Did Tom White Go To Heaven Or Hell?

On the morning of April 18 the body of Tom White, executive director of The Voice of the Martyrs, was found at his ministry's headquarters in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He had committed suicide while under investigation for having molested a 10-year-old girl.

A couple weeks ago Tom White was known as a fine Christian man in charge of an international Christian ministry that was doing great good in the world. Now he is known as a pedophile, the scum of the earth, the kind of man who, if he said aloud, "I want to kill myself," would quickly be handed a gun by some eager volunteer who would tell him, "Do it, you bastard."

Tom White has slipped the court of human justice and has now stood before the God to whom we will all render account. Did God take him home to heaven or send him away to hell?

I'm not going to answer that question. It is not for me to answer. But I would like to mention some relevant Scripture texts. In bold print below are Bible verses that might indicate to some Christian believers that Tom and people like him go to hell. In italics are other Bible verses that might indicate to some Christian believers that Tom and people like him go to heaven. I post these verses without further comment, and leave the question hanging in the air.

Mark 9:42:
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."

Romans 10:13:
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Matthew 7:21-23:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 2:13:
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Titus 3:5:
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

1 Corinthians 6:9-10:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Luke 23:41-43:
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Galatians 5:19-21:
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15:
13 His work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Ephesians 5:5-6:
5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Luke 18:13-14:
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Revelation 21:8:
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

Romans 10:9-10:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved

John 5:28-29:
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

John 5:24:
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.

1 John 3:15:
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

John 6:37:
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

Matthew 13:49-50:
49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Romans 4:5:
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.