Can suicide be forgiven?

[LW97]

I think that the Bible is not clear enough on this issue. All effort should be made to prevent suicide and we should never advise a potential suicider that they will not go to hell. Saying that suicide victims are in eternal hell is unwise as it has the potential to dishonour God's name and may well steer people away from Him.

 

[jb]

It certainly is clear, suicide is NOT blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!

Mark 3v28-30

 

[LW97]

It certainly is clear, suicide is NOT blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!

Mark 3v28-30

AMEN!

 

[CS1]

I think that the Bible is not clear enough on this issue. All effort should be made to prevent suicide and we should never advise a potential suicider that they will not go to hell. Saying that suicide victims are in eternal hell is unwise as it has the potential to dishonour God's name and may well steer people away from Him.

Suicide is a very complex topic. yet we know what the Word of God says about one who destroys His temple. What is the difference of one who does it a little each day by ingesting things harmful to the body and knows it?

drugs
alcohol
unhealthy food
smoking
STD's that kill you

What do we know about Suicide? What is different from the above list and Suicide?

each of the following we was told or warned not to do in the Word of God and did so with having a choice not to do it.

What if suicide is done out of a non-conscious incoherent or mental illness? many people suffering from depression can lead one to kill themselves. Wrong medication has caused Christian to kill themselves. That is why we need to be the beacon of hope in a world where so many are addicted to drugs

 

[crossnote]

I think that the Bible is not clear enough on this issue.

That may be by design. God knowing if it was clearly 'yes' they would be forgiven, then more would commit it. If OTOH the answer was a clear 'no' then more people would be driven to despair and do it. It seems to be one of those matters not clearly revealed.

 

[oyster67]

I think that the Bible is not clear enough on this issue. All effort should be made to prevent suicide and we should never advise a potential suicider that they will not go to hell. Saying that suicide victims are in eternal hell is unwise as it has the potential to dishonour God's name and may well steer people away from Him.

It is never nice to stomp on anyone's grave. Remember the thief on the cross. We never know what went on in the last seconds. CS Lewis took an unusual stance on such matters. He began by stating that God dwells outside and above time. At the time between when the jumper jumps and when he hits the ground. Could glance ahead in time and see how many might be praying for this man before they realized the jumper was dead? We know that prayer can make a difference. Lets not put God in a box. Let God be God.

 

[oldethennew]

oh my NO, suicide or suicide leanings/thought are such a state of confusion -
the 'lows' in this life can be so damaging to our whole being, but, hopefully,
it is only a temporary STATE of MIND (but), Christ can 'deliver' us from all
of our 'sorrows' and open the door to LIFE'...
JOHN 14:6.
Jesus saith unto him, I Am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man comes unto The Father, but by Me'.

 

[tourist]

It is never nice to stomp on anyone's grave. Remember the thief on the cross. We never know what went on in the last seconds. CS Lewis took an unusual stance on such matters. He began by stating that God dwells outside and above time. At the time between when the jumper jumps and when he hits the ground. Could glance ahead in time and see how many might be praying for this man before they realized the jumper was dead? We know that prayer can make a difference. Lets not put God in a box. Let God be God.

I agree completely with your view. You could say a prayer for the salvation of someone who is already dead but God would hear that prayer even before He created the universe and certainly chose to answer it. God is in time and outside of time and always has been aware of prayers that were said both in the past, present and future. Indeed, let God be God.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

“All manner of sin and blesphemy WILL be forgiven men..”

These are jesus words.. I think I will trust what he says, and thus, Suicide, although very sin-full, will be forgiven.

Now if the person also never recieved Christ (the unpardonable sin) he will go to hell for rejecting the gospel. But not for suicide

 

[LW97]

It is never nice to stomp on anyone's grave. Remember the thief on the cross. We never know what went on in the last seconds. CS Lewis took an unusual stance on such matters. He began by stating that God dwells outside and above time. At the time between when the jumper jumps and when he hits the ground. Could glance ahead in time and see how many might be praying for this man before they realized the jumper was dead? We know that prayer can make a difference. Lets not put God in a box. Let God be God.

Amen

 

[hornetguy]

Suicide is a very complex topic. yet we know what the Word of God says about one who destroys His temple. What is the difference of one who does it a little each day by ingesting things harmful to the body and knows it?

drugs
alcohol
unhealthy food
smoking
STD's that kill you

What do we know about Suicide? What is different from the above list and Suicide?

each of the following we was told or warned not to do in the Word of God and did so with having a choice not to do it.

What if suicide is done out of a non-conscious incoherent or mental illness? many people suffering from depression can lead one to kill themselves. Wrong medication has caused Christian to kill themselves. That is why we need to be the beacon of hope in a world where so many are addicted to drugs

So, what DOES scripture say about our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit? How do we sin against our body/temple? It's plainly stated in scripture.

 

[hornetguy]

The only way one could state that suicide is not forgivable would be to hold the position that the RCC holds, of a believer needing "last rites" just before death.

We, as believers, are forgiven. We are saved. When we sin, we are still covered by the free gift of salvation. This does not mean we should not repent, and ask forgiveness, but is that a condition for our maintaining our salvation?

If a struggling alcoholic believer, in recovery, slips and gets drunk and passes out on a train track, and is killed by the train, is he doomed to hell?

Not according to the message that I heard and believed.

 

[Deade]

 

[Deade]

I think that the Bible is not clear enough on this issue. All effort should be made to prevent suicide and we should never advise a potential suicider that they will not go to hell. Saying that suicide victims are in eternal hell is unwise as it has the potential to dishonour God's name and may well steer people away from Him.

We don't have the right to condemn anyone to anyplace. All we are allowed to do is decide if we want to fellowship with them or not. Nobody knows all of God's plans.

 

[Ahwatukee]

I think that the Bible is not clear enough on this issue. All effort should be made to prevent suicide and we should never advise a potential suicider that they will not go to hell. Saying that suicide victims are in eternal hell is unwise as it has the potential to dishonour God's name and may well steer people away from Him.

Agreed! However, scripture also does not say that those who commit suicide will not end up in hell.

I look at it this way: as believers in Christ, we are called to take up our crosses daily, which means that we are to keep our testimony of Jesus and the word of God regardless of whether God allows us to be persecuted or even put to death. That said, committing suicide is an attempt to escape whatever issues are confronting an individual. Every other trial and tribulation would therefore be less. Suicide would be an abandonment of faith.

The bottom line is, why would anyone want to test God on that? Because, if one who commits suicide does end up on hell, then there is nothing they can do to change that and no one to complain about it to.

The majority of unbelievers who commit suicide do so because they believe that once they die, they become non-existent, fade to black. But according to the word of God, we know that this is not the truth. For those who die in Christ, their spirit departs and goes to be in the presence of the Lord. In opposition, when the unfaithful die, their spirits depart and go down into Sheol/Hades to begin their punishment in torment in flame, where they will remain until the great white throne judgment.

In conclusion, I would advise that there is the possibility of going to hell if one commits suicide and that because, as you said, we have no direct teaching on this issue. And you know what they say about assumption.

The believer who commits suicide is not trusting in Christ. And it is murder. The Lord certainly isn't going to say "Well done good and faithful servant."

 

[Ahwatukee]

It certainly is clear, suicide is NOT blasphemy against the Holy Spirit!

Mark 3v28-30

Well, neither is believing and teaching that the resurrection has already taken place, but currently that teaching will keep one from inheriting the kingdom of God.

 

[oyster67]

I'm not sure that everyone who commits suicide is doing so just to test God. I have fallen into some pretty deep depression before. It is horrible. I have wondered if my brain chemistry didn't get messed up, or if it wasn't a direct attack from Satan. I obviously didn't commit suicide, but I do know that not everyone who thinks about it is an evil person.

 

[tourist]

I'm not sure that everyone who commits suicide is doing so just to test God. I have fallen into some pretty deep depression before. It is horrible. I have wondered if my brain chemistry didn't get messed up, or if it wasn't a direct attack from Satan. I obviously didn't commit suicide, but I do know that not everyone who thinks about it is an evil person.

Preach it, brother.

 

[Ahwatukee]

I'm not sure that everyone who commits suicide is doing so just to test God. I have fallen into some pretty deep depression before. It is horrible. I have wondered if my brain chemistry didn't get messed up, or if it wasn't a direct attack from Satan. I obviously didn't commit suicide, but I do know that not everyone who thinks about it is an evil person.

What I mean by "testing God" is someone making the assumption that they will not end up in hell. This stems from the OSAS thinking, which is false. Our eternal life is secure, not by a one-time confession of faith, but from faith beginning to end. If a believer turns back into the world willfully living according to the sinful nature, then they are accumulating sin and on their way to death. This is demonstrated in James 5:18:

"My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

So, would committing suicide be considered wandering from the truth? We don't know God's judgment would be on this. My point is that, I would not tell anyone that they would go to hell if they commit suicide, nor would I tell anyone that they wouldn't. I would say to them, "do you really want to find out?"

 

[hornetguy]

The believer who commits suicide is not trusting in Christ. And it is murder. The Lord certainly isn't going to say "Well done good and faithful servant."

The believer that commits suicide is mentally unbalanced, for whatever reason. It probably has nothing to do with whether they trust in Christ... when they reach that point, they are not in their right mind. Does God send mentally disturbed people to Hell?