Does
Suicide Guarantee Hell?
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When
Sin Meets Grace, Grace Wins!
Bobby
G. Bodenhamer, D.Min.
When
a person commits suicide, do they automatically consign themselves
to hell? Let me say up front, I do not believe that suicide
necessarily condemns to hell. Indeed, Samson took his own
life (Judges 16:25-31) in killing many Philistines yet one
finds his name listed among the faithful of God (Hebrews 11:32).
In this article I propose to challenge the view of many that
suicide guarantees hell.
A family rarely
welcomes the death of a loved one. Following the death of
a family member, those left behind usually go through grief.
Often times this grief takes a long time in adjusting to the
loss of that significant family member. When a family member
willingly takes his or her own life, this act greatly multiplies
the ensuing grief.
All humans
experience grief. Paul said, "Brothers, we do not want
you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve
like the rest of men, who have no hope." (I Thes. 4:13,
NIV). Here Paul encourages us in our grief to realize that
grief for departed Christians comes with hope of our seeing
them again, "We believe that Jesus died and rose again
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who
have fallen asleep in him." (I Thes. 4:14). To grieve
comes naturally and healthy to us all.
Grief brings
with it a multitude of emotions. If you have experienced a
major loss in your life, you will recognize some if not all
of the following:
- Shock
- Denial
- Bewilderment
- Guilt
- Anger
- Depression
- Relief
- Acceptance
These emotions
find expression in most if not all-major grief reactions.
To experience these emotions means you experience normal human
emotions. Of course, if you carry these emotions for more
than three to five years, than I encourage you to get help.
Indeed, with the new technology of neuro-linguistic programming
coupled with the healing power of the Word of God and the
Holy Spirit, one may dramatically cut the time of grief.
However, for
our concern here with suicide, as you look at each one of
these, especially the first six, realize just how much suicide
will magnify these emotions. A natural grief reaction will
usually have feelings of guilt if for no other reason than
that person died and you still live. But when the deceased
willingly takes their own life, questions come up like "What
could I have done to have prevented him/her from taking their
life?" Family and friends start searching their memory
banks for times when they perceive that they did something
or didn't do something that would cause the person to want
to take their life. "He/she seemed depressed, I should
have noticed." "Surely he/she gave some indication
and I just didn't see it or hear it." "If I had
paid more attention maybe I could have prevented this suicide.
Our brains have a natural tendency to go for cause effect,
i.e., what did I do to cause him/her to take their life. Or,
I have heard, "The d___ b_______ would leave me and leave
me with all these children to raise." Yes, anger may
intensify at the one who took their life and left a spouse
or another family member, partner, etc. with a lot of responsibilities,
debt, etc.
I believe that
depression from grief comes out of stacking bewilderment on
top of hurt, on top of guilt on top of anger. We get to thinking
about our loss and we become bewildered. Than we may get angry
about our bewilderment, i.e., what will I do? Then we feel
guilty about feeling angry. These emotions just stack on top
of each other in continuing loop that keeps magnifying the
other until we work up a great case of depression. This happens
constantly when people lose loved ones naturally. But, when
we magnify those emotions with a suicide, watch out! Depression
lingers just around the corner.
Now, on
top of all of that above, along comes some well meaning friend
like Job's so called friends who say, "Well, he/she took
his/her on life, I guess he/she wanted to spend eternity in
hell." Now that represents the last thing a grieving
person needs to hear following the suicide of a loved one.
However, how many times have you heard it? Or, how many times
have you said it? Or, how many times have you thought it?
Whom do we
have to thank for this warped theology? According to my information,
St. Augustine in the 5th century popularized this
concept. St. Augustine had a profound affect on early Roman
Catholic theology. From there, this concept bled over into
Protestantism and we still have it. St. Augustine based his
views on the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill."
Of course,
if one followed the logic that breaking a commandment consigned
one automatically to hell, then we all face big problems with
eternity. Gentleman, how many times have you looked and lusted?
Well, Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who looks
at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her
in his heart"(Matthew 5:28). Have you ever coveted a
person's automobile, home, etc.? Have you ever born false
witness? Have you ever placed anything or person before God?
The point--of course, we all have at one time or another broke
a commandment and we will in the flesh continue to do so occasionally
until we die.
Then, how come
do we have the logic that if someone breaks the commandment
that "Thou shalt not kill" that they automatically
go to hell when we don't apply this to the other commandments?
How come we apply the marvelous forgiving grace of Jesus to
the other commandments but not to suicide? I personally believe
that Jesus died for my past, present and future sins even
if I should become so mentally deranged that I should commit
suicide. Paul teaches us that salvation comes VIA grace and
not by what we do or don't do, "For it is by grace you
have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast"
(Eph. 2:8-9). What about you? Do you believe that when a Christian
becomes so mentally deranged that they commit suicide, that
the God who saved him/her will throw away His grace and consign
that person to hell for committing one sin ? I don't.
Let me pause
here and give a personal testimony. The day after I finished
my junior year of college my mother placed a pistol to her
head and took her life. I had purchased that pistol and sold
it to my father. At that time I served as pastor of my first
church and attended college as a ministerial student. My mother
moved in and out of a state mental hospital all my childhood
years. I remember visiting her with dad when they had to institutionalize
her. I can still see myself sitting on a bench outside Broughton
Mental Hospital in Morganton, North Carolina watching the
patients go by and asking myself, "Why is my mother here
with all these crazy people?" Remember, at that time
I was just a child. Momma suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
As a child
growing up in the mountains of North Carolina, we did quite
a bit of hunting. Rabbits and squirrels provided us with some
much-needed meat. I well remember dad saying to my brother
and me, "Boys, you mother is getting sick again, we best
hide the guns. Well, I thought I had hid all the ammunition
when mother shot herself for we knew she had become seriously
ill again and when she got sick, she would inevitably speak
of killing herself.
Then, six years
after the suicide death of my mother, my younger and only
sister hung herself. She had made numerous serious attempts
at suicide since the death of my mother. At that time I was
working on my Doctor of Ministry Degree from Southeastern
Baptist Theological Seminary and pastoring a Southern Baptist
Church. My sister illustrates quite well what an unhealthy
grief reaction can do to a person. She never could accept
the death of mother, so she joined her in the grave.
So, during
my college and seminary years in study for and in actual ministry,
I lost both my mother and sister to suicide. I did some
real serious thinking, studying and praying about the thought,
"Do suicide victims go straight to hell?" For sure,
"doing" ministry does not immune one from tragedy.
Of course, my position had nothing to do with my trying to
insulate myself from tragedy. It just so happen that I served
as a pastor and was attending school for ministry. I never,
even before my mother's death, really believed that suicide
victims necessarily went to hell. I had a higher view of grace
than that.
If ever
an individual believed in the Lord Jesus, my mother did. Yet,
she took her life. Indeed, my brother said that my mother
had the Bible open to Isaiah 40 and lying on her lap at the
time of her death. That chapter begins with this comfort,
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins"
(Isaiah 40:1-2 KJV). Do I believe my mother is in heaven?
Yes! How come? Because she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ
as her personal Savior. Jesus said it well, "For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life" (John 3:16 KJV). My mother believed
in Jesus and thus I believe she is now with Him.
In my opinion,
one needs no more information than that the marvelous grace
of Jesus Christ covers all sin including suicide to give the
suicide victim hope of eternal life, but the Bible gives us
more. In Romans 5:12-21, Paul gives us some insights I believe
into a teaching that one can apply to suicide. I shall break
these verses down into three major points:
- Sin and death came through
Adam and all have and do sin. Paul says, "
the
many died by the trespass of the one man
" (15a).
Again, "
the result of one trespass was condemnation
for all men
" (18a). And, "
through
the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners
"
(19a). In these verses Paul teaches the doctrine of original
sin in that all have sinned since and through Adam.
- The Law makes us responsible
for our sin. In verse 20 Paul says, "The law was
added so that the trespass might increase
" In
Romans 3:20 Paul declares, "Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather,
through the law we become conscious of sin." The law
thus makes us conscious of our sin.
In traditional Southern Baptist thought, God does not hold
a child responsible for sin until that child reaches "the
age of accountability." Now one does not find that
phrase in the Bible but one does find the concept. In Romans
5:12-13, Paul says, "Therefore, just as sin entered
the world through one man, and death through sin, and in
this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- for
before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin
is not taken into account when there is no law."
In these verses, Paul refers to the period of time between
the Fall of Adam and the giving of the Law by Moses. Paul
says that during this time, "sin was not taken into
account." The KJV renders this phrase as "imputed."
The word in the Greek is ellogao and comes from a
compound Greek word en and logos or literally,
"in word." The word would find use in describing
an accountant inserting information into a ledger. So, the
NIV accurately renders it as "not taken into account."
Paul thus says, that during those many years from the sin
of Adam to the giving of the Law by Moses, God did not hold
the people responsible for their sin. They had no Law to
make them knowledgeable of their sin. Thus, they could not
be held accountable.
From this concept Southern Baptist generally believe that
God will not hold a child responsible for their sin and
for turning to Jesus. The child must reach an age where
the child can understand the meaning of sin and salvation.
The child's mental capacity must develop to the point where
the child can grasp abstract terms like sin, faith, grace,
etc. before they can understand their need for salvation.
I believe this a very sound theology.
So, just like God did not hold responsible the sins of the
people from the time of the Fall of Adam to the giving of
the Law by Moses, neither will God hold a child responsible
for his/her sin until they reach and age of responsibility.
So, what about infants who die without first making a profession
of faith in Christ? Do they have responsibility? Surely
not? The sinful nature, which the child inherits from Adam,
meets the greater grace of Christ's atoning death and grace.
When sin meets God's grace in Christ, guess what wins? Of
course, grace wins.
- Grace comes through
Jesus. These verses of Paul resounds with the greater
grace of the Lord Jesus, "
so also through the
obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous
.
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so
that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might
reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord" (19b, 20b-21).
Yes, we all
sin but God's grace functions at a much higher and therefore
much more powerful plateau. Sin produces death; grace produces
eternal life.
What does all
this have to do with suicide and whether or not they destined
themselves to hell? I believe it has a lot to do with it.
Let me state categorically, I believe life comes from God
and hence is sacred. Scripture clearly states that "God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27).
Out of all of God's creation, only man has the unique distinction
of being created in God's image. The Biblical teachings against
murder also speak of the sacredness of human life. Therefore,
one must conclude that, yes, suicide opposes the will of God.
It violates God's purpose for man.
Yet, does this
mean that the victim of a suicide cannot find the forgiveness
from God? Will God somehow understand and forgive? Yes, I
believe so, if the person knows Jesus. I believe, as with
the concept of the "age of accountability," one
must take into account the individual's state of mind at the
time of the suicide. Will God hold accountable someone
whose state of mind has reached into the depths of despair
so deep that the person takes his or her own life? I don't
think so. No more than God held accountable those people from
the time of Adam to the time of the giving of the Law by Moses,
will God hold accountable the victim of suicide. No more than
would God hold accountable a small child who should die before
confessing Christ, will God hold accountable a person whose
depths of despair leads them to such an irresponsible act.
Michael Hall,
Ph.D. says concerning whether or not a suicide victim necessarily
goes to hell, "The whole issue really comes down to Response--Ability.
God only holds response-able those who truly have the
ability to respond. Infants don't. Children don't. People
in the midst of emotional crises don't. We can indeed lose
-- permanently or temporarily -- the ability to respond. Such
describes the nature of despair -- when one suffers from a
'broken spirit.'"
In my mind
the question becomes, has the suicide victim acknowledged
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? If he or she has, I believe
their sin of suicide will meet the greater grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Nowhere in the Bible does God say that He
forgives all sin but the sin of suicide, nowhere. Running
through the pages of the Bible is a scarlet thread of the
blood of Jesus. His blood covers all sin including the sin
of suicide. So, does suicide guarantee hell? No, only unbelief
in Jesus guarantees hell. Does the victim of suicide have
hope of eternal life? Yes, if they knew Jesus before they
took their life. I believe that my mother and my sister are
now with Jesus.
Through my
mother and sister's suicide, being a ministerial student and
a pastor, I found something really real. I found that though
my questions will not find full answer until I get to heaven,
God's grace gives more than sufficient support for family
and friends of suicide victims.
(c)1998 by Bobby G. Bodenhamer, D.Min..
All rights reserved.
www.neurosemantics.com
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