Ultimately if the sin of suicide is accompanied by saving faith in Jesus, eternal death does not result. We may, therefore, be able to comfort survivors, but thoughtfully and cautiously.

Possible causes

Reasons why people attempt and often succeed in terminating their life may vary. Probably the majority of suicides result from a deep regret or despair that reflects unbelief. But unbelief may not be the cause of every suicide. A mental illness like clinical depression may lead to suicide. Such a death may not be linked to unbelief. Suicide may also be a rash act of selfishness, anxiety, or anger, displaying sinful weakness but not an absence of saving faith.

Important concerns

While identifying possible causes for suicide we need to remain alert to concerns that immediately surface. We are not downplaying the seriousness of suicide. From Augustine in the fifth century to the present time, suicide is often classified as self-murder. The words of 1 John 3:15 enter the picture: “You know that no murderer has eternal life in him.” Others prefer to classify suicide as a sin of theft since our lives are not our own. We were bought at a price, belong to Christ, and have no right to rob him of what he has given to us (1 Corinthians 6:19,20). Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century taught that suicide was the most fatal of all sins because the victim has no time to repent of it. In medieval fashion, he assumed formal confession to be essential for repentance.

These issues are not to be ignored or lightly dismissed. Suicide isn’t a God-pleasing action. It is sinful, typically selfish and loveless, and usually devastating for surviving family members and friends. The necessity of repentance and saving faith is not negotiable. Allowing the possibility of suicide in extreme weakness of faith or psychological distress does not minimize these truths.

Parallel cases

Consider what we say about a professing Christian who consciously speeds and dies in an accident, rashly gets drunk and dies in a stupor, knowingly disobeys parental prohibition and falls to death from a roof, or in a sudden fit of anger does himself great bodily harm. There is no shortage of foolhardy sins with serious consequences. Yet we allow the possibility of the person being in a state of grace and expressing Spirit-worked repentance even when this cannot be perceived by or articulated to others.