Dave – Hebrews 9:27 states, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” So can I argue that if I killed myself today, that this was my appointed time? I say no because I can argue that I preempted God’s plan for my life which makes my action wrong. To be clear here, I am not talking about someone jumping on a live grenade to save others. I am talking about the willful act of ending one’s soul-life before “its time.” I am also not addressing the controversy of euthanasia for a sufferer either. This is a separate issue for me. Therefore, I contend that suicide in the context that I’ve laid out here is always wrong.

The next question is can a Christian who commits suicide still have eternal life? Many believers quote 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 for this issue, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” This certainly sounds like the person is in deep trouble on Judgment Day. The Lake of Fire (Hell) does destroy both body and soul according to Jesus (Matthew 10:28). To be honest, however, I am having trouble making a blanket judgment for all Christian suicide cases. Saul/Paul, however, did kill some Christians and yet was forgiven and has eternal life. I look forward to your thoughts. I’ll deal with euthanasia next time.

Feedback:

Gary R – Biblically speaking, suicide is wrong as 1 COR 3:16-17 tells us. Speaking from the human standpoint, Bible aside if that’s possible, from the moment of birth us humans work so hard to LIVE! It’s inconceivable to me one could end your own life, obviously in the depths of despair, but God’s Word, indeed has all the answers. I think suicide is always wrong.

Nick C – When you look at the Scriptures, there are many people who seemed to be plagued with suffering and pain. Job is the most notable. He said, “May the day of my birth perish” (Job 3:3, 11). Samson killed himself along with the Philistines. King Saul fell on his own sword. Judas committed suicide. The Bible doesn’t soft pedal those deaths. The Bible says it’s the Lord who gives and takes away (1 Sam. 2:6).

Pat T – I’ve had a relative who was schizophrenic who committed suicide and even had an evangelical pastor (business exec.) who suffered terribly from deep depression who took his own life. Both were confessing Christians. Even my wife who was sexually abused as a child for years by a family member had tried to take her life (never succeeded, thank God). And though I believe suicide is sin and we don’t have the right to take our own life, I too believe God has to make the final judgment on their destiny, especially those who are not in their right mind. Even King Saul fell on his own sword to end his life and other prominent figures in Scripture had wished for death. But God also warns us in Revelation that the cowardly do not enter heaven, which I believe to include those who bow out of life because life has been tough. Suicide is not of God or His way to die.

It is not the unforgivable sin as Jesus described in Matt. 12:31. All sins, past present and future where forgiven and paid for on the cross. All sins includes taking your own life. The problem is some people say the suicide victim never confessed their suicide to be forgiven. But, then where is grace? Unbelief is the only sin that keeps you from God’s grace. If salvation depended upon my ability to confess all my sins, I’d be hopelessly lost because who can remember them all? We all sin in ways we are not aware of. What happens to the guy that dies in a car wreck instantly who just stole a candy bar or lied or looked at porn or swore before he could confess his sin?

I believe suicide victims who are children of God are not sent to hell. They still are redeemed into heaven. There is nowhere in the Bible God says a suicide victim goes to hell.

You have to come to grips with Jesus saying nothing can snatch his children from his hand, nothing separates his children from his love, we are adopted so can we be unadopted? We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Can we be unsealed?

Jesus can and does heal those struggling with suicidal thoughts.

Those are my initial thoughts. I had a Christian friend commit suicide many years ago after he found his Christian wife in his bed with another man. The pain was too much to bear. He loved Jesus. I believe he is in heaven.

I believe that verse in 1 Cor. 3 is talking about defiling the church which is God’s temple, not our bodies.

Cindi L – Dave, well said. Suicide is one of the toughest issues for me mainly because of confronting the very issue of eternal life and being fairly close to individuals who struggle their whole lives with depression. What makes it tough is it’s the last act someone does, which makes us question the “typical” repentance aspect. I find myself not offering definites to anyone on the subject because I know our Loving God knows way more than us, the beginning, and the end and I leave it in His hands. I have witnessed some things that bother me when Christians on occasion “claim with certainty” that the person “went to heaven.” I think is a dangerous message to endorse as it may lead others who struggle to choose suicide because it offers them a “faster way out” to what they think is a definite “better world or place.” We must be cautious and though our hearts go out to all those families and friends that go through this horrible tragedy (it is so tough on those left in its wake), I usually choose to say my Hope would be that they are in heaven and with certainty we can TOTALLY TRUST God in this situation. As usual, it’s best left in God’s Hand, and defer our opinions to His.

Chris L – All really interesting thoughts… and good initial analysis from you. I think in some way, like mom said, it’s dangerous to ever speculate on anyone’s eternal destiny and I think Jesus being ‘the Door’ is basically Jesus warning that He – not man – decides who comes in and out. Sometimes I think in our attempt to support that claim (that Jesus is the Door) we can run the risk of actually defeating the whole purpose. The point is that He decides, basically warning us not to do so! And who else would we want to make that call? Especially with these questions (suicide, whether you are sealed, whether you haven’t heard the name ‘Jesus’, whether you are 9 years old, etc.)…you definitely don’t want me making those calls – God knows my own judgments would only flip back on me the moment I make them!

But at the same time, we can certainly affirm that God doesn’t like suicide or the mental illnesses that
leads to it or any suffering at all. It would therefore be our to job to ask God how we fight against that in
our lives and the lives of others. Whether that includes telling people they may not go to heaven if they
do, I’m not sure. I’m not sure that would be the best approach, but if it convinces people not to commit
suicide, then great. Good stuff

Cindi L – This was great feedback to read. The Scriptural suicides that were mentioned would be interesting to hear commentaries on from your group. For example, I would question whether Saul or Judas were destined for heaven in contrast with Samson’s decision. Samson’s seems a lot more like your first analogy of someone diving on a bomb to save more lives act. It was interesting to me that these were all lumped together.

Dave – Clearly, there is a difference between Samson’s death and Judas’. Saul’s soul is a mystery to me, not so much how he died (he was mortally wounded so he would have died without falling onto his sword) but that he was so backslidden.