Suicide and the Bible

Suicide and the Bible

(NASB)

1) The Bible Records People Dying by Suicide

 Quite apart from whether the people are of genuine faith, the Bible records several people who died by suicide (i.e. Saul, Ahithophel, Zimri, Judas Iscariot). However, Scripture never explicitly states a doctrine that suicide itself automatically results in eternal condemnation:

 

Saul (first king of Israel)

·     Then Saul said to his armor bearer, "Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me." But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it (I Samuel 31:4).

Ahithophel (Bathsheba’s grandfather – King David’s counselor)

·       Now when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and arose and went to his home, to his city, and set his house in order, and strangled himself; thus he died and was buried in the grave of his father (II Samuel 17:23).

Zimri (5th king of Israel for 7 days – conspired to become king)

·       When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire, and died (I Kings 16:18).

 

Judas Iscariot (betrayed Jesus)

·     And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:5).

In each case, the Bible describes self-termination of life but it does not present suicide as a separate unforgivable sin. God alone judges the soul.

  

2) Sanctity of Human Life - Suicide is a Sin

While the Bible does not teach that suicide automatically damns a person, Scripture does affirm the sanctity of human life as the self-termination of a life is a sin. Because we are each part of a larger family and society, suicide ultimately injures society.

 

We are made in God’s image:

 

·    God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:27).

 

Murder is a sin:

 

·     "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).

Our bodies belong to God:

·     Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body (I Corinthians 6:19-20).

Suicide is morally wrong as it results the termination of a life that God created. Suicide bypasses God’s authority over life and death.

God alone ultimately judges the soul. Suicide is certainly tragic but it is not beyond Christ’s forgiveness.

Sinfulness does not automatically result in eternal condemnation, because forgiveness is grounded in Christ.

 

 

3) Scripture Acknowledges Overwhelming Despair & God’s Compassion

Mental distress and human weakness are often a normal part of life’s challenges. The Bible does not hide human anguish. It is very real.

Elijah asked God to let him die:

·     But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers" (I Kings 19:4).

 Job wished that he had never been born: 

·     "Why did I not die at birth, Come forth from the womb and expire?" (Job 3:11).

 Jonah asked for his own death:

·     "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life" (Jonah 4:3).

 David freely expressed his grief and despair to God:

               ·       How long, LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from                         me? How long am I to feel anxious in my soul, With grief in my heart all the day? (Psalm                        3:1-2).

 

·     My soul is in despair within me (Psalm 42:6).

 

·     For my soul has had enough troubles, And my life has drawn near to Sheol (Psalm 88:3). 

 

These are not faithless people; they are people who are suffering. The passages show that even faithful servants of God experience extreme emotional and psychological anguish. The Bible reflects deep compassion toward people suffering profound despair Scripture emphasizes God’s compassion and tells us that He is near to the brokenhearted:

 

·     The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).

 

·       The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth (Psalm 145:18). 

 

·     …and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).

 

We live in a world where pain can be overwhelming… often in ways that others cannot see or understood.

 

Thoughts of suicide can overwhelm any person having spiritual, physical, or psychological oppression, emotional trauma, severe depression, or other threatening situations. Satan is capable of threatening any faithful or well-intentioned person. It is not our prerogative to judge such souls who have been so overwhelmed.

 

Each of us does not face the same dilemma in life as another and we are not equally equipped to adequately deal with such dilemmas. However, none of it nullifies our sealed salvation.    

 

 

4) Christ Knows Suffering

 

Christ knows what it is to suffer and to endure enormous suffering. He understands fully our anguish and our suffering. He bore pain and suffering. He knows our anguish. He conquered death for those who trust in His finished work. He was despised and rejected… mocked, oppressed, humiliated, crushed, beaten, scourged, pierced. Yet, amazingly, and thankfully, it is by His wounds that we have been healed:

 

·     He was despised and abandoned by men, A man of great pain and familiar with sickness; And like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him. However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated. But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed… He was oppressed and afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth (Isaiah 53:3-5,7).

 

Our ultimate hope is not in understanding everything… but in Christ who suffered, died, and rose again conquering death for all time.   

 

 

5) There is Only One Unforgivable Sin Mentioned in the Bible

 

Murder and suicide are both grievous sins but neither is unforgivable. Jesus mentions only one sin that will not be forgiven and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is essentially the persistent, perpetual, continual, stubborn refusal to believe in Christ… but it does not include suicide:

 

·     "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven" (Matthew 12:31). 

 

Suicide is a forgivable sin. If it was unforgivable, it would undermine the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement.

 

 

6) Salvation in the Bible is Based on Faith in Christ, Not on any Final Sin Committed

 

The New Testament consistently teaches that eternal life is based on faith in Jesus Christ, not on any single sin:

 

·       "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

 

·       …that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved… (Romans 10:9).

 

·       For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

 

Since salvation is grounded in Christ’s completed work, a single sin, even a tragic one, does not overturn Christ’s atonement. Our hope rests in Christ’s finished work, not in one moment that ends our earthly life:

 

·     Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). 

 

Scripture emphasizes that God sees and knows the heart:

 

·     "…man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (I Samuel 16:7). 

 

It do not undermine God’s sovereign grace. Suicide does not cancel God’s saving grace. Scripture teaches that Christ’s sacrifice covers any and all sin for those who belong to Him as all is forgiven through Christ’s atonement:

 

·     …but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (I John 1:7).

 

·     …where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:20-21). 

 

·     When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).

 

·     For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).

 

 

Because Christ died for sins… past, present, and future, believers are not saved or lost depending on whether they had time to confess their final sin before death. Suicide is a tragic sin but it is not beyond Christ’s forgiveness and redemption.

 

We should emphasize God’s mercy rather than declaring condemnation. God’s mercy is greater than human understanding. Only God knows and judges the heart.

 

God can and does sometimes use suicide to bring glory to Himself:

 

·     And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). 

 

The Bible does not state that suicide automatically condemns a person.

 

The true believer is preserved by God. (This is most certainly assured within the context of Calvinism.) 

 

 

7) Our Faithful Response

 

At such a devastating time as a suicide, it is important for us to respond with a biblical approach and understanding of compassion, grace, mercy, humility, not with judgment. God’s mercy is greater than our human understanding.

 

We are to be an encouragement to those who are involved in such a death as suicide, or any death, and to be mindful that hope rests in what Christ has done, not in suffering a single moment at the end of life. Just as God is, we, too, are to be compassionate to those having to bear the enormous hurt of a suicide:

 

·     "A bent reed He will not break off" (Isaiah 42:3).

 

God knows each of our own frailties, that we were made of dust, and that He makes provision for us in our failings:

 

·     For He Himself knows our form; He is mindful that we are nothing but dust (Psalm 103:14). 

 

God clearly understands suffering just as deeply, or likely more so, than we do:

 

·     For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses… (Hebrews 4:15).

 

If the person knows Christ, our confidence is in Him. Only He knows the heart. There are some things that only He knows:

 

·     "The secret things belong to the LORD our God…" (Deuteronomy 29:29).

 

God is both just and compassionate. We can trust Him with what we cannot see.

 

Grief following a suicide is usually quite prolonged, with many ensuing issues, often mixed with misunderstandings, confusion, isolation, and guilt. Healing invariably takes much time.

 

Christians and the church must be safe people and safe places for lament of the hurting ones. We do not have all the answers but we can be an encouragement to others to trust God for His mercy and justice. We need to journey with those who are most affected by a suicide.   

 

Following a suicide, our primary ministry to those grieving is to listen and to be present… most often without offering our explanations.