Suicide sends us to Hell?

I have debated posting this blog for a while now, because I do not want to give license to those out there who may want to take their own lives. In the end, I realized that no matter what I say, I am not in control of someone’s choice. So, I want to put this out there in a way that simply explains how I feel about suicide, without condoning it.

It has long been the belief of most Charismatic Christians, Protestants, Catholics, etc. that when a man or woman commits suicide that they immediately go to Hell. Regardless of their life or belief on earth. I say it isn’t so. And this is why:

The Bible states that there are only three unforgivable sins. They are:

The Sin Unto Death
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
Taking the Mark of the Beast

The Sin Unto Death:

Sin unto Death is not a physical sin is made when a man or woman would be willing to crucify Christ a second time. Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened (have accepted Jesus as their savior), and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

The sin unto death is very hard to commit; certain conditions must be met in the heart of a man before he can be given over by the Lord.


Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit:

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is done to take actions obviously from God and attesting them to Satan with the specific intent of leading a man or woman stray. The Pharasees knew that Christ was of God and that His miracles were of the Father, but because they were jealous, they told people that He was of Satan- intending to lead them astray from Christ. Matt. 12:22-32, “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”


Taking the Mark of the Beast:

This one is easy. In the end times (that we are coming upon) The Antichrist will offer a mark which symbolizes commitment to him. Rev. 14:9-11, “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."”


Reading through the Bible, I am unable to see where it says that if a man takes his own life, he condemned to Hell. One would argue that taking your own life is trying to be God- whose right is it to chose whether a life should be lived or not? In that case, do murderers go to Hell? No! If they ask for forgiveness they do not!

Now, let me clarify something before I go on. According to The Word of God a man will go to Hell regardless of how he dies if he has not accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. I am basing this whole blog on if a man who has Christ in his heart commits suicide. Not an unbeliever. If an unbeliever commits suicide, gets into a car accident, chokes on his candy or dies by any other way, he will go to Hell. Those are the consequences of not accepting the gift of salvation that Jesus paid for. (This might be another blog altogether, hmm? Please be considerate and comment on the main topic here rather than starting a debate that is not what I’m blogging about. Thanks!)

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Wouldn’t this, technically, be suicide? If you have control over whether you live or not and you chose to die, you are taking your own life. Yet, the Bible says that if you are in a position where you can save another by taking your own (or giving your own up)- there is no greater love. Christ was the Son of God- He turned water into wine, stopped storms, and liberated demon possessed men- He definitely had the power to save Himself from being crucified. But, He didn’t. He allowed mere men to kill Him, because His love was so great for us.

That being said, suicide is a sin. And those who do so will have to answer for it when they stand before our Lord. But, it is not a sin that sends one straight to Hell. Christ’s forgiveness is more powerful than that! When His blood cleansed us of our sin, it covered our past, our present and our future mistakes. I believe that suicide is no different than lying- in terms of being forgiven.

I began this blog with the condition that I do not condone suicide. I do not believe that life can get so hard for us, Christ cannot deliver us. If you have been feeling the tugs of despair and ending your life seems to be the only answer; if you need help, please dial 1-714-NEW-HOPE (639-4673). If you do not want to talk to someone on the phone, feel free to email myself or Nomz- we are here to be a listening ear and an encouragement to those who need it! Email us at: nomzaran@yahoo.com. And, please, know that Jesus Christ loves you more than you could ever begin to imagine. You are His joy, His reason for dying and He is right beside you, willing to help you overcome your tribulation.