Introduction
We begin with two texts. The first is Matthew 12:31, which concerns the one unpardonable sin — blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The second is the account of Judas:
This solemn subject is very much on our hearts as we search for answers at times of grief and loss. As believers, we turn to God's own Word to find what the Lord himself teaches. Can a true Christian commit suicide? There have been, and are today, many Christians who have held that a Christian cannot commit suicide — men of past ages whom we admire and have learned much from. But in all of this we must remember that we don't look to man but to God for the answer. Even godly men can be wrong, and they often are.
The Question Defined: What Is Suicide?
The moment suicide comes up, people immediately think of Judas Iscariot, and to a lesser extent of King Saul and Ahithophel. None of these men were believers — that is true. And because they think of Judas, they say: like Judas, anyone who commits suicide is a lost man. But in this they are very wrong, as we shall see.
To answer the question biblically, the first thing we must establish is simply this: what is suicide? The answer is simple. Suicide is self-murder. So the question becomes: can a Christian commit murder? If a Christian can commit the sin of murder, then a Christian can commit suicide.
The immediate reaction of many believers is to say no — because murder is so heinous a sin. But that is not a biblical response. A Christian is capable of committing this sin, just as he is capable of committing any other sin, with the only exception being the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Was David a believer? Yes — he was a man after God's own heart. But was he also a murderer? Tragically, yes.
David did not run the sword through Uriah himself, but he so orchestrated events that the Ammonites killed him — and that is murder. So David, a true believer, a beloved of the Lord, committed murder. That alone shows it is certainly possible for a believer, in a moment during which he gives way to his sinful flesh, to commit this sin.
But doesn't Scripture say, No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him?
Yes — but what does it mean? It cannot mean that a believer can never commit this sin, because we know David did. And note the beginning of the verse: Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. Have you never, in your regenerate state, hated your brother even for a time? Then according to this verse, you committed murder in your heart. Yet that does not mean you are not a Christian. The verse means that murder does not define the believer. It is not his walk, his course of life, his natural disposition. A believer may fall into this sin — he does not walk in it.
Suicide Is Not the Unpardonable Sin
There is no sin which a believer is incapable of committing, except the unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. This is the only exception, and it is crystal clear from Matthew 12:31. The moment you claim that no true Christian can ever commit suicide, you have set up a second unpardonable sin. The Bible does not do this. Suicide is not an unpardonable sin. Do not try to make it one.
Paul knew the wretchedness of his own old nature. Every believer has two natures — the old and the new. In his old nature, the believer is capable of this sin as he is of all others.
While saying this, let it be said plainly: suicide is a great sin. It is self-murder. It is selfish — it takes no account of the lifelong pain and suffering of those left behind. It shows a lack of trust in the Lord. It shows ingratitude for the gift of life. And it gives great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme and damages the testimony of that believer, sometimes permanently.
The people of the world will be scandalized and say: if his Christianity gave him no comfort, no joy, no peace, so that he took his own life, I want nothing to do with it. Yes — it is a very terrible sin. But we still cannot automatically assume that a professing Christian who commits it was never truly converted.
Answering the Common Objections
Objection 1: There is no example in the Bible of a true Christian committing suicide. This is true — but it is a very weak argument. Is there a single example in Scripture of a true Christian committing sodomy? No. Does that mean no Christian could ever do so? No. Is there a single example of a Christian getting divorced sinfully? No. But are Christians capable of it? Most certainly. The absence of a biblical example does not prove a sin is impossible for a believer.
Objection 2: The person has no time or opportunity to repent. This is perhaps the most common objection. But it fails to understand salvation properly. Prior to repentance there is regeneration — the new birth. We are born again, and therefore we repent. We don't repent in order to be born again. Repentance is the fruit of the new birth, not the cause of it.
Furthermore, all of us, when we come to die, will have some unconfessed sin at that moment. If you die in a car accident, are you necessarily repenting of your sins at the very moment of impact? If you die peacefully in your sleep, are you repenting as you sleep? The same is true for the believer who dies by martyrdom. All will die with sins they have not particularly and individually repented of.
Does dying with unrepented sin cause a true believer to lose his salvation? Absolutely not. Why? Because the cause of pardon for sin is not your repentance. It is the grace of God and the blood of Christ Jesus. It is Christ who saves you, not your repentance. You don't lose your salvation because of some unconfessed sin at the moment of death.
Christ died for past sins, present sins, and future sins — including yours. Even a sin like suicide is one for which Christ died, if that person is one of God's elect.
Objection 3: Suicide is premeditated. But as you look back over your life as a Christian, did you never sin a premeditated sin? David premeditated his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. Solomon premeditated taking hundreds of wives he ought never to have taken. Samson premeditated his sin with the harlot and went back to her more than once. Why do people accept this, yet say that premeditation in suicide proves the person was never truly converted? You cannot have it both ways.
Objection 4: Various scriptures say God keeps his saints. Three commonly cited:
This refers to the Lord keeping his saints from finally and completely perishing — not from falling into any sin whatsoever.
True — in the sense that the devil cannot destroy the new nature within him or cause him to lose his salvation. But Satan can and does tempt believers, and tragically at times they fall into sin.
This was said by the Lord to Satan about Job's particular trial — not as a universal promise about every believer in every circumstance. Every believer's path is different.
When a Believer Is Not in His Right Mind
There are also cases where a true Christian may take his own life and yet not be guilty of suicide as it is properly defined — cases where the believer is not in his right mind. And when we say not in his right mind, we mean the brain, not the mind. The mind is immaterial and cannot fall ill. But the brain is an incredibly complex physical organ, very little understood even today.
It is possible for even a true Christian to be insane, or to experience temporary bouts of insanity. The Bible speaks of this as being beside himself.
Can a true Christian be insane or go insane? There is no doubt about it. The classic example is William Cowper, the great poet and hymn writer — a true believer, one whose hymns we sing to this very day, whose life was marked by periodic bouts of insanity, thoughts of suicide, and near attempts. He died during a period of insanity in which he despaired of his salvation — yet his friends believed him to be a true child of God. Alexander Cruden, who wrote Cruden's Concordance, of whom Spurgeon said: That half-crazy Cruden has done more for the Church of God than all the Bachelors of Theology the church has ever produced.
There are many causes of insanity: intense depression, extreme stress, great grief or trauma, genetic and hereditary factors, sleep deprivation, chronic medical conditions, nutritional deficiencies, physical diseases such as hypothyroidism or Lyme disease, brain tumours, infections causing brain damage — and powerful medications prescribed for illness which can cause a person to temporarily lose his reason. This last was the case in the sad bereavement which prompted this message.
As John Gill wrote in his comments on Job 2:6:
If a person in a delirium shouts out I hate you to his wife, do we hold that against him when he recovers? If in a delirium he strikes the doctor, do we call him a violent man? No. We make allowances because he is deprived of his reason at that moment. And the same must apply here.
Suicide is defined as the intentional act of taking one's own life. But if a person is not in his right mind — if his brain has been damaged or disordered in some way — how can it be truly intentional? Morally, it is not suicide in the strict sense of deliberate self-murder. We should feel not condemnation but great pity and great sadness.
Conclusion
May each one of us be given a clear sight of what salvation is, what we are saved from, how we are saved, and what this means — because in that understanding lies the answer to this difficult question. If we have a right understanding of the doctrine of salvation, then a right understanding of suicide is possible.
Salvation is all of God's grace. It is not of ourselves. We don't save ourselves, and we don't keep ourselves by our own strength. The Lord does both. And once saved and in Christ, we are in him forever. When a person's overall conduct, day after day and year after year, reveals him as a true child of God — are we to judge him solely by what happens on the last day of his life? No. We never judge a man based on one or two sins but on the overall tenor of his life. The same must be true with suicide.
Christ is our Lord and Saviour. We do not cling to our repentance — we cling to Christ. We do not rely on having perfectly repented — we rely on the perfection of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. May He be our all in all, now and forever. Amen.