SUICIDE - Will someone who commits suicide go to heaven?

 

IMPORTANT NOTE!  Whenever I answer a question like this, I'm deeply aware that someone may be reading this who is seriously contemplating suicide—and I would do everything in my power to convince them not to take that final, drastic step. With Christ there is always hope.

God loves you; He loves you so much that Jesus Christ was willing to die on the cross for your salvation. And others care about you, as well (even if you have a hard time believing it). Suicide is never God's will, and even in the midst of life's worst storms we can look to Christ and discover that He truly is "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). The first step back from the brink of suicide is to turn to Christ and open our hearts to Him.

 

The second step is to tell someone!  Tell your parents, your brother or sister, your teacher or school counselor, your pastor or youth minister that you are thinking about suicide.  These people should help you get to a professional counselor who can help you work through this.  Or you can call the Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-784-2433).  If a friend tells you that he or she is serious about suicide, then you need to tell someone who is responsible and can help. 

Someone else could be reading this because they lost a loved one to suicide.  Suicide is always a tragedy—but in itself it is not the unpardonable sin. The only sin God cannot pardon is the sin of rejecting Him. God knew your loved one’s heart, and He also knows that mental illness sometimes clouds a person's judgment so much that they aren't fully responsible for their actions.

Finally, the depression that drives someone to think about suicide is a serious issue.  Let's all ask God to help us be sensitive to the needs of others—especially someone who may be facing discouragement or depression. Often simply knowing that someone cares will help them turn the corner.  Let's be that person that cares.  Be that person who lets the hurting and depressed know that God loves them and things can be worked out with His help and our love!

 

                                                                                            Randy

 

 

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT SUICIDE?

 

While the Bible records seven different suicides, the word "suicide" is not actually found in the Bible.  It comes from the Latin sui-, meaning "of oneself", and -cida, meaning "to kill."  The first recorded thoughts of the “church” regarding suicide are recorded by Augustine who argued in the fifth century that suicide was a violation of the sixth commandment, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).  Later, Thomas Aquinas, being Catholic and believing that confession of sin must be made prior to departure from the world to the next, taught that suicide was the most fatal of all sins because the victim could not repent of it.

 

The problem with his view is that it represents a gross misunderstanding of eternal security, which Scripture clearly teaches. Simply put, we are saved by the grace of God, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9) and nothing can separate a Christian from the love of God (Romans 8:37 -39).

 

Other verses that clearly teach assurance of salvation for the believer are: 

 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
                                                                                                               -John 5:24

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand."
                                                                                                       -John 10:27 -29

"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."
                                                                                                       -1 John 5:11-13

 

However, suicide is not what God wants for anyone.  Suicidal thoughts block out the truth that God loves us and is bigger than the hurt, the feelings of failure and the circumstances.  People take their lives because they think things are hopeless or life has no purpose.  However, our purpose is more than ourselves, our feelings or the circumstances we live in.   As believers, our purpose for living is Christ (Philippians 1:21 ) and if we take our own life we are saying our circumstances control us and our own purposes (or lack of them) are more important than God’s.  We are saying we no longer trust Him for our future.  

 

Grab onto the truth that we have a God who loves us and cares for us and promises to meet all of our needs if we place our trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6).  Realize that God loves you; He loves you so much that Jesus Christ was willing to die on the cross for your salvation. And others care about you, as well (even if you have a hard time believing it). Even in the midst of life's worst storms we can look to Christ and discover that He truly is "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). Turn to Christ and open your heart (and hurts!) to Him.

 

SO, IS SUICIDE UNFORGIVEABLE?

 

Will Jesus welcome home a believer who died at his or her own hands?  I believe He will, tenderly and lovingly.  While I have listed a few verses above it is the hope-giving promise of Romans 8:32, that “neither life nor death can separate the believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus,” that best answers this question.   

 

How can I trust in this promise and then deny its comfort to people who doubly grieve for brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers who in horrible moments of despair decided to end their lives?  I believe that Jesus died not only for the sins of us all but for all of our sins, including the forgotten ones or the ones we didn't repent of, including suicide.   

 

Simply put, if suicide is an unforgiveable sin then Christ's death isn't able to pay for all sin.  And if Christ's death doesn't pay for all sin then forgiveness of sin is dependant on what sins we "do or don't do."  If that were the case then no one is really guaranteed eternal life because it would depend on our actions.  And that's not how it works!  

 

Simply put, we are saved by the grace of God, not by works or sins we do or don't do (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Most of all, nothing can separate a Christian from the love of God (Romans 8:37-39).   Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 plainly tells us  that "Jesus died for all sin;" that includes suicide.

 

Secondly, some say that suicide cannot be forgiven because the person who did it could not have confessed or repented of doing it.  But all of us commit sins that we are too spiritually immature to recognize for the sins they are.  And we all die with sins not named and repented of.  

 

Finally, the Bible never says suicide is an "unforgiveable sin." There are seven accounts of suicide in the Bible, the most notorious being those of King Saul (1 Sam. 31:2-5) and Judas (Matt. 27:3-5). Others are Abimelech (Judges. 9:50-54), Samson (Judges.16:23-31), Saul's armor-bearer (1 Samuel 31:5), Ahithophel (2 Sam.17:23), and Zimri (1 Kings 16:15 -20).  As far as I can tell, while their sins are many, none of the seven is explicitly unforgiven or "sentenced to hell" for taking his life.  The one who comes closest to an open condemnation is Judas and he is condemned because he rejected Jesus, NOT because he committed suicide (Just so you know, the "unpardonable or unforgiveable sin" we often hear referred to is the sin of choosing to reject God).  None of these men is unforgiven because they committed suicide.

 

On the contrary, Samson (who killed himself by collapsing a building on himself and thousands of his enemies) is listed as an example of a faithful man alongside such Old Testaments greats as "Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised..." (Hebrews 11:32-33).  If suicide were unforgiveable Samson would not be in this list of biblical Who's Who!

 

UNDERSTAND THE CAUSE

 

When I was a child, I heard compassionate people comfort the loved ones of a suicide victim with the assurance that anyone who commits suicide is insane at that moment.  So, being mad, a suicide victim would not be held accountable by God, despite the sin.  But they were wrong of course.  People of sound mind make rational decisions to end their lives.  They choose to die rather than endure more pain than they think they can bear, or to spare their loved ones the pain of watching them die an ugly death.  And rational people of good intentions sometimes help them do it.

 

But people who take their own lives are not usually cool and rational about it.  Nor do they mean to flout the will of God.  Most of the 500,000 people who attempt suicide every year in America do not so much choose death as stumble down into it from a steep slope of despair.

We are told that every 17 minutes someone in America commits suicide. In North America , suicide is the third-leading cause of death among people 15 to 25 years old, college students for the great part. And note this tragic feature of American life: among children between 5 and 14 years of age, suicide is the sixth most common cause of death.

 

The heart asks, Why? But the answer is blowing in the wind. Young people kill themselves mainly for one reason: they cannot believe their lives are precious enough to make them worth living. Despair, depression, hopelessness, self-loathing-- these are the killers.   I believe that, as Christians, we should worry less about whether Christians who have killed themselves go to heaven, and worry more about how we can help people like them find hope and joy in living. Our most urgent problem is not the morality of suicide but the spiritual and mental despair that drags people down to it.

 

Loved ones who have died at their own hands we can safely trust to our gracious God. Loved ones whose spirits are even now slipping so silently toward death, these are our responsibility.

 

 

SO, WHAT CAN WE TELL SOMEONE WHO’S BATTLING DEPRESSION?

 

Depression has been called the "common cold" of mental disorders, and one source estimates that it disrupts the lives of 30 to 40 million Americans.  Dr. John Bechtle and Gary Collins Christian Counseling: A Comprehensive Guide (Dallas: Word, 1988) say this about depression:

 

Depression is too complicated to solve with a single pat answer. Gary Collins lists seven major categories of causes for depression, and six major approaches to treating it. Each one has multiple options within each category. In addition, people use the word "depression" to cover everything from disappointment over losing a baseball game to the terrifying gloom that drives people to suicide.   The Bible does not use the word "depression," although it describes people whom we might call depressed.  However, there are a few general principles Dr. John Bechtle recommends when trying to deal with depression:

 

Tell your parents, your brother or sister, your teacher or school counselor, your pastor or youth minister that you are thinking about suicide.  These people should help you get to a professional counselor who can help you work through this.  Or you can call the Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-784-2433).  If a friend tells you that he or she is serious about suicide, then you need to tell someone who is responsible and can help.  Depression is a complex area, and severe problems of depression deserve the attention of a pastoral or trained, professional counselor. 

Scripture points to many issues of sin or conflict that can affect your emotions; most counselors would agree that depression can result from other underlying issues. Don't just worry about the depression itself; check to see what other problems need attention.

 

Christians base life on truth, not feelings. Philippians 4:1 commands us to rejoice (whether we feel like it or not!). And James 1:2 asks us to "Consider it all joy when we fall into various trials." Notice that James doesn't tell us to feel joyful; he tells us to reckon, to choose to think about your situation as a spot where you can have joy.

 

Choosing to trust truth rather than your feelings may require a lot of faith. And if that is what we mean by asking if faith can solve depression, then faith may be enough in some cases. Trusting what God says rather than your feelings is certainly a more realistic approach to life!  

"We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you. (Psalms 33:20-22)”

 

However, many people talk about "faith" and only mean a vague hope that God will somehow pull them through. That's too nebulous a concept to be reliable. Many of the same people who claim to have faith keep plunging through life ignoring God's principles for healthy living. If we spurn the good advice that the Bible contains, we won't escape the consequences - even if we have faith.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

 

Romans 10:13 says: "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." John 1:12 says: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

 

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

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

"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. (John 5:24)

 

 

A FINAL QUESTION…

Is it right to use antidepressant drugs? Or is faith enough to solve the problem?

 

Some cases of depression may be caused by chemical imbalances. If that is the cause, then antidepressant drugs may be the answer. God has allowed mankind to learn about many medical tools, and He sometimes uses medicine to heal. There may also be some cases of depression so severe that medications are necessary to bring the sufferer to the place where they can tackle some of the other issues; such cases might require medication, at least temporarily. I know of no Scripture that forbids such use.

 

However, any medications should be used with caution. Virtually any medicine has some side effects. Drugs can mask the symptoms, allowing you to ignore root causes. Some people may use antidepressants to avoid approaches that require you to deal with other unresolved issues. It seems easier to pop a pill. A general rule of thumb is to try other strategies first, unless the depression is so severe that the person endangers themselves or finds themselves unable to participate in other therapies.  

 

 

A NOTE FROM RANDY:

 

Feelings of suicide are not removed with a simple, one word answer.  The issues and circumstances that drive someone to take their life are complex and require time and professional guidance to heal.  If you are considering taking your life, know that God loves you and TELL SOMEONE NOW about your struggle!  At the very least, call the hotline ( (1-800-784-2433) and talk to a qualified counselor.

 

If you have a loved one who has taken their life, rest in the hope that God knows their heart.  Scripture promises in Romans 8:32, that “neither life nor death can separate the believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus."  Hold onto that hope!  Jesus died not only for the sins of us all but for all of our sins, including the forgotten ones like suicide.

 

 

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