No man must let the tenant out of the tenement till God the landlord calls for it.
Quoted by Curtis C. Thomas, Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 154. Used by Permission.
Those who choose suicide (for whatever reason) should remember that death is not the end, but a doorway into an eternal existence. Sad to say, some who find the pain of dying intolerable will awaken in a realm that is even more terrible than earth could ever be. We should welcome death from the hand of God, but not force the hand that brings it.
Taken from One Minute After You Die by Erwin Lutzer, Moody Publishers, copyright 1997, p. 121. Get this book!
Those who end their own lives die as failures; their last act was murder.
Taken from One Minute After You Die by Erwin Lutzer, Moody Publishers, copyright 1997, p. 121. Get this book!
Suicide is a grave sin equivalent to murder (Exodus 20:13; 21:23), but it can be forgiven like any other sin. And Scripture says clearly that those redeemed by God have been forgiven for all their sins – past, present, and future (Colossians 2:13-14). Paul says in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. So if a true Christian would commit suicide in a time of extreme weakness, he or she would be received into heaven (Jude 24). But we question the faith of those who take their lives or even consider it seriously – it may well be that they have never been truly saved. I say that because God’s children are defined repeatedly in Scripture as those who have hope (Acts 24:15; Romans 5:2-5, 8:24; 2 Corinthians 1:10, etc.) and purpose in life (Luke 9:23-25; Romans 8:28; Colossians 1:29). And those who think of committing suicide do so because they have neither hope nor purpose in their lives. Furthermore, one who repeatedly considers suicide is practicing sin in his heart (Proverbs 23:7), and 1 John 3:9 says that “no one who is born of God practices sin.” And finally, suicide is often the ultimate evidence of a heart that rejects the lordship of Jesus Christ, because it is an act where the sinner is taking his life into his own hands completely rather than submitting to God’s will for it. Surely many of those who have taken their lives will hear those horrifying words from the Lord Jesus at the judgment – “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23). So though it may be possible for a true believer to commit suicide, we believe that is an unusual occurrence. Someone considering suicide should be challenged above all to examine himself to see whether he is in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Suicide is often the ultimate evidence of a heart that rejects the lordship of Jesus Christ because it is an act in which the sinner takes his life completely into his own hands rather than submitting it to God’s will (Grace Community Church Position Paper).
Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong, Grace Community Church, 2009, p. 113.
Suicide is pursued out of [the] principle of self-love. In the midst of a feeling of utter meaningless and hopelessness and numbness of depression the soul says: “It can’t get any worse than this. So even if I don’t know what I will gain through death, I do know what I will escape.” And so suicide is an attempt to escape the intolerable. It is an act of self-love.
Loving God as Yourself – Part 2, May 7, 1995, www.DesiringGod.org. Used by Permission.
How can the person who has committed suicide repent? Once they have committed the sin, it is too late for them to repent. This concern, I believe, has its roots in Roman Catholic theology. We do not live our lives in a constant race to stay ahead of the game in terms of our repentance. We do not, when we die, have forgiveness for all our sins, save those we commit after our last confession. When we embrace the finished work of Christ, when we place our hope in Him, all our sins, past, present and future are forgiven.
Ask RC: Can a Person Who Has Committed Suicide God to Heaven? December 31, 2013, Used by Permission.
Can we have any hope that one who commits suicide does indeed place their trust in the finished work of Christ alone? Can a person, confident in God’s grace, hoping for His mercy, ever reach such a level of despair as to commit this grievous sin? Yes. While the faith which saves is sanctifying in us, it does not on this side of the veil finish the job. Any time any of us sin we are gainsaying our commitment to the gospel. We are implicitly affirming that our hope is in something other than Christ. That, however, is precisely why we need Christ – because we are sinners who place our hope in other things, because we are sinners who lose sight of His promises, because we are sinners who focus on our hardships rather than His provision.
Ask RC: Can a Person Who Has Committed Suicide God to Heaven? December 31, 2013, Used by Permission.
We must seek a balanced picture on this issue. We ought not to beat up on those who have attempted to end their lives, nor offer no hope to those who have lost those who have ended their lives. There but for the grace of God go we. Compassion and understanding are the order of the day. That said, we must not lose sight of the grievousness of this sin. Suicide is shameful, selfish, destructive.
Ask RC: Can a Person Who Has Committed Suicide God to Heaven? December 31, 2013, Used by Permission.
The Bible simply records the occurrences of six suicides without making a moral evaluation: The case of Abimelech in Judges 9:50-57; the case of Samson in Judges 16:28-30 (although some are not convinced this is suicide in the strict sense of the term); Saul and his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 31:1-6; 2 Samuel 1:1-15; 1 Chron. 10:1-13; Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23; Zimri in1 Kings 16:18-19; and Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5. It is worth noting that in each of these cases the suicide is the end to a life that did not (at least in its latter stages) meet with God’s approval. Is there any significance in the fact that the only recorded instances of suicide in the Bible are of those in moral and spiritual rebellion against God?
Suicide, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
Is suicide the unpardonable sin? People have often taken this view because suicide leaves no room for repentance; a person enters eternity with unconfessed and therefore unforgiven sin. But:
1. Nowhere does the Bible say that suicide is an unforgiveable or unpardonable sin.
2. The Bible teaches that all sin, past, present, and future, is forgiven through faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Eternal destiny is sealed and set at the moment of justifying faith. Our depth of intimacy, fellowship and joy is certainly affected adversely when we fail to confess and repent of daily sin. But our eternal destiny has already and forever been determined. We must recognize the distinction between the eternal forgiveness of the guilt of sin that is ours the moment we embrace Jesus in faith, and that temporal forgiveness of sin we receive on a daily basis that enables us to experience the happiness of intimacy with the Father.
3. Numerous instances of sudden death may bring a Christian into eternity before he/she had opportunity to confess and repent. Common sense reveals that many, if not most, of us will die with unrepented sins.
Suicide, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
Is suicide ever morally permissible?
1. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the soldier who falls on a live grenade to save the life of his friend?
2. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the destitute mother who stops eating what little food remains in order that her child may live?
3. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the POW who swallows a cyanide capsule, knowing that otherwise he will be brainwashed and tortured into divulging crucial information that will be used to the detriment and perhaps death of his countrymen?
4. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the husband with a lengthy terminal illness who takes his own life lest his medical expenses drain the meager financial resources on which his aged wife must depend for her future welfare?
5. What moral judgment do we make…of a soldier trapped in a burning tank from which there is no hope of escape. Is it morally permissible for him to end his life with a gunshot to the head rather than to die in agony in that fiery inferno?
6. What about the Christian in the third century who is given a choice: either deny Jesus or be thrown to the lions? By refusing to deny Jesus, the believer chooses a course of action that she knows will result in her death.
7. What about the Jehovah’s Witness who is accidentally shot by a robber and, because of religious convictions, refuses the blood transfusion necessary to save her life? She dies because of a deliberate choice on her part.
Excerpted from: Suicide, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
My experience with depressed people is that when they have suffered from long periods of depression and begin to talk about suicide, we had better pay attention.
Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 155. Used by Permission. Get this book!
1. There are four male suicides for every one female; however, at least twice as many females as males attempt suicide.
2. Sixty percent of all people who commit suicide kill themselves with guns.
3. Guns are now used in more suicides than homicides.
4. Women are more likely to use drugs or poison than violent means; men are more inclined to use a quick, violent means of suicide such as a gun or hanging.
5. 500,000 Americans survive suicide attempts each year.
6. Of those who commit suicide, only 25% are determined to have been mentally ill.
7. Of those who commit suicide, 80% warned someone that they were contemplating doing so.
8. The highest suicide rates are among people ages 35-49 and people 65 and over.
9. The suicide rate on American Indian reservations is 5 times the national average.
Statistics used in Sam Storms, Suicide, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Original source: Associated Press, Public Health Service.
No creature but man willingly kills itself.
Quoted by Curtis C. Thomas, Practical Wisdom for Pastors, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 154. Used by Permission.
