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The Bible and Suicide

This morning we approach a very difficult, and, for some, a very painful topic. Suicide. About 800,000 people around the world die by suicide each year; that’s about one suicide every 40 seconds. I’ve known a couple of people who have committed suicide; it’s difficult to lose any loved one, but losing a loved one this way is one THE most heartbreaking of all losses.

While most of us focus on the coronavirus mortality rates, red flags pop up increasingly in the media.

• A July 7th article on is titled, “COVID-19's impact could include 20 more firearm suicides per day this year, analysis shows.”

• The title of a July 21st article on reads, “As COVID-19 crisis continues, suicide risk for veterans likely to grow.”

• A July 20th article in the Indianapolis star reads, “Indiana Coronavirus: Calls to suicide and crisis hotlines surges.”

• The title of a July 20th article on reads, “San Antonio psychologist predicts increase in suicidal thinking as pandemic progresses.”

• An article on July 24th on the COVID-19 and Mental Health: Suicidal Tendencies and Self-Harm on the Rise

A July 24th article on by Brianna Scott and Sam Leeds titled, “Thoughts Of Suicide, Other Mental Health Struggles Still High For LGBTQ Youth,” highlights perhaps the most troubled and most at risk group for suicide. The article details the fact that “Forty percent of young LGBTQ people have considered suicide in the last year; that rises to more than half for trans and non-binary youth. That's according to the second annual survey on LGBTQ youth mental health by The Trevor Project. The non-profit organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people under the age of 25… . More than 40,000 people, age 13 to 24, responded to the survey...conducted between December 2019 and March 2020 — as COVID-19 restrictions began to take hold.”

As with every other issue that has ever troubled humanity--and despite a frequent mental health component--Jesus is the answer. During our present crisis, though, as we have noticed, job losses, eviction, stifling restrictions, fear and feelings of powerlessness can overwhelm individuals. Clearly, we need to explore compassionately what the Bible has to say on the subject. First, we have a song… 

We tend to focus on the past in trying to determine if our loved one who has taken his life will go to heaven. We KNOW God is a merciful God and will do what is right. Our objective, though, is to instill or reinforce the strong conviction among the living that suicide is not an option.

I vividly remember as a high school sophomore crossing paths with a freshman. He did not appear troubled so I was stunned to learn a short time later that he hung himself and left a note saying “at least I won’t be bullied on the school bus anymore.” During my high school years, suicide clusters of teens in Plano and Clear Lake, TX, left the country mystified. 

What does the Bible say? The Scriptures teach that anyone who submits to His will in faith, repentance, confession and immersion in water will have his sins forgiven (Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36- 38). No sins were excluded when Peter answers the crowds’ question in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 

Some people zealous to offer families comfort say when one is saved he is forgiven of all past AND all future sins. This offers no lasting relief to those who know Scriptures like 1 Corinthians 11:29, “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” Obviously, one CAN fall from grace. Christians know as long as we forgive others (Matthew 6:12-15), God is willing to forgive even the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Christians are told in 1 John 1:9, “IF we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” After Simon the sorcerer sinned, Peter rebuked him in Acts 8:22-24, “Repent … and pray God… Then Simon answered and said, ‘Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.’" 

Christians can certainly receive forgiveness, but suicide is unique in that there often appears to be no time to repent, confess the sin, or pray for forgiveness. This is an issue if we are accountable mentally. Sadly, some have suggested suicide is the “unpardonable sin.” A close look at Mark 3:20-30 shows the unpardonable sin was committed by men who witnessed Jesus (get this!) -- witnessed Jesus - perform undeniable miracles but attributed this power to an UNCLEAN spirit instead of the HOLY Spirit. Since WE cannot witness Jesus perform a miracle today, we cannot commit this sin. 

 

When we think of Bible suicides, Judas Iscariot is the most prominent. Jesus said in Mark 14:21, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born." Others who took their own lives: Abimelech (Judges 9), King Saul and his armor bearer (1 Samuel 31), Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17), and Zimri (1 Kings 16). While no Scripture says, “thou shalt not commit suicide,” a number of Scriptures provide relevant information. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”  

My body is a sacred temple – the temple of the Holy Spirit. Please: Don’t get so bogged down trying to figure out how our body can be the temple of the Holy Spirit that you miss the point. I can get so accustomed to looking at my aging mug that I see myself as just another man. Oh, no! When I became a Christian this ordinary body became a sacred vessel -- not because I’m so special but because God is dwelling in me. Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” The Christian MUST NOT destroy this holy temple.  

See yourself as a temple. Other temples: Buddhist temples, Hindu temples, pagan temples, and Mormon temples are architectural marvels with impressive statues within and without, but ONLY within the temple of the Christian’s body does the Holy Spirit dwell. Old Testament teaching regarding the Jewish temple prepared God’s people to have the utmost respect for the temple of our own bodies. Solomon’s temple had the modern equivalent of billions of $ of gold, not to mention silver and other precious stones. What made the temple precious wasn’t the gold and silver, but the presence of God in the Most Holy place. Now, however, the Bible tells us that the body of the Christian is the Holy Spirit’s temple. My body does not belong to me -- “You are not your own.” • Verse 20 expands on this idea. “Glorify God in your body…which belongs to God.” We must glorify God in our bodies, but suicide destroys the body. 

There’s more. The church is spoken of as the Spirit’s temple in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” The English Standard Version: “If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him…” 

Joseph Thayer says in his lexicon that the word “Defiles” means “to corrupt, to destroy; in the opinion of the Jews, the temple was corrupted or "destroyed" when anyone defiled or in the slightest degree damaged anything in it…” Suicide is NOT an option! We must not abuse our bodies in ANY way. 

 

People contemplate suicide for various reasons. Some take their life because of mental illness. Anyone who has not had one close to them with mental illness may have difficulty grasping this. You know you can injure your knee or have a respiratory illness. Of course, an injury or illness will interfere with proper function. We do not expect a blind man to read the Bible nor do we expect a mute man to preach. Just as I can have an electrolyte imbalance in my blood so can I also have a chemical imbalance in my brain; a brain injury or illness can impair brain function just like any other illness or injury. A brain injury or mental illness can radically affect our thinking, speech and behavior. These behaviors may merely be odd but, then again, they may be extreme and dangerous. Depending on the extent of the brain damage, these behaviors can be partially or completely out of my control. 

My dad sustained considerable brain damage after heart surgery. His behavior was uncharacteristic and largely, if not completely, out of his control. For a while we thought he was a danger to himself. I am convinced he was not fully accountable for his actions. People may have such severe brain damage or illness that they may take their own life without fully realizing what they are doing. Under such circumstances, they would not be--could not be--held responsible for such an act. 

The danger for those with mental illness: you may not have your full faculties but still be able to make the right choice; don’t use your weakness as a copout. Obviously, under such circumstances only God can judge whether one would be held accountable for a particular word or deed. The point: just because someone commits suicide does NOT automatically mean that they are condemned. Some contemplate suicide because of depression. Years ago I visited a lady in her nineties who had been bedfast for a long time and in great misery. Every time I saw her she said she asked me to pray for God to take her. That was hard to relate to as a man in his twenties. The late Dr. Kevorkian, aka “Dr. Death,” conspired with at least 130 hurting or terminally ill people in physician-assisted suicides. He was wrong. 

Only God may take a life: 

Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” 

Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.” 

Job 1:21, “And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’” 

Job 12:10, “In HIS hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” 

Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” 

Some notable people in Scripture experienced great lows. Solomon, in the pursuit of pleasure, said in desperation in Ecclesiastes 2:17, “I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.” Elijah and Jonah both had a death wish: Elijah from fear and depression (1 Kings 19:4); Jonah from anger (Jonah 4:8). The apostle Paul and his fellow laborers experienced “great pressure, far beyond [their] ability to endure, so that [they] despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). God sent an angel to help Elijah much needed rest and renewed purpose. God confronted Jonah with a fresh perspective. Paul overcame the weight of his trials through faith in God recognizing (2 Corinthians 1:9) that “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” 

No matter how you are struggling, God wants to help. The Bible says in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you...” God offered help under the Old Testament, but we have the sympathizing Jesus in New Testament times. He knows what it is like to be exhausted, mistreated, and discouraged. The prophet writes in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Jesus lived as a man and now is a sympathizing high priest (Hebrews 4:15). 

Consider the touching words from Isaiah 61 spoken by Jesus in the scene portrayed in Luke 4:16-19, “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

  18"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

      Because He has anointed Me

      To preach the gospel to the poor;

     He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

     To proclaim liberty to the captives

     And recovery of sight to the blind,

     To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

   19To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." ’"

Imagine being present to take in that scene! If you have been contemplating suicide, this passage should be crying out to you. Do you really believe it’s just an accident that you heard this message today? 

Don’t be like those who spurned the great love of Jesus Christ. You talk about a pitiful passage! Hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” 

Oh, how Jesus longs to rescue you from the crises you are battling. We each have a cross to bear (Matthew 16:24), but Jesus wants to help. Matthew 11:28, (S) “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." 

Jesus has disciples also willing to help you. Some people are crushed under the weight of guilt and shame. Listen, NOTHING you have done places you beyond Jesus’ reach. The blood of Christ will overpower any and all of your sins IF you come to Him in complete submission. Some of God’s famous followers committed sins like murder (Moses), murder and adultery (King David), physical and emotional abuse on Christians (the apostle Paul). Yet all of these men found forgiveness. And so can you! Jesus has a fresh start awaiting you. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Hear the lyrics of Come to Me by Aaron Risener. "Friend, are you weary? Tired of the heavy load? Are there dark shadows cast on your road? Struggling each day, oh there is a better way, just look up and hear Jesus say, Come to me, you’ll find rest, lay your head on my breast, let my strength make your heart light and free; come to me in the storm, you’ll be safe in my arms. There is peace when you come to me.”

Thank you for watching Let the Bible Speak. We pray you have heard God speak to you through His word. One third of professing Christians have stopped assembling with a local congregation entirely. If you are in such poor health that you cannot assemble, we certainly understand. We do not, however, intend for Let the Bible Speak to replace for the able the biblical mandate for assembling (Hebrews 10:23-25). Won’t you visit one of our sponsoring congregations near you?

You are welcome to call us for a free copy of 1269, “The Bible and Suicide.” You may also request The Truth Frees Bible study course at no charge. Visit to watch video, hear audio, or read transcripts of the program. Join our Let the Bible Speak Facebook page for the daily thought from Scripture. We’re currently enjoying the book of Proverbs. On behalf of the congregations listed shortly, we echo the sentiment of the apostle Paul when he wrote in Romans 16:16, “the churches of Christ salute you.” Until next week, goodbye and may God bless you.

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