Salvation

A Christian who commits suicide will go to heaven

John F. MacArthur (the pastor teacher of Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California), has written: ‘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’ (http://www.gty.org).

Chuck Smith has written: ‘I believe that a person who is driven to the point of committing suicide no longer has full responsibility for the things he’s doing. Driven to a point of such mental extremes, he isn’t necessarily responsible for the action of taking his own life (Chuck Smith, Answers For Today, pages 88-89; revised edition page 116) and again: ‘Certainly, Scripture doesn’t indicate anywhere that this suicide is an unpardonable sin. The only sin for which there is no forgiveness is that of rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour’ (page 89),

Larry Taylor has written a booklet entitled Suicide And The Church (dated 1994). In it he states: ‘So then, we see that a born again Christian could commit suicide, and if he did, he would go to heaven’ (under #V., sixth to last paragraph).

Dr. Charles Stanley (pastor of the 14,000 member First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia) also teaches the same thing, for he says: ‘…. Suicide is an act of rebellion against God. Fortunately for all of us, however, God’s grace is without prejudice. Whoever believes will be saved. Nowhere in the Bible does God compartmentalize sin and reserve grace only for those who commit ‘acceptable’ sins. There is no such thing. Does God forgive suicide? Yes, He does. If the person who committed suicide at some time accepted Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for his sin debt and asked Him into his life, he is forgiven. Absolute assurance of forgiveness is found in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” If a person has ever taken that step and received Christ as Savior, nothing can alter the truth that, as children of God, we are forgiven. Even when we rebel against God’ (Handbook for Christian living, page 49).

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that a person who has committed suicide can repent of his sin after death: ‘We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2283)

Confutation

The Scripture says: “Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). Therefore, all those who commit suicide have broken this commandment for they have killed themselves. They are murderers in the sight of God, and thus they are in hell, and on the day of judgement, when they are raised from the dead, they will be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, as it is written: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). “Murders” are mentioned by Paul among the works of the flesh in the epistle to the Galatians, and as you know those who practice the works of the flesh “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21).

Now let me refute some of the arguments I quoted before.

1. The Scripture says clearly that those redeemed by God have been forgiven for all their sins – past, present, and future.

The Scripture teaches that the redeemed have been forgiven for all their past sins, but it teaches also that our present and future sins, that is, the sins we commit after our conversion, will be forgiven us if we repent of them and confess them to God. For the apostle John says: “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 our present and future sins had been already forgiven us, Jesus would not have commanded us to say to the Father: “Forgive us our debts” (Matthew 6:12). Therefore, if we sin, we must repent of our sins and confess them to God, so that He may forgive us our sins. As for those who commit suicide, however, they can’t repent of their sin nor can they confess it to God, for they are dead. As a result they are lost forever. They have not died in Christ but in their sin.

2. Scripture doesn’t indicate anywhere that this suicide is an unpardonable sin. The only sin for which there is no forgiveness is that of rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour

All those Christians who have committed suicide have rejected Christ as their Lord and Saviour, for they have not kept the faith till the end. In other words, they have not held the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end. They have decided to draw back to perdition.

3. A person who is driven to the point of committing suicide no longer has full responsibility for the things he’s doing. Driven to a point of such mental extremes, he isn’t necessarily responsible for the action of taking his own life.

Man is held responsible for all his actions and he will be judged according to them. For instance, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ, is responsible for his action, even though it was Satan who put it into his heart to betray Jesus. For on the night Jesus was betrayed, He said: “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). As for Judas, remember that after he betrayed Jesus into the hands of the chief priests he committed suicide (cf. Matthew 27:1-5).

To conclude, let me say a few words about the Roman Catholic teaching on the possibility of salutary repentance God can provide after death: it is a false teaching for after death a person has no possibility of repenting of his sins.

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