The issue of Suicide touches just about every believer, regardless of nationality, background or religious sect (Baptist, Pentecostal, etc). You may have a loved one who committed or attempted suicide and you wonder if they are with the Father or not, or you may have contemplated Suicide yourself. Regardless of your situation this issues has weighed heavy on your heart!
First I want to say, God’s love and grace is able to keep you beyond any of life’s struggles (Isaiah 43:5, Romans 8:38-39). We only see a few examples of people in the Bible taking their own lives and in all but one of the instances the men had already allowed the enemy to take control of their heart. No where do we have an example in scripture where a believer took their own life and cast away from the presence of the Lord because of it. Too many of us do not have a proper understanding of Grace because our view of the Father is filtered through our view of our earthly father who, by nature of being human, is flawed and imperfect.
We need to look at this issue of suicide from two perspectives, first that of the non-believer. Since the Bible tells us that “No man comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6). If a non-believer takes their own life then they have effectively closed the door of opportunity for salvation. They no longer have the opportunity to allow the saving power of the cross to do its redemptive work.
The other perspective is that of the believer! If someone has already accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, they have already come in to relationship with him, they sit in a place of Honor (Isaiah 43:5) and no one, not even the Enemy, can take them out of the palm of God’s hand (John 10:29). As Christians we know that our lives belong to God so taking our own life is counter to His will, and therefore a sin That being said, there are circumstances that only God can know or judge and therefore just because someone committed suicide, they are not automatically sentenced to hell.
Ultimately, God is the judge and only he has say as to who enters His kingdom.
I do, however, think that we do need to look at the deeper issues that got them to that place to begin with.
If you, or someone that you know, is struggling with thoughts of suicide please use the “Live Coach” link or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or you can visit their website at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/