What happens to believers who commit suicide?

The pictures above show two examples of two men killling themselves in the Old Testement. The bottom picture is King Saul who fell on his sword after losing a battle to the Philistiaes, and his sword bearer followed his example.(1 Sam. 31:4-5; 1 Chron. 10:4-5). We also see in the top picture Saul unable to tolerate the ridicule and the reality of his failure, in one final act of strength Samson pulled the pillars down on himself and thousands of his captors. (judges 16:25-30)

Charles Stanely says in his book the Glorious Journey that "A closer examinatino of the alarming nubmer of suicides today revels five motivating factors: 1. A cause that a person is committed to ; 2. a pact between two or more people; 3. feelings of meaninglessness; 4. circumstances that overwhelm an individual; and 5. an extended illness involving intractable or unrelenting pain." I think that while the method people choose to end their life may very, their motives are similar. Everyone must have thoughts in their heart before there is action.

So what happens to Beleivers who commit suicide?

The area I currently serve in I have found two answers to this question: one a true beleiver would not commit suicide so they would go to hell; Or suicide is an unforgiveable sin, therefore they would go to hell.

I think in order to answer the question of weather a believer goes to heaven or not can be found in two other quetions: One is one sin greater than another sin? And two, if you die committing any sin, does it effect your eternal distination? Frist of all let's look at what God's word says in the Gospel of John:

27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all[a]; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one." -John 10:25-30

So you see from this verse that once you have been placed in God's strong hand, you cannot be removed by anyone. That means NOBODY, including yourself, can remove you from God's secure hand. In order to remove yourself from the hand of God you would need to be stronger than God's hand. The same hand that held this world and molded it a potter molds clay. So the answer to the question about dying in a sin, it makes no difference if you were lusting or killing yourself. It doesn't effect your eternal destination.

In response to the first qeustion of are some sins worse than anyother. The idea that some sins are greater than others is a Roman Catholic teaching. Roman Catholics teach that there are two categories fo sins "venial" and "mortal". The venial sin can be forgiven, but often after punishement sin thsi life or in Purgatory. The mortal sins cannot be forgiven by God, an example of this would be suicide. The serious hole in this theology is that it is up to us to pay the price for our sins. While we do suffer because of sin, we cannot make the payment that is needed to wipe away any sins. So in reality all sins are "mortal", we need a subsitute for us and as 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states we are only saved by Christ. Christ paid for our sins, so that we could become accetable before God. We see this same theme in Romans 1:8. Where there is no comdemnation in Christ. That means all sins have been forgiven for a believer.

So to answer the question original posed from the title of this blog. YES, true beleivers go to heaven no matter how they may die.