Does the Bible Teach that Suicide is an ‘Unforgiveable Sin’?

This week we learned that a close family friend killed himself.

Sadly, this is not a new experience for myself and my family. We’ve had two very close friends previously commit suicide. While the emotional terrain along this road is familiar, the pain is always uniquely its own.

The psychological effects to those left in the wake of suicide can be overwhelming. We ask, Could this have been prevented? Were there signs I missed? How could the victim have been so selfish? The questions are never-ending and can leave survivors emotionally exhausted, if not in abysmal despair.

But one effect of suicide that I’ve repeatedly encountered is the theological implications created by the act.

Perhaps this is a result of my own tendency to over-think things, to fit events — even the most perplexing and painful — into a rational framework. In my world, understanding provides a scaffold for my emotions. My heart finds healing via my head. Logically grasping certain things helps me resolve much emotional pain.

But in the case of suicide, understanding and logic is often in short supply.

For example, all three of the individuals I reference here were professing Christians. They’d been baptized, attended church, and pledged to follow Jesus. No, they were not all spiritually flourishing. It is more exact to say that they were all struggling. Yet none had bailed on the early profession of faith (as far as I am aware). In fact, attempting to jibe their faith with their emotional state was part of their emotional plight. Nevertheless, from a theological perspective, it is not inappropriate to question a suicide victim’s relationship or standing with God.

In fact, of the seven references to suicide in Scripture, only one individual is portrayed in a favorable light. Those references are:

• Abimelech (Judges 9:54)
• Samson (Judges 16:29-31)
• Saul and His Armor Bearer (1 Samuel 31:3-6)
• Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23)
• Zimri (1 Kings 16:18)
• Judas (Matthew 27:5)

Of these seven, only Samson appears to have been in some “healthy” spiritual proximity to God. Even though Samson’s life was not a model of Christian living, he was still honored among the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11. This is really quite astounding. Of course, some speculate whether Samson’s final act was an act of suicide or some sort of martyrdom. In either case, it’s clear from Scripture that Samson was not cast off by God for his “suicidal” actions.

The same cannot be said of the other biblical characters in this list.

Likewise, when a professing Christian takes their own life, we are typically confronted with many difficult questions. Where was God in this? Why didn’t God stop His child? Was this individual even in a relationship with God? Or had the devil filled a spiritual vacuum? And what about mental illness? Does mental illness circumvent prayer or God’s ability to act? Is the mentally ill Christian still responsible for their suicidal behavior?* But all these musings eventually distill into one single, thorny question — Where does the victim of suicide go when they die?

Until I was personally affected by suicide, this was not a question I was prepared to answer.

Gary shot himself New Years Day 1991. He’d been a beloved member of the first church I’d pastored. A humble, fragile guy with a history of depression and chronic low self-esteem. He was on medication for schizophrenia and, when the church discovered he was expressing suicidal thoughts, took all the appropriate steps to help him. However, he outfoxed us all.

I officiated Gary’s funeral. One of the questions I was forced to publicly address was whether or not suicide was an unforgivable sin. This wasn’t a question I had anticipated, but arose from some well-meaning family members. They were Catholic and somewhere along the way had been taught, or came to believe, that the suicide victim’s soul was not salvageable. Gary’s own mother believed this and was so shamed by the act that she refused to attend his funeral. Forget about God — she could not forgive him. Anyway, it was rather awkward publicly speaking to the subject at the funeral, but it seemed necessary.

After learning about the tragic suicide of our friend last week, it caused me to reflect again on that painful season.  Suicides are like that. When you’re immediately affected by one, it leaves a wound that never goes away. Which is why reminding myself of what Scripture really says — or doesn’t say — about suicide is important.

Augustine was one of the first theologians to declare a distinction between martyrdom and suicide. The act of murdering oneself, he said, was a decision in direct opposition to God’s will. Along with adultery and apostasy, suicide came to be seen as unredeemable. Later, Thomas Aquinas classified suicide as a mortal sin that could not be forgiven. As a result, the Roman Catholic Church refused to conduct funerals for people who killed themselves, even burying those bodies outside the graveyard. The Catholic Church has since modified its view, permitting suicide victims to have a Catholic funeral. Nevertheless, the stigma and the condemnation of these views still echo through history.

As a result of Gary’s suicide, I searched the Scriptures for some answers. Interestingly enough, I learned the Bible nowhere directly condemns suicide. People are often surprised by this. Of the seven accounts of suicide in Scripture, the most notorious being those of King Saul (1 Samuel 31:2-5) and Judas (Matthew 27:3-5, neither one is explicitly condemned for taking his life. This in no way justifies their actions, for the Bible nowhere condones suicide. In fact, the trajectory of both these individuals was on an arc away from God.

But that’s not always true of suicide victims. Like our friend Joey.

Joey was raised in our church. When he was young he had an accident and fell from a large oak tree, crushing his skull. Part of his brain was removed and Joey’s life hung in the balance. Yet God spared him. Of course, Joey was never the same. After the accident, he walked with a limp. His head was bit crooked and he was mentally slower. But you couldn’t find a kid more on fire for God. He was always eager to go to Bible study or church. And he was determined to share his faith, believing that God allowed the accident as part of his testimony. In fact, he raised money to go on a mission trip to Fiji. Joey loved the Lord. However, he was also a very sensitive soul. It was that emotional frailty that eventually contributed to Joey tragically taking his own life.

Unlike a Saul or Judas, Joey was not on a trajectory away from God. So did suicide permanently strip him of his heavenly rewards?

True, Jesus spoke of an “unforgivable sin” in Matt. 12:22-32. However, the context is one in which the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the devil. There’s varying opinions about what the unforgivable sin or “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” might be. However, Scripture does not describe suicide as the unforgivable sin.

So because there’s no explicit teaching on suicide, we must form an opinion based on inference and more clearly articulated theology.

In the simplest sense, suicide comes under the prohibition against murder.

The person who commits suicide is guilty of murder. Then ask, is murder an unpardonable sin? The answer, from Scripture, is an emphatic “no!” Some of the greatest figures in biblical history were murderers — Moses, King David, Saul (who later became the Apostle Paul). However, the problem suicide renders is its finality. In other words, murderers who have a chance to repent can be forgiven. But suicide prevents an individual from repenting. So does this mean, as some have taught, that suicide causes one to be permanently frozen in an unrepentant state?

This leads to the bigger, and perhaps most important, part of the discussion on suicide. What does it mean to be saved? In the simplest sense, salvation is not based upon what you do, but on what Christ has done. Trusting in Christ’s atonement changes your essential nature and eternal state. Of course, this doesn’t mean that a Christian will never sin, which includes having suicidal thoughts. It means that even though they sin, their destiny has been forever altered. A child of God does not stop being a child of God because they sin. This would include the sin of suicide.

So if you’re a Christian and suddenly die before you have a chance to repent of ANY sin — adultery, pride, greed, lust, selfishness, whatever — do you still go to heaven? How could you not? If unrepentant sin keeps us from going to heaven, then none of us would ever get there! Furthermore, it would make salvation contingent upon what we do, not on what Christ has done.

As the Apostle Paul proclaimed:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. — Romans 8:38-39 NIV

It is not a stretch to assume that “anything else in all creation” includes the act of suicide. God’s love and power are so great that not even the terrible, violent, thoughtless act of suicide can keep someone from Him. Thus, the most important issue facing the soul contemplating suicide — as it is with all of us — is their relationship with God. 

Yes, we Christians must improve in how we deal with the mentally ill. Quoting Scriptures or challenging someone to believe isn’t a magic formula. Joy and peace are often byproducts of spiritual warfare, hard-fought spoils won only through perseverance and prayer. But sometimes even prayer and perseverance aren’t enough. There is a good reason why Jesus included a physician in among the 12 apostles. Luke, author of the third Gospel, was called “the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14). Apparently, even though Jesus was a miracle worker, medical practitioners remained part of His mission. Of course, trusting ONLY physicians could reveal a lack of faith. On the other hand, completely ignoring medical science could also be presumption.

As the apostle Paul summarized, we should “Carry each other’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2), the stronger upholding the weak. This is especially true for those suffering from the effects of mental illness. Rather than frowning upon or demeaning those professing Christians who worry, are anxious, or struggle with their faith, we who are “stronger” should come alongside to encourage and assist. It may not resolve their relationship with God, but it could buoy them forward for another day of battle.

I miss Joey. He was a regular at our house. The last conversation I had with him was about helping him write a book containing his testimony. He so wanted to lead others to Christ. And then there’s Gary. I baptized him in a swimming pool. We often played basketball. Likewise, I shared many meals with him. He publicly professed faith in Christ and strove to follow Him. Of course, Gary never thought he was a good Christian.

But I have little doubt that he and Joey were Christians.

Nothing could change their inclusion in God’s family, not even their sinful acts of suicide.

*To understand more about mental illness in the church, see my interview with Chris Morris as well as his book Whispers in the Pews: Voices on Mental Illness in the Church.