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SuicideWhatdoesGodsWordSay.
Aftermuchdiscussionwithotherson
this sensitive topic as well as a diligent
search of the scriptures I must conclude
the following. When a person is truly
saved and filled with Gods Holy Spirit, we
havebecomethetempleofthatsameSpirit
ofGodandarecommandednottodestroy
that temple. We can read Gods judgment
on this in 1st Corinthians 3:1617Do you
not know that you are the temple of God
andthattheSpiritofGoddwellsinyou?Ifanyonedefilesthetemple
of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which
templeyouare.
BeforediggingintotheWordonthisnarrowtopic,Iformallyheld
theopinionofmany,whichis,whenapersoncommitssuicide,theyare
not mentally sound or in their right mind, therefore, God would not
penalizethemforsuchanact.WhatwillbecomeobviousisthatIhad
notthoughtitallthewaythroughfromaspiritualperspective.
My former argument went something like this even though
suicideisselfmurderandthereforeasin,itwouldbethesameasany
othersin,adultery,stealing,orsexualimmorality.Hereistherub!Ina
shallowsense,thiswouldbetrueexceptthatsinmustberepentedofif
apersonistogointothepresenceoftheirCreator.Thisisnotpossible
withsuicide.Whenyouaredead,itistoolatetorepent.
OksowhataboutaChristian?AgainImustleanonwhatour
Lord tells us in His Word through the apostle Pauls pen in 1st
Corinthians 10:13 about the true child of God. If we are True
Christians,adoptedintoHisfamily,thenNotemptationhasovertaken
usexceptsuchasiscommontoman,butGodisfaithful,whowillnot
allow[Hischildren]tobetemptedbeyondwhatweareable[tobear],
butwiththetemptation[He]willalsomakethewayofescape,thatwe
maybeabletobearit.Weknowthatthetemptationswhichassailall
believers both from within and without can be intense and immense.
Wedonotalwaystakeadvantageofthewayoutofourtrialsthatour
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Lordhasprovided.ItisaChristianslotinlifetosufferpersecutionif
notbyunbelievers,thenbythedemonicforcesofdarkness.
ThisleadsmetotheconclusionthatatrueChristiancannottake
their own life, it is a sin listed among the 10 commandments, Thou
shallnotmurder,whetherofonesselforofanother.
LetslookalittledeeperintheWordforexamples,however,the
watergetsmuddywhenweconfusesuicidewithselfsacrifice.Weall
knowofindividualsthatsacrificetheirownlivestosaveanother.Jesus
saidinJohn15:13Thereisnogreaterlovethantolaydownoneslife
foronesfriends.Recentlyonthenews:whereafiremenbravedafire
to rescue a child in a burning building and lost his own life or the
soldier who fell on a grade to save his buddies. These are acts of
unselfishsacrifice.John15:13upholdsthemoralityofsuchbehavior
We read about Saul and his armorbearer 1st Samuel 31,
undoubtedlyanarrativefilledwithamixtureofemotionsthatunderlies
many of todays suicidal motives, pride, arrogance, embarrassment,
depressionoranxiety.WeknowthatSaul,sportingaseverelybruised
ego,inhishaughtinesshechosesuicide.
1stSamuel31:36WhenthebattleintensifiedagainstSaul,the
archers caught up with him and severely wounded him. Then Saul
saidtohisarmorbearer,Drawyourswordandrunmethroughwithit,
ortheseuncircumcisedmenwillcomeandrunmethroughandtorture
me. But his armorbearer would not do it because he was terrified.
ThenSaultookhisswordandfellonit. Whenhisarmorbearersaw
that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with
him. So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his
armorbearer,andallhismen.
Saulsmotivewas______________.
Thearmorbearersmotivewas_____________.

Inthebible,therearenoexamplesthatcansomehowlegitimize
suicide or murder. As for those who argue that suicide ought to be
considered as a medical avenue to offer dignity in death, there is no
dignityindeath.DeathisalwaysuglyitistheresultofAdamssin,and
Godsjudgmentonpostlapsarianhumanity!
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AretheremoreexamplesofsuicidesintheWordofGod?
TheBiblementionssixspecificpeoplewhocommittedsuicide,we
havealreadycoveredSaulandhisarmorbearer.ThereisAbimelech
in Judges 9:5354 where a woman on the roof dropped a millstone
thatlandedonAbimelechsheadandcrushedhisskull. 54 He quickly
saidtohisyoungarmorbearer,Drawyourswordandkillme!Dontlet
itbesaidthatawomankilledAbimelech!Sotheyoungmanranhim
throughwithhissword,andhedied.
Abimelechsmotivewas_____________.

Then there was Ahithophel in 2nd Samuel 17:23, When Ahithophel

realizedthathisadvicehadnotbeenfollowed,hesaddledhisdonkey,
wenttohishometown,sethisaffairsinorder,andhangedhimself.He
diedthereandwasburiedinthefamilytomb.
Ahithophelsufferedfrom__________________

Zimriin1stKings16:1520:ZimribegantoruleoverIsraelbut
his reign in Tirzah lasted only seven days. 1stKings 16:1520 Zimri
begantoruleoverIsraelinthetwentyseventhyearofKingAsasreign
in Judah, but his reign in Tirzah lasted only seven days. The army of
Israel was then attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon.16 When
theyheardthatZimrihadcommittedtreasonandhadassassinatedthe
king, that very day they chose Omri, commander of the army, as the
newkingofIsrael. 17 SoOmriledtheentirearmyofIsraeltoattack
Tirzah, Israels capital. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been
taken,hewentintothecitadelofthepalaceandburneditdownover
himselfanddiedintheflames.
19Forhe,too,haddonewhatwasevilintheLORDssight.
Zimrismotiveforsuicidewas_______________

AndJudasinMatthew27:5:ThenJudasthrewthesilvercoins
downintheTempleandwentoutandhangedhimself.

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JudasMotivewas_________________

Five of these men were noted for their wickedness, with the
exception of perhaps armorbearer since nothing is known of his
character, therefore it is hard to establish a motive for him since it
couldbebasedoneitherfearorloyalty.Lastbutnotleastmanywill
considerSamsonsdeathaninstanceofsuicidebecauseheknewthat
his action would lead to his own death according to Judges 16,
however, Samsons goal was to kill Philistine and not necessarily
himself.

Issuicideequivalenttomurder?
TheBibleviewssuicideasequaltomurder,infact,itisaself
imposedmurder.Godistheonlyonewhoisabletodecidewhenand
how a person should die, that is apart from capital punishment for
murder based on the principles found in the law. [Exodus 21:24
Leviticus24]...Whateveranyonedoestoinjureanotherperson,it
must be paid back in kind. I believe that the principles that formed
the Law reflect Gods will for humanity. However, on this side of
Pentecost,aswehavealreadymentioned,thosewhohavetheSpiritof
God living in them are the Temple of God and Gods word and God
saysthatHewilldestroythosewhodestroytheSpiritstemple.

Weshouldsaywiththepsalmistin31:15,thecourseofmylife
is in your hand.God is the giver of life. Even with his world turned
upsidedown,JobstillcapitulatedandcondescendedtothisendinJob
1:21. He said, I came naked from my mothers womb, and I will be
nakedwhenIleave.TheLordgavemewhatIhad,andtheLordhad
takenitaway.PraisethenameoftheLord!

Suicide, that is the taking of ones own life is an ungodly act

becauseitrejectsGodsgiftoflife,therefore.Nomanorwomanshould
presumetotakeGodsauthorityuponthemselvestoendtheirownlife.
SeveralfolksinScripturefeltthatsamedeepdepressionthathasledso
manytotaketheirownlife,buttheyeachdealtwithit,leaningonthe
Father, rather than resorting to suicide. Solomon, in his pursuit of
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pleasure,reachedthepointwherehehatedlife.Wereadaboutthis
in Ecclesiastes 2:17: so I came to hate life because everything done
here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless like
chasing the wind. Solomon learned to fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind [Ecclesiastes
12:13].Elijahwassofearfulanddepressedthatheyearnedfordeath,
buthedidnottakehisownlifeinsteadhewascomfortedbyanAngel
andallowedtorestandthengivenanewcommission.[1stKings19:4]
JonahwassoangryatGodthathewishedtodie.Thisisrecordedin
Jonah 4:8 but instead, Jonah received the discipline of a son in the
form of the rebuke from God the Father. Even the apostle Paul the
apostleandhismissionarycompanionswereatonepointundergreat
pressurefarbeyondtheirabilitytoendureyet,tothepointthatthey
despaired even over selfpreservation, none of these men considered
committing suicide. Paul learned that even through the pressures he
faced all of which seem to test his ability to endure he realized that
throughourLord,wecanbearallthings.In2nd Corinthians1:810
Paul expresses his plight this way . . . We were crushed and
overwhelmedbeyondourabilitytoendure,wethoughtwewouldnever
livethroughit.9infact,weexpectedtodie.Butasaresult,westopped
relying on ourselves and learn to rely only on God raises the
dead. 10 andhedidrescueusfrommortaldangerandhewillrescue
usagain.Wehaveplacedourconfidenceinhimandhewillcontinueto
rescueus.

Therefore,letmerepeat,thataccordingtotheBible,suicideisa
sin,althoughitmaynotbethegreatestsinintermsofhowGodsees
it,itisonethatisimpossibletorepentof.Suicide,however,isnotthe
determiningfactorinourredemptionitisourrelationshipwithChrist
that determines our eternal destiny. Perhaps you will recall Jesus
wordsinMark8:34"WhoeverdesirestocomeafterMe,lethimdeny
himself,andtakeuphiscross,andfollowMe.Whenwethinkofthe
trialseachofChristdisciplessufferedandhowtheydied,weshouldbe
humbled,foreachsuffered,yettheyLivedforJesus,suicidewasnota
consideration. As Christians, we learn to focus on others and not
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ourselves, with that commitment in mind, remember that suicide

definitely has a deep and lasting spiritual impact others, especially on
lovedonesleftbehindandneitherdothepainfulscarsleftbyasuicide
healeasily.

Asforeuthanasia:the right to die can socially, economically

andpolitically,becomeapersonalresponsibilityandburdentodieina
timely manner. Certainly there are instances where medical
procedures can be withdrawn, especially in cases where imminent
deathiscertain.Butthatisdifferentfromdeliberatelychoosingtoend
ones life in an effort to avoid pain, depression, future shame, or for
thatmatterthelifeofanunbornchild.
Neither life experience nor the bible gives us any examples of
believers that have or will commit suicide, What we do know that is
trueforallbelievers,isthatthereisnothingthatcanseverusfrom
theloveofChristandhisfullforgivenessifweremainobedienttohis
Word.BelieversaresealedwiththepromisedHolySpirit,whoisthe
guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire our possession of
eternity, all to the praise of His glory. We read in Ephesians 1:13
14:Whenyouheardthemessageoftruth,thegospelofyoursalvation,
andwhenyoubelievedinhim,youarealsosealedwiththepromised
Holy Spirit. 14 he is the down payment of our inheritance for the
redemptionofthepossession,tohispraiseandglory.
BasedonallofthecounselintheWordonthesubjectofsuicide,
Inowbelievethattheconsequenceofasuicideisafailure.Itcanonly
happenwhenapersondoesnotknoworhasneglectedthepresenceof
the Spirit, the words of Christ, as well as the aid of the church which
Godhasmercifullyprovidedforeverybeliever.Wereadin2ndJohn1:8:
watch yourselves that you dont lose what youve work for but that
youmayreceiveafullreward.However,allwhohavebeenjustifiedby
faithinChristbelongtohimandhewilltakecareofthemforever.

Suicide is like putting a period where there should only be a

commainourChristianwalk.ItisneverGodswayoutofdepression
ordilemma.
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