord, today.

Suicide and salvation

To conclude this part of our conversation: no verse of Scripture connects suicide with our eternal destiny. If this act could cause us to lose our salvation, I believe the Bible would make that fact clear. To the contrary, we can neither earn nor lose our salvation by human actions: "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Suicide is a tragedy for all involved, including our Father in heaven. But the Bible nowhere teaches that it costs Christians their salvation.