Suicide is the act of self-murder. The fact that people are committing suicide daily is staggering. I will not undertake to quote the data to you lest this article become dated with the changing statistics. I do encourage you to look up the latest data so that you can see the impact it has on our society, our military, on individuals, and families.

 

The question posed here is: does a Christian who commits suicide go to heaven? Is that sin an unforgivable sin? And the answer is: yes, such an act does not prevent a person from going to heaven; and, no, it is not an unforgiveable sin!

 

Roman Catholicism holds that taking one’s life (with some exceptions) is a mortal sin. This declaration was made by the Roman Catholic Pope in encyclical Evangelium Vitae (#66). No scripture is given to support such a view, it is based on logic, philosophy, and tradition. The basis being that God is the giver of life and taking one’s life is a sin. No Bible student would disagree with the view that suicide is a sin; however, the difference is calling suicide a ‘mortal’ sin, meaning it costs someone their salvation 

 

Is this sound doctrine? Does the Bible teach something contrary to the view that suicide is a mortal sin and therefore means a person who commits suicide goes to hell?

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Let’s begin with a brief overview of what constitutes a person being saved. The Book of Romans provides the “Roman Road” to salvation: Romans 3:23, everyone is a sinner; Romans 6:23, all die because of sin; Romans 5:8, God died for sinners; Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raise him from the dead, Thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:13 tells us that everyone who calls on the Lord for salvation receives it. Other passages tell us it is by grace through faith and not of works (Eph. 2:8-10, Titus 3:10).

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Once a person is saved, there is nothing that a person can do to lose that salvation. This is the doctrine of eternal security. Logically, everlasting life (John 3:16) is everlasting (eternal, forever, never ending, etc.) If your everlasting life should ever cease, then it is not, by definition, everlasting. It is only temporary. Your eternal life would be no better than your mortal life in terms of length. At some point, it would end.

 

Of course, this is not the case. Let’s break down the greatest two verses that prove the doctrine of eternal security for the child of God living in the age of grace.

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Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things

to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God reveals in this list there are 10 things which are not able to separate us from the of love God which we have in Jesus Christ. Those who are saved have a security which is eternal. Romans chapters 5 and 6 deals with this doctrine thoroughly, even answering the objection that if a person believes in the doctrine of eternal security then that they should, “go out and live any way they wish since they are going to heaven anyway.” Again, this article is focused on one subject, and it is not teaching about the doctrine of eternal security or even defending it, except in one case.

 

A Christian – a person who is saved by grace through faith alone in the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10) – does not go to hell even if they commit suicide. Romans 8:38 makes this so clear there is left no room for doubt. Death cannot “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vs. 39). Death comes upon human beings in many diverse ways: natural death, murder, accidents, disease, obesity, birth defects, childbirth, and suicide. Those are general categories. They can be expanded by including different diseases from heart and lung disease to cancer and high blood pressure. But regardless of how a person dies, they are not going to hell. Roman Catholics even make the distinction that if a person is not in their right mind when they commit suicide they do not go to hell (see article). I am not sure anyone who commits suicide is in their right mind, only God knows, but in my years of working as a Licensed Professional Counselor, and having experienced clients killing themselves, none I’ve known were mentally healthy when they committed the act. Regardless, at least biblically, it makes no difference. Death (yes, even suicide) will not separate a person from eternal life. God does not condemna person to hell because they commit suicide.

 

Several people in the Bible committed suicide including Judas Iscariot and Saul. There are others, but I will only mention one: Samson. He asked God to let him die because he was blinded by his enemies, the Philistines. He pulled the pillars of the building down where he was standing to bring judgment upon the Philistines who had put out his eyes. The walls collapsed on him (Judges 16:30). We know he is in heaven because he is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32 in the rollcall of faith. Samson is listed alongside David, Samuel, Abraham, Sarah, and Noah as a person of faith. A child of God, born again by the blood of Jesus Christ, goes to heaven when they die by suicide, just like a Christian who is guilty of committing murder and dies by the death penalty, or who dies from eating unhealthy thus dying from a heart attack, or who dies in a car accident, and a hundred other scenarios. Nothing in death separates us from the love of God which

is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Please take note. Nothing in the Bible encourages you to commit suicide, commands you to commit suicide, or allows you to commit suicide. God is against it. So, don’t do it. Call for help. Dial 988, or 911 and ask someone for help. Suicide is not the answer to your problems. God is the author of life and has given you a purpose for living. Suicide is an unneeded permanent answer to a temporary problem, no matter how overwhelming the problem may seem to be – God loves you and wants you to live.

 

This article is intended to bring comfort to those who have had a loved one complete suicide and looking for a Biblical answer of the fate of their loved one.

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  William Saunders, The Sin of Suicide, Catholic Education Resource Center (2003), Retrieved from

https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-sin-of-suicide.html