The Bible and suicide
I have a friend who recently lost a relative to suicide. She has been hearing from different people what happens to a person's soul when they take their own life. Does God tell us what happens to someone who does? Where in the Bible does it say?
God’s fifth commandment prohibits the taking of someone else’s life or our own (Exodus 20:13). God is serious about protecting a person’s life because that is the only time a person has to be brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ. When life on earth comes to an end, judgment also takes place (Hebrews 9:27). People with saving faith will enjoy eternity with God, while unbelievers will spend eternity apart from God, in hell (Mark 16:16). While we do not know the judgment that takes place at a person’s death, that judgment will be made public on the last day (Matthew 25:31-46).
In years past, individuals who took their own lives were often treated as a group: they were automatically considered to be people who were lost forever. In more recent times there has been a greater understanding of psychological and mental issues that might contribute to a person taking his or her life, while still dying in the Christian faith. This does not minimize the seriousness of suicide or its tragic effects on survivors; it provides explanation only.
The biblical accounts of suicide (1 Samuel 31:4; Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:25) do not give us hope for the individuals involved. But, again, we do not jump to the conclusion that all people who take their own lives are eternally lost. We leave the judgment of hearts to God.