Suicide

• The Bible contains no direct statements on this subject
• Many assert that, because murder is wrong and suicide is murdering yourself, suicide is sin.  Because the person committing suicide could not repent, that person will be condemned.  This arises from the revolving-door philosophy which has no hope but only a small probability of salvation (one may be saved only if death occurs in those small windows between repentance and the next sin, further assuming that each repentance covers everything that went wrong, that there are no overlapping timelines between each sin and its corresponding repentance).  This theory misunderstands repentance, redemption, and forgiveness.  The Bible does not list suicide as murder.  Rather, the most popular position about suicide makes that assumption and builds from there.
• Is the sin the taking of a life or the taking of the future?  Isolating the sin to ending a life causes problems with warfare, capital punishment, self-defense, and manslaughter.  In war, both sides agree that death is on the table.  Soldiers who kill in battle are not prosecuted for murder.  Capital punishment was endorsed by God in the Law of Moses, which contained 18 capital offenses.  Self-defense and manslaughter were not classified as murder in the Law of Moses.
• Murder is the same as stealing, except that restitution is not possible.  Because each individual does not have an appointed time to die, suicide is not theft, it is a choice concerning what to do with one’s own possession.
• God judges faith, not actions.  If you were unkind just before stepping in front of a moving bus, would you be condemned on judgment day because you died before repenting?
• Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:5).  Was he condemned for his remorse resulting in suicide or his lack of hope (lack of faith)?
• King Saul fell on his sword, as did his armorbearer, to avoid being abused if captured alive (1 Samuel 31:3 – 5).  Was Saul condemned for this act or for a lifetime of failures of faith?
• Jesus could have escaped His own execution (Matthew 26:53), so His passive acceptance could be classified as “suicide by cop.”
• Some people choose to kill themselves as a result of deep depression.  Are such people competent at the time of death?
• Some people choose to kill themselves because of severe and uncorrectable pain.  Does God require that they endure debilitating pain until they finally expire?
• In many cases, we grieve the loss of an unbeliever committing suicide more than one who died of “natural causes.”  But our grief should be the same for both.  The experience should teach us to speak up sooner or more effectively, regardless of the cause of death.  Conversely, if we did speak up but the deceased had no interest in the gospel, we can rightly grieve the loss and probable condemnation, but that is the situation of greater than 90% of all who die.  Paul grieved the plight of Israel’s majority rejection of the Messiah (Romans 9:1 – 7).  We should grieve, learn, and then be comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3 – 4).