What does the Bible say about people who suicide? No passage makes a plain statement, so we have to infer from other passages. Is suicide the unforgivable sin? NO! Jesus states very clearly:
31 Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matt 12:31-32 (NRSV)
What happens after death to people who suicide is unclear also because we don’t know their mind or heart. Were they in their right mind? It’s reasonable to believe that people who suicide are not themselves; they aren’t thinking straight. In that case they are not responsible.
Had they ever accepted Christ? If so, they will be saved. If we don’t know for sure, then we can count on God’s Spirit to do everything possible to win them to eternal safety.
God loves them, even more than their closest relatives. God’s mercy will reach out to them and do everything possible to care for them. The Bible says:
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. Psalms 23:4 (KJV)
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Psalms 103:2-4 (KJV)
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Psalms 139:7-8 (KJV)
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-32, 35-39 (NRSV)
A good site for the aftermath of suicide is here.
Note: This week a friend’s family member suicided, without explanation. The above is my attempt to find verses of comfort to share. jlh
Tags: Bible, suicide, unforgivable sin
I’m so sorry to hear of this terrible loss. I have to believe that a person unhappy enough to care out a self-destructive act is ill, and that God will forgive.
That’s my belief as well.
What a hard thing. I can’t imagine how a family copes with this. The scriptures you have assembled are very comforting. Romans 8 sums it up well. Grace, peace and prayers to you.