Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel
Support Our Podcast
![Merch-Store](https://straighttruth.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Merch-Store.png)
Join Our Mailing List
Watch Us On Rumble
Related Messages
Related sermons:
Qualities of Love – Not Selfish
Gray Hair & the Fear of God
The Fear of God
The Wonder of a Believer’s Life
The Two Answers for Discouragement
Faith in the Face of Frustration
Facing Our Fear with Faith
The Gospel and Family Relationships
Piety and Family
![Book-Banner](https://straighttruth.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Book-Banner.png)
Follow Us On Vimeo
Listen to the Audio Podcast
Subscribe on iPhone
Subscribe on Android
Subscribe on Spotify
Assisted Suicide: A Christian Take on Assisted Suicide
North of the United States lies Canada, the second largest country in the world. In 2016, Canada passed a legal euthanasia law called Medical Assistance in Dying or MAiD, along with assisted suicide for those whose death was “foreseeable”. Canadians who wish to die with medical assistance must have a serious and incurable illness or disability that’s in an advanced state of irreversible decline. However, the law in its current form excludes eligibility for those persons suffering solely from mental illness. That exclusion was set to expire this year but has been postponed until 2027. In the first year of the law’s enactment, approximately 1,018 Canadians died with medical assistance, according to Health Canada. Irrespective of the mental illness exclusion, nearly 45,000 Canadians have died with the help of medical assistance since 2016. But this isn’t only happening in Canada. We see and hear of euthanasia and assisted suicide taking place in other parts of the world as well, and this seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. How should Christians think about euthanasia and assisted suicide laws? What does the Bible say about pain, suffering, aging, and dying? How can the church best help people in these stages of their lives? How can we teach people about the value and dignity of human life even amid their great difficulties and struggles, whether they result from aging, illnesses, diseases, or disabilities? Join us this week on the Straight Truth Podcast as Dr. Richard Caldwell and Dr. Josh Philpot discuss these “dying with dignity” laws and what is ultimately at the root of them, as well as how Christians can help those in the church and those outside the church better understand the life that God gives us and what He intends for us as we live in this world.
Dr. Caldwell explains that these issues of death and dying come back to the very core of who man is and why he exists. A biblical worldview teaches us that God made us all and that we exist for His glory. It also teaches us that somewhere near the beginning of man’s existence, there was a fall, where sin against God resulted in death, dying, and the curse. Those of us who live with this worldview are not in the dark regarding what’s happening in our lives. As believers who have been saved, redeemed, and reconciled to God, we are now able to recognize these things and understand that even though we were born into the world as sinners, we exist for God’s glory, and in that purpose is found joy, meaning and purpose for our lives, even if difficulty permeates those lives. It doesn’t matter what we face, whatever we want to envision, whatever we encounter; we encounter that with God’s glory as our goal and God’s good pleasure as our chief ambition. Even if we are bedridden until our very last breath, it’s an opportunity to glorify God in the midst of our circumstances.
So then, when it comes to an individual choosing to end their life, as we’re speaking about euthanasia or assisted suicide, this exhibits a godless worldview that comes from the standpoint of despondency and despair. This worldview sees one’s purpose for existing as for their own good pleasure and own self-happiness. It reflects on the self, irrespective of others, not considering that they’ve been made in the image of God, nor that their life is meant to be lived for God’s glory and honor. The taking/ending of one’s own life is self-murder. That’s what suicide is. God is the giver of life. He numbered all our days before there was even one. To take one’s own life is to take hold of an authority that doesn’t belong to you; that belongs to God.
But as Christians holding to a biblical worldview, we think differently about life, the aging process, crippling diseases, disabilities, dying, and death. Every person is made in the image of God, and life has value just from the standpoint that God has made them. The Scriptures have assigned us roles related to every stage of life, whether we are parents, children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends, or neighbors. As believers, we age as everyone else, but as we grow older, we grow in wisdom and life experiences. And, with the aged, there are deposits of inestimable treasure in terms of wisdom and life experience that they possess, no matter what their physical condition is, that the next generation is meant to tap into. That is why the book of Titus teaches that older men are to teach younger men and older women younger women. In the Scriptures, you don’t just see honor for the natural family. You also see honor for age in the religious community, in the family of God (e.g., Leviticus 19:32, Proverbs 20:29, 1 Timothy 5).
So, what we are talking about when we discuss what is happening in Canada and elsewhere is a clash of worldviews. The world’s worldview is godless. It’s pagan and doesn’t accept or respect God’s authority over humanity. This clash is going to exist until Jesus returns. As believers, it’s a simple thing for us to reject the worldview that doesn’t value human existence in the womb; that’s where it all begins. But if you don’t value life in the womb, you’re not going to value life out of the womb. It’s not at all surprising to us that a culture that would abort babies in the womb thinks little of killing older people and those who are disabled and dying of irreversible illnesses and diseases. That makes perfect sense. That’s their worldview. But as Christians, we reject all that. As believers, we value life in the womb and to the grave. We’re going to believe God and His commands about all the stages of human life and how we’re to relate to each of those stages. God has given us purpose and hope. We can live believing Him all the days He has numbered for us, even when the outer tents of our bodies are failing and our breaths are fleeting. We are going to live our lives knowing that life does not end here when we die. Our hope is in Christ and the resurrection to come when we will receive new bodies that are no longer subject to pain, aging, deterioration, sin, and death.
About The Straight Truth Podcast
The Straight Truth Podcast: Christian Opinions in an Increasingly Secular World. Join Dr. Richard Caldwell, Dr. Josh Philpot, and their guests as they discuss news events, current affairs, and cultural issues from a Biblical point of view. Find the truth at www.straighttruth.net
The Straight Truth Podcast is a weekly opinion show hosted by Dr. Richard Caldwell and Dr. Josh Philpot. Straight Truth is available as an audio podcast on iTunes or as a video podcast through YouTube or Vimeo. The duration of the podcast is approximately 10 minutes. We release new episodes every Thursday.
The topics discussed in the Straight Truth Podcast are current events, matters that challenge traditional Christian values, and questions submitted by audience members. Dr. Caldwell, Dr. Philpot, and their guests seek to answer these questions with Biblical truths and from a Christian conservative point of view. The Holy Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God; it alone is and will be the basis and authority of
answering any and all questions.
The Straight Truth Podcast is the perfect podcast for those seeking to strengthen their faith, to be informed on how to broach difficult topics with a Christian point of view, to share their faith with unbelieving friends, to challenge the status quo of their own beliefs by viewing them under the lens of the Scriptures, to interpret current news events from a Biblical point of view, and more.
If you like our podcast we invite you to help us by spreading the word. Make sure you share this podcast with your friends and family through Facebook, Twitter, or other social media avenues. Don’t forget to subscribe to our feed through your favorite podcast player, and subscribe to our YouTube and Vimeo channel.
Season 28 Credits
Produced by
Juan Carlos Claveria
Executive Producers
Joshua Philpot
David Anders
Hosted by
Joshua Philpot
Social Media Descriptions by
Michele Watson
Graphic Design
David Navejas
DP / EDITING / COLOR
JUAN CARLOS CLAVERIA
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE
FOUNDERS BAPTIST CHURCH
MEDIA TEAM VOLUNTEERS
Music by
LynneMusic
Motion Graphics
The Media Stock
Set Decorator
Molly Atchison
![Walking In Grace Produces The Straight Truth Podcast - The Best Christian Podcast On The Web](https://straighttruth.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/A-production-of-WIG-2.png)