If I Commit Suicide, Am I Going to Hell?

          This is such a delicate subject, and it needs to be treated with respect and gentleness that can only come from God's perfect love. I recently had a conversation with a young woman who asked me this question, and my heart was absolutely broken. She is active in the church, active in youth group, and she still has to ask this question. Has the church just failed here? Well yes, and no. The blame doesn't fall entirely on the church; there's only so much we can do, and the rest is the work that the Holy Spirit does on an intimate, individual basis that we can't really get to. So youth group leaders and pastors, it's okay -- we know you can't do it all! From what I've seen in my lifetime, however, churches are afraid to talk about these things in a straightforward and honest manner. We skirt the question, afraid to offend people, instead of tackling it head-on with Scripture and love. Well I am unashamed of the gospel, so I'm not afraid to jump in and find out what God has to say on this matter and to tell it to the world.

           There are three points to this discussion when we dig into the Scripture:

1. Suicide is a sin.
          1 John 3:4 says, "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." Sin is anything apart from the law. In a New Testament world, the law is the moral law that God has written on our hearts and explained to us in the Bible. The moral law also includes God's perfect plan for our lives. So deviating from that plan is sinful. 
          God's plan for your life never includes suicide. Nothing inherently good comes from it; sure, God can use tragedy for His glory, but it brings pain and suffering to those around you, and it effectively ends your ministry that God has specifically given to you for your time on Earth. If the Lord wanted you dead, He'd strike you down Himself. Not once is it God's desire for you to commit suicide and take your life into your own hands, but rather it is always God's desire for you to always give your life completely to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12). 

2. God forgives sin.
          The moment that you allow Christ to rule in your heart, He takes your place in the judgement seat. At the end of your life, all of your sin will be accounted for, and it will be laid on Him in full. There is only one sin that the Bible mentions as being unforgivable. It occurs in Matthew 12 and Mark 3, and it's called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I have another post in the works on that subject, but for our purposes here, it's irrelevant; suicide is not an unforgivable sin. Suicide is, in effect, self-murder. David -- you know, the psalmist David? King David? -- he committed murder. And once he had repented of his sin, he had a restored relationship with God. David was favored by God and deeply loved, despite his sin, because our God is a God of forgiveness and mercy.

3. If a Christian commits suicide, we need to ask questions.
          This is the most delicate part of this whole discussion, but it needs to be addressed. Hebrews 6 gives one of the most beautiful pictures of the hope we have in Christ. Verses 13-20 read as such:

"When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [for refuge] to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

          I'm going to be as ginger as I can here, and speak from my love for each and every person who reads this. A full understanding of the message of Christ gives us hope. It gives us hope to endure this life's hardships, and hope for what is yet to come. So to reach a point of despair so great that a person actually follows through with their plan of suicide begs us to ask the question of whether or not they actually had a relationship with the living God who dwells among and within His children. This hope that I'm talking about is not just an added bonus of Christianity; it's the bulk of the message! So for such a crucial factor to be missing, something has to be wrong. 

          I hope my love has shone through in this midst of this difficult discussion, because I know that those who have struggled with depression, or hopelessness, or suicidal thoughts before they came to Christ will not always be free from those temptations. The thoughts may come creeping back at the worst possible moments; the enemy is a seasoned veteran in the battle of discouraging God's children. But the beauty of being a Christ follower is being able to see through the antics of the enemy and live by our faith, and not by what we feel. My dear brothers and sisters, take heart in the unchanging truth of our God. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)" If the Lord dwells and reigns within you, your sins have been covered in full, and His hope will shine in and through you.