The Hard Questions Part One: Suicide

Many of us, even believers, have doubts about God’s ultimate goodness and what it means for Him to have a perfect will.

Unbelievers point to the natural world, to parasitism, to red in tooth and claw, and say, “How could there be a good God with all this destruction and decay?”

The Bible explains the world wasn’t always like this, with the fall of Adam and Eve causing the entire universe to groan in travail. Thorns now exist, as well as predation in the natural world.

Mankind now has a disease called sin, and the only cure is the sacrifice of our Messiah.

In this series of posts, I want to go over some of the harder questions of faith.

One question often comes up, which is: What about people who commit suicide?

A valid inquiry, because you might look at someone who has taken their own life as someone who has effectively murdered (Thou shalt not murder) themselves. This is certainly a historical viewpoint among the faithful.

But it is a far more complex issue than that. God is a fair being, seeing as He is the ultimate reality and ultimate manifestation of justice.

Yahweh will not hand out judgment and send someone to the Lake of Fire after the second resurrection if there were multiple factors at play. The Lake of Fire is the ultimate destination of sinners who don’t make it into the Book of Life. Most people have this misconception that people immediately go to hell when they die if they are wicked.

However, the Bible tells us the dead go to the holding place of the dead, called Sheol in Hebrew. Our loved ones are comforted in peace until their resurrection or denied that comfort in that transitory state of being. Some people make the claim the Bible doesn’t say the dead are conscious, but multiple verses and Jesus’s own parables seem to differ from that thought process.

The dead are on the “other side” of this plane of existence.

The question posited by many is, “What happens to people who choose to go to the other side themselves by inflicting harm upon themselves?”

Remember what I mentioned earlier? God is a perfectly moral God who makes judgment based on all factors.

If someone was bullied constantly and saw no other way out than to take their own life, is it truly murder? Or will our holy God hold those who had caused the action responsible for their blood?

See how it is a nuanced topic?

If someone killed themselves, then God is the ultimate judge of the factors that led to the decision.

Some people end their lives over love, losing loved ones they can’t be without, or due to drugs and a terrible lifestyle.

In those cases, God will weigh the balance of their deeds and show Himself perfectly correct and just.

Murdering someone else is a clear sin, a violation of the Torah command not to murder others (separate from killing in war, of course, not that it’s great either).

This issue is complex when dealing with those who end their lives. Sometimes a mental illness causes the death, at which point, an honest person must concede that it can’t be a sin to kill yourself in that case.

God is a merciful Creator, wishing the best for all His children. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world where these things happen.

The heart of the Father is a perfect love that transcends all understanding. And, since God alone knows the thoughts of the heart, He will decide with perfect knowledge how the victim’s actions affect their eternal destiny.

Some people swear killing yourself is unforgiveable, but Jesus said the only unforgiveable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit (which encompasses mockery of the Holy Spirit, attributing God’s direction to demonic influences, not respecting true prophets, etc.).

Since we know from Scripture, the dead are at rest in a different dimension than ours—and conscious in some way, perhaps repentance comes to them from God after their actions.

This is a difficult subject for me to talk about.

But I believe the answer to the question is far more nuanced than outright calling it a sin.

Those who have taken their lives might watch their loved ones in regret, realizing the mistake they had made and seeing the devastation it causes to those who remain.

Ultimately, I can’t speak for what God will do to their eternal station.

But using some logic and knowing the Creator’s ways, I’m certain it isn’t as black and white as we might think.

Just remember to always be kind to others, as you don’t know what battles they’re facing in their lives. That smile you offer or opening the door for them just might save them from self-peril.

May God bless you and keep you, and don’t be afraid to think about the hard questions in the faith.