Is Ending One’s Own Life an Unforgivable Sin?

[alaric]

Ending own's life (or committing suicide) is equal to murder which is sin. The only thing special is that it is the last sin the sinner commits because he is murdering himself. In another case, if a person lied (for example: he does not want the truth to cause problem to his loved ones) on his deathbed, then the last sin that the person committed is lying.
Isn't both lying and murder sinning? So why is everyone so focus murder?
The basics for this comes from the "Grace plus work salvation"
1) The Christian died in his sin.
2) The Christian do not have a chance to confess of his sin because confession can only be done while we are still alive.
Some Christians believe that they need to confess ALL their sins before they can be saved. This is a wrong belief.

The only sin that will cause everyone to go to hell is NOT doing the will of the Father which is accepting Jesus and trusting in his finished work on the cross as payment for our sins.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
And what is the will of the Father?
John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

I am not encouraging people to do kill themselves. But I am concern about how Christian are holding onto wrong belief and with wrong belief, it will affect the foundation of their walk with Christ.

 

[Wrangler]

No. You concept formation is wrong. Suicide is not murder. By definition, murder is unjustified homocide. You cannot change the definition of homocide to mean suicide. From Definition of HOMICIDE
homicide
noun
ho·mi·cide ˈhä-mə-ˌsīd ˈhō-
Synonyms of homicide
1: a person who kills another
2: a killing of one human being by another

By definition, murder is unjustified killing another while suicide is killing oneself, independent of the notion of justice precisely because it is not the taking of what does not belong to you. Your question reduces to akin to asking if it is wrong to spend your own money on frivolous things.

 

[Lambano]

Just.....don't.

 

[Pearl]

Taking ones own life is a giving up, a total loss of hope and trust.

But no sin is unforgivable if we are in Christ Jesus and have experience spiritual re-birth.

Three biblical people who took their own lives: Samson, King Saul and Judas.

 

[Lambano]

"Suicide is a grave sin equivalent to murder (Exodus 20:13; 21:23), but it can be forgiven like any other sin. And Scripture says clearly that those redeemed by God have been forgiven for all their sins--past, present, and future (Colossians 2:13-14). Paul says in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus." - John MacArthur

 

[Lambano]

"God's children are defined repeatedly in Scripture as those who have hope (Acts 24:15; Romans 5:2-5, 8:24; 2 Corinthians 1:10, etc.) and purpose in life (Luke 9:23-25; Romans 8:28; Colossians 1:29). And those who think of committing suicide do so because they have neither hope nor purpose in their lives." - John MacArthur

 

[Nancy]

No. You concept formation is wrong. Suicide is not murder. By definition, murder is unjustified homocide. You cannot change the definition of homocide to mean suicide. From Definition of HOMICIDE
homicide
noun
ho·mi·cide ˈhä-mə-ˌsīd ˈhō-
Synonyms of homicide
1: a person who kills another
2: a killing of one human being by another

By definition, murder is unjustified killing another while suicide is killing oneself, independent of the notion of justice precisely because it is not the taking of what does not belong to you. Your question reduces to akin to asking if it is wrong to spend your own money on frivolous things.

Hi Wrangler,
I see what you are saying but, our lives do not belong to us, they belong to God IMHO.
On the other hand, there are people who take their lives because they fell into despair and are not thinking clearly as they end their lives.

 

[Lambano]

Hi Wrangler,
I see what you are saying but, our lives do not belong to us, they belong to God IMHO.
On the other hand, there are people who take their lives because they fell into despair and are not thinking clearly as they end their lives.

I've known a couple of people who took their own lives. (One rather publicly in the Hartsfield airport.) Both were pretty messed-up in the head.

 

[Lambano]

Just remembered a couple of others from my church. Both were hurting pretty bad inside. One left behind a little boy and a little girl to be raised by her parents. The grandparents' and the young lady's lives have been forever haunted by that. The young man developed some kind of disease and died young, making that family's story all the more tragic. The other woman, a friend of my wife's, did not do an efficient job of committing suicide and ended up suffering in the hospital another month before finally succumbing. My wife visited her in the hospital, but the visits were awfully rough on her. She says her friend did regret her actions and repent, but by then her body had been damaged too badly to be healed. Another sad story.

Just .... don't. The sin is not only against yourself and against God; it's also a sin against those who love you.

 

[Wrangler]

Suicide is a grave sin equivalent to murder

Repeating the lie does not make it so as I've shown.

Hi Wrangler,
I see what you are saying but, our lives do not belong to us, they belong to God IMHO.
On the other hand, there are people who take their lives because they fell into despair and are not thinking clearly as they end their lives.

That our lives belong to God is a theological precept with no practical application. We belong to God but still die. We belong to God but still get married. We belong to God but fight for our country. We belong to God but still serve a master at work, etc. In terms of law and justice, like you shall not murder, suicide is not the same at all. Notice there is no prohibition in Scripture against flapping your arms until you fly to the moon? Laws are not declared to stop what people don't do. Most people want to live and go to great lengths to continue to survive.

I reject the claim that suicide is only a refuse for those in irrational despair or not thinking clearly. And I reject a god who values human suffering for its own sake while I admit that is a subset for those who believe God plans for most include eternal conscious torment (ECT) in hell. The best example is the terminally ill whose future is guaranteed to be filled with indignity and suffering. Modern medicine may dull the pain but it does not remove the dehumanizing, the loss of dignity in such cases.

For instance, my aunt got remarried when she was about 50 yo. Her 2nd husband had a stroke, which became a real burden to her. I offered to take care of him for a weekend so she could have a little vacation, rest and relax. Because of his infirm condition, he did not want a relative stranger caring for him during his time of indignity.

Another example are drug addicts. We don't treat them as murderers - even though they're on the path to OD. Finally, I reject the facade of suicide is OK if it is accidental OD where the only intent was to reduce pain. It is a moral issue and it is foolish to equate it to murder when it is not a matter of injustice to others. It's odd that suicide is not criminalized but attempted suicide is. The right to life must include the right NOT to live.

 

[Behold]

If someone went to Hell after they committed suicide, its only because they were never born again before they died.

There are no Christians in Hell, and there will never be an unbeliever, never born again, in Heaven, except to meet Rev 20:11

 

[Nancy]

Repeating the lie does not make it so as I've shown.


That our lives belong to God is a theological precept with no practical application. We belong to God but still die. We belong to God but still get married. We belong to God but fight for our country. We belong to God but still serve a master at work, etc. In terms of law and justice, like you shall not murder, suicide is not the same at all. Notice there is no prohibition in Scripture against flapping your arms until you fly to the moon? Laws are not declared to stop what people don't do. Most people want to live and go to great lengths to continue to survive.

I reject the claim that suicide is only a refuse for those in irrational despair or not thinking clearly. And I reject a god who values human suffering for its own sake while I admit that is a subset for those who believe God plans for most include eternal conscious torment (ECT) in hell. The best example is the terminally ill whose future is guaranteed to be filled with indignity and suffering. Modern medicine may dull the pain but it does not remove the dehumanizing, the loss of dignity in such cases.

For instance, my aunt got remarried when she was about 50 yo. Her 2nd husband had a stroke, which became a real burden to her. I offered to take care of him for a weekend so she could have a little vacation, rest and relax. Because of his infirm condition, he did not want a relative stranger caring for him during his time of indignity.

Another example are drug addicts. We don't treat them as murderers - even though they're on the path to OD. Finally, I reject the facade of suicide is OK if it is accidental OD where the only intent was to reduce pain. It is a moral issue and it is foolish to equate it to murder when it is not a matter of injustice to others. It's odd that suicide is not criminalized but attempted suicide is. The right to life must include the right NOT to live.

"The best example is the terminally ill whose future is guaranteed to be filled with indignity and suffering. Modern medicine may dull the pain but it does not remove the dehumanizing, the loss of dignity in such cases."

This is a good example, when God say's our time is up and our life is ending because of sickness or disease why do we allow humans to drag us back to "life" if their lives are full of nothing but suffering, that is no life at all.
I do still believe that our lives are not our own, they belong to our Creator...JMHO.

 

[Wrangler]

This is a good example, when God say's our time is up and our life is ending because of sickness or disease why do we allow humans to drag us back to "life" if their lives are full of nothing but suffering, that is no life at all.

I have many child hood memories of my parents and grandparents agreeing that if they’re brain dead to pull the plug. They don’t want to live that way.

I resolved that if my grandfather ever asked me, I’d assist in his suicide out of respect for his last wish - to die with dignity. It never came to that. But I was prepared.

 

[Lambano]

I reject the claim that suicide is only a refuse for those in irrational despair or not thinking clearly. And I reject a god who values human suffering for its own sake while I admit that is a subset for those who believe God plans for most include eternal conscious torment (ECT) in hell. The best example is the terminally ill whose future is guaranteed to be filled with indignity and suffering. Modern medicine may dull the pain but it does not remove the dehumanizing, the loss of dignity in such cases.

My parents knew this couple in their square dance group. The husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which even now is one of the really bad ones. The wife wasn't willing to let go, so she insisted her husband try every quack cancer cure she could find in the days before the internet. Everything they tried just made the suffering worse.

The good news is that the cancer didn't kill him. The official cause of death was, "Gunshot wound, self-inflicted". He just couldn't take it anymore.

 

[Wrangler]

The good news is that the cancer didn't kill him.

That’s good. There s no getting out of life alive. We all have to walk through the door - one way or another.

It sounds like the wife wanted her husband to live for her sake. Isn’t that selfish?

 

[Lambano]

"God's children are defined repeatedly in Scripture as those who have hope (Acts 24:15; Romans 5:2-5, 8:24; 2 Corinthians 1:10, etc.) and purpose in life (Luke 9:23-25; Romans 8:28; Colossians 1:29). And those who think of committing suicide do so because they have neither hope nor purpose in their lives." - John MacArthur

You can always count on Johnny Mac for a little sympathy.

 

[Lambano]

There are various kinds of pain. Of the four suicides I mentioned, one of them was secretly gay, and the condemnation of the church was one of the sources of the pain. Another was someone I would never have suspected there was anything wrong - except his manager was one of my most trusted friends, and he called me late at night and asked me not to put any work pressure on this guy. Two weeks later, he was gone.

 

[Lambano]

This is a good example, when God say's our time is up and our life is ending because of sickness or disease why do we allow humans to drag us back to "life" if their lives are full of nothing but suffering, that is no life at all.
I do still believe that our lives are not our own, they belong to our Creator...JMHO.

There is a school of thought that says that those who are suffering at the end-of-life are called to glorify God by enduring death with faithfulness and patience.

I don't know if that's real or not. I would not want to put any additional burden on those who are suffering. Nor would I want to dictate to someone else what God calls them to do.

 

[Lambano]

It sounds like the wife wanted her husband to live for her sake. Isn’t that selfish?

It was.

The common argument is that suicide is (often) selfish because it ends one's own pain while inflicting a long-lasting pain on your loved ones, as in the case of those two orphaned children and their grandparents I mentioned.

 

[Writer]

Ending own's life (or committing suicide) is equal to murder which is sin. The only thing special is that it is the last sin the sinner commits because he is murdering himself. In another case, if a person lied (for example: he does not want the truth to cause problem to his loved ones) on his deathbed, then the last sin that the person committed is lying.
Isn't both lying and murder sinning? So why is everyone so focus murder?
The basics for this comes from the "Grace plus work salvation"
1) The Christian died in his sin.
2) The Christian do not have a chance to confess of his sin because confession can only be done while we are still alive.
Some Christians believe that they need to confess ALL their sins before they can be saved. This is a wrong belief.

The only sin that will cause everyone to go to hell is NOT doing the will of the Father which is accepting Jesus and trusting in his finished work on the cross as payment for our sins.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
And what is the will of the Father?
John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

I am not encouraging people to do kill themselves. But I am concern about how Christian are holding onto wrong belief and with wrong belief, it will affect the foundation of their walk with Christ.

If you are truly saved, you don't think about killing yourself. If you're not saved, it doesn't matter what you think or do, you stand condemned before God almighty. Jesus speaks: "If you confess me before the Father, I will confess you before men". Example: The thief on the cross.

Salvation makes us a new creation without belmish: "I have cast your sins as far as the East is from the West". The theif on cross didn't need to confess "ALL" his sins, he simply needed to ask Jesus to remember him when He entered His kigdom. That man had faith indeed that Jesus was the word of God, the Lord of Gods Kingdom in heaven, his Massaiah and he acted on that faith. Jesus says in Revelation: "When the Son of man returns, will He find faith in on the earth"? Jesus heard it in that man.

"Today, you shall be in Paradise with Me"


























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