Suicide and Christianity :: By Mark A. Becker

[Andy C]

Introduction

This, without a doubt, is one of the more difficult subjects to address. And, as the reader will observe through my own testimonies within this piece, one that is intensely significant and intimate for me, personally. We all have our testimonies of family, friends, and/or acquaintances who have had to deal with those who are suicidal or those who have committed suicide.

When the person who commits suicide is an unbeliever, we know from Scripture where that person is likely spending their afterlife, though we can never know for certain. When it comes to professing Christians and suicide, Biblically, it does not seem to be so black and white.

A Quick Personal Testimony

In 2019, I became sick unto death. I am still not at a place where I can discuss my trial with others, and may never be, but even if I could, words are truly incapable of relating my experience to another human being. The physical pain and mental anguish I endured were beyond human language to express, to the point that I not only considered suicide, but I had it planned out, with the only missing ingredient being the when.

Thanks to my loving Savior and the love and prayers of my wife, family, friends, and even those I did not know, I held on as long as I possibly could and then began the slow process of healing. But the question of our topic remains: Would I have entered heaven to be in the presence of my Savior had I committed suicide?

I am convinced that many people through the course of the last 2,000 years have pondered this question. Many families have unfortunately endured this traumatic experience with loved ones who truly exhibited love for the Lord and, for whatever reason, just could not do life anymore and took their own lives. Are these loved ones waiting for us in heaven, or are they awaiting the Great White Throne Judgment in hell in Sheol?

This pertinent question is what this article seeks to Biblically and logically answer.

Is Suicide Murder?

The sixth of the 10 Commandments reads:

“Thou shalt not kill.” – Exodus 20:13

Suicide and Christianity :: By Mark A. Becker

Introduction This, without a doubt, is one of the more difficult subjects to address. And, as the reader will observe through my own testimonies within

www.raptureready.com

 

[Hol]

From the article: “Moreover, we must never be judgmental when it comes to this issue because we have no idea what they are going through and experiencing. As I honestly relayed at the beginning of this article, what I personally went through was way beyond human language to describe. Their situation will often be the same. No one can go into the body or mind of another person to experience what they are subjected to, and we would be more than fools to ever compare ourselves with anyone else — ever. The only One who knows exactly what any individual is going through is the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and He alone understands the plight and sufferings of all His creatures.”

Difficult ideas to consider. Thanks for posting this Andy!

 

[Kem]

Certainly I am no expert on this subject but after all does one lose salvation for committing a sin? If a sin is unconfessed at death does one therefore get consigned to hell? Is breaking that commandment any worse than breaking the other commandments ? Have any of us managed to not sin at all after salvation? Suicide would be at it's heart a lack of trust in our Almighty God but so are all other sins.
As far as the east is from the west, [So] far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father pities [his] children, [So] the LORD pities those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame; He remembers that we [are] dust. Psalm 103 2-4

I believe that we can take comfort in the fact that God knows we live in this weak body that will not be fully perfected until we are in heaven.

 

[Margery]

As countries around the world adopt the assisted suicide laws we will see Christians who are struggling, succumb to the pressure. If it's like Canada, they face withholding of needed services that were guaranteed to continue when these laws came in, but are quietly being withdrawn. I saw Britain is going this way too.

Socialized medicine. It's cheaper to kill off the patient (and even better with his or her consent)!

I pray for the Rapture to come quick!

 

[mattfivefour]

In the full OP article, Mark Becker spends a fair bit of time dealing with the penalty for destroying the body due to a passage in 1 Corinthians 3--

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” – 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a red herring because this passage is not talking about the individual and his or her body but is speaking collectively to all Christians and the body referred to is the body of Christ; in other words the Church. This is clear in the Greek.

Now, Paul does use a similar phrase ("Do you not know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?") about one's own personal body in 1 Corinthians 6--

"Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body." --1 Corinthians 6:18-20

However, this passage deals specifically with the individual, not the Church as a whole ... something that is abundantly clear in the Greek. But even in the English we can notice a big difference between the two passages. The chapter 3 passage refers to judgment and destruction for those who harm the Church; the chapter 6 passage simply refers to avoiding personal sin so as to glorify God. The former deals with those who corrupt the Church; the latter with those who sin sexually against their own body. The former brings forth strong judgment; the latter does not.

None of this relates directly to Mark Becker's excellent article on suicide; But I felt it necessary to add my pastoral comments in case some read the article and think incorrectly that if they destroy their body God will destroy them. That is not what the Bible teaches and I wanted to make that clearn by showing the actual meanings of both the 1 Corinthians 3 and the 1 Corinthians 6 passages.

 

[Hol]

The chapter 3 passage refers to judgment and destruction; the chapter 6 passage simply refers to glorifying God.

Thank you for this insight

 

[mattfivefour]

Thank you for this insight

Thank you. But I have made a small change. When I wrote:

The chapter 3 passage refers to judgment and destruction; the chapter 6 passage simply refers to glorifying God.

I should have added some clarifying words, as follows:

"The chapter 3 passage refers to judgment and destruction for those who harm the Church; the chapter 6 passage simply refers to avoiding personal sin so as to glorify God."​

I have now made that change in my original post.