If the Bible says :Thou shalt not kill" can you get into heaven if you commit suicide?

Question

differnet christians disagree. Some say it is killing..I think it is. But others say God is merciful, and if a person is filled with that much grief that they would kill themselves, then God is understanding and forgives.

Answer 1

THE tragic news of a suicide does not close a chapter in the lives of relatives and friends; it opens one, a chapter of mixed feelings of pity and anger, sorrow and guilt. And it raises the question: May we entertain any hope for our friend who took his or her life?

Although self-inflicted death is never justified, never righteous, the apostle Paul did hold out a beautiful hope for even some unrighteous ones. As he told a Roman court of law: “I have hope toward God, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” Acts 24:15.
Many theologians have long dismissed any suggestion that the resurrection of the unrighteous might offer hope for those who commit suicide. Why?

Centuries ago, churchmen introduced a non-Biblical concept: immortal souls that leave the body at death and go straight to heaven, purgatory, Limbo, or hell. That concept clashed with the Bible’s clear teaching of a future resurrection. As Baptist minister Charles Andrews asked: “If the soul is already blissfully in heaven (or is already justifiably roasting in hell), what need is there for anything further?” He added: “This inner contradiction has remained to plague Christians throughout the centuries.”

One result of such errant theology was that “since Augustine’s time [354-430 C.E.], the church has condemned suicide as a sin,” says Arthur Droge in the Bible Review, “a sin beyond redemption, just like apostasy and adultery.”

Jesus told a criminal sentenced to death: “You will be with me in Paradise.” The man was unrighteous, a lawbreaker rather than a distraught suicide victim, guilty by his own frank admission. (Luke 23:39-43) He had no hope of going to heaven to rule with Jesus. So the Paradise in which this thief could hope to come back to life would be the beautiful earth under the rule of Jehovah God’s Kingdom. Matthew 6:9, 10; Revelation 21:1-4.

For what purpose will God awaken this criminal? So that He mercilessly can hold his past sins against him? Hardly, for Romans 6:7, 23 says: “He who has died has been acquitted from his sin,” and “the wages sin pays is death.” Although his past sins will not be accounted to him, he will still need the ransom to lift him to perfection.

Only God can fully understand the role of mental sickness, extreme stress, even genetic defects, in a “suicidal crisis,” which, the National Observer noted, “is not a lifetime characteristic [but] often a matter only of minutes or of hours.”
Granted, one who takes his own life deprives himself of the opportunity to repent of his self-murder. But who can say whether one driven to suicide might have had a change of heart had his fatal attempt failed? Some notorious murderers have, in fact, changed and earned God’s forgiveness during their lifetime.
Thus, Jehovah, having paid “a ransom in exchange for many,” His Son, is within his right to extend mercy, even to some self-murderers, by resurrecting them and giving them the precious opportunity to “repent and turn to God by doing works that befit repentance.”

The Scriptures encourage us to see ourselves, not as immortal souls, but as valuable creations of the God who loves us, who treasures our being alive, and who looks forward with joy to the time of the resurrection.

4000 years had passed from Adam & Eve, Jesus said to a Religious Leader that no one had gone to Heaven, and millions of people had passed away in death. This is a quote from the King James Bible:

John 3:13 " And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,"
it seems to me, this would eliminate the "immortal soul" belief, not only that, if you go to Heaven or Hell when you die, you completely do away with the resurrection that the Bible speaks about, because the resurrection is suppose to take place after Jesus comes the second time, and that has not happened.

Answer 2

I will try to give you a biblical sound answer:

There are 613 commandments that God gave Israel in the first covenant. They are only binding on Jews (a person who has a Jewish mother or converted). None are binding on non Jews (Gentiles). More about this in a moment.

The only restriction in the second covenant (new testament) can be found in 1 Cor 10:23-24.

In the Christian bible, we have five documented cases of suicide:
Samson, Saul and his armor bearer, Ahithophel, Zimri, and Judas. Only with Judas does Peter quote Psalm 69 specifically verse 25 and Psalm 109 specifically verse 8 about the role Judas no longer played, not about his after life. In all documented cases, there is no discussion of the consequences.

Is there a commandment that forbids suicide. There are 613 that apply to Jews and none that applied to non Jews. The "do not murder" commandment talks about specific instances and their punishment. Suicide is not mentioned.

Heaven is where God is and hell is where God isn't. Earth is where man is (we are). If one takes his/her life, where will he/she be? God, not man, judges.

That is the biblical answer. You may get other opinions with different conclusions, but what you described in your question is not what God has reveal.

Answer 3

The bible does not say that you go to hell for murder. It says you should not murder anyone. The only thing that it says will make you go to hell is disbelief (blasphemy).

If you don't believe me, ask your pastor. It seems that I know more about the bible than the christians who are answering you, even though I am an atheist.

http://www.gotquestions.org/God-create-doomed-people.html

Galatians 5:17-21; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:16 are good to read on this.

Also: Matthew 12:31 "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven." Spirit means the holy spirit.

Answer 4

To take a life of any human is to stop their progression in life there by possibly stopping their return to the heavenly father. That includes your own life. and is the biggest sin we can do with out sinning against the Holy Ghost. That said if someone has an imbalance in the chemicals of the brain they would not have full reason to decide if they were doing right or wrong. Other factors may come into consideration also like pain that is unbearable, I do not know.

Answer 5

I think if God understands EVERYTHING in the universe then God would not even send anyone to hell because there is no right or wrong but different people have different views on what is right and everyone thinks they are right. Now since God knows everything and every motivation behind an action, God pretty much undersands the reason people murder or steal.

Now if someone stole from someone else a lot of money God would know that that person who stole from did it because they cannot get a decend job to pay for the rent or food so I think God will forgive.
If someone murdered someone it could be because the murderer has an unresolved past so God forgives them because God knows the murderer's motivations behind his/hers actions.

I think God doesn't immediately send us to hell but tells us what we did wrong in our life and what to do to repent in the afterlife. To teach us love.

Answer 6

A person is saved because they believe in the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can someone who has genuine saving faith actually kill themselves? Sadly, I am afraid it is so. It never has to be that way, but too often because of neglect and casual lack of guardedness in one's spiritual life, or a just plain ignorance of the nature and operation of evil spirits, sometimes Christians open themselves up to the work of suicidal spirits and are driven to do things they would never do in their right mind. The Bible says "Satan goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. WHOM RESIST, STEADFAST IN THE FAITH..." (I Peter 5:8,9) If you don't do what God says - resist him - you will probably end up getting devoured. Does that mean that person is lost? I don't believe so.

Answer 7

I believe that the Christian would NOT be filled with that much grief. What "ON EARTH" could be that bad? GOD is everything that we really need. HE allows us to communitcate with HIM anytime that we want to. We can ask anything in Jesus' name and have that prayer answered. I believe that if you commit suicide then you give up your opportunity to ask for forgiveness of HIM. I find no other verses to the contrary. Have a great evening!
Eds

Answer 8

I don't believe that our goal should be to "get into heaven" as you say. I think instead we should focus on being real, true followers of Christ because we have a passion for Him and want to follow Him. We should spend our lives living for the Lord.
If a person committs suicide, they are destroying that life God has given them and taking away their chance to bring more souls to Christ. Suicide removes that chance. However, I don't believe that there is an ultimatum which says "if you commit suicide you will go to Hell." it is simply up to God to decide.

Answer 9

One might argue that if someone kills themselves, they could not truly believe the gospel of JC and therefore could not enter the kingdom.

Others would argue that clearly people who kill themselves are mentally ill and don't really know what they're doing.

Both are legit arguments. I'm glad *I* don't have to be the judge. I do know this, God is loving, merciful and knows everything from beginning to end and his judgments are 100% righteous.

Answer 10

Committing suicide will not get you into heaven because in the Bible it says that God will not put you under pressure that you cannot handle and everything works for the good of those who loves God.