RJ Howard

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.
 

SabbathBlessings

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.
I am sorry about your friend. Who knows what happened in those last few minutes and hopefully they were remorseful and repented. God understands our circumstances and judges us based on our knowledge.
 
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BobRyan

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.

Let's imagine for a moment that someone commits suicide by taking some lethal dose of a drug but before they die - they are convicted of the wrong that they have done and in a moment of extreme clarity -- repent - and are fully turned to God like the thief on the cross. We could imagine that they die as did the thief fully accepted by God.

Some say that such a thing would be a 1-in-a-million long shot if it happened/worked. Well ok - so be it.

I like to imagine it in those cases and then when we get to heaven -- we can be informed by God regarding what the reality was. In the mean time I can leave it that way with Him.
 
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Hammster

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.
It’s a sin Christ died for. So if they were saved, they are safe.
 
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Carl Emerson

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A very close friend of mine was suicidal until the Lord spoke to her and said "If you take your life I won't love you any less"

This encounter seriously contributed to breaking the grip of self destruction.
 
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Sophrosyne

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If one can lose salvation by unforgiven sin such as suicide then ANY unforgiven sin will do likewise to you even of you FORGET you sinned or didn't realize something you did was a sin. This also includes not forgiving sins of others because the Bible itself equates God won't forgive sins of people that don't forgive others sins against them.
Imagine you took a pencil home from work and then forgot to bring it back and was laid off and never called back..... you are essentially guilty in a way of stealing that pencil and you get in a car accident and die.
Imagine you are a Christian that believes in confession of sins to a priest and die on the way to confession.

If God can forgive murder then he can forgive self murder likewise (suicide). If one is not in their right mind then decisions that they make are accounted likewise and God is able to judge if one truly accepts him.
One has to consider that people not in their right mind that likewise accept God when they are in their right mind likely they would turn around and reject him and thus their salvation never was real.

Another thought is suicide is about killing yourself and people can kill themselves by poisoning themselves, poor diet that slowly kills themselves, cancer from cigarettes, and wreckless driving among a lot of other ways to do things that if one is thinking (in their right mind) would not do that leads to death.

If you go skydiving and have an accident it could be considered a sin as you did contribute to your own death.
 
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sandman

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There are religions that dictate that God cannot forgive suicide…but that is a lie, and is not in the Bible.

If a person has accepted Jesus Christ in their life at any point, they are saved…period! And that is irrespective of how they lived. Only that person and God knows if that has ever taken place in someone’s life.

If someone has not accepted Jesus Christ, they will then be judged on their works… whereas someone who has accepted Christ has already been judged righteous, that is the undeserved favor (grace) of God.
 
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Sabertooth

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  1. Murdering a person, including oneself, is a sin. Apart from murder, other killing is not.
  2. The eternal consequences of self-murder are determined by which paradigm is correct: eternal security OR conditional security. (Not necessarily the one we would prefer.)
 
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Swan7

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As others have stated, God is the Judge of what is in each individual's heart. We, on the outside looking in on the life of these people, have only just that - speculation. We cannot properly judge where God can.

I was suicidal - and I grew up only hearing about a man called Jesus Christ. I didn't know Him most of my life as I thought I was Christian because I was born into it. I went about life on my own strength and even then it was impossible for me to have any control over it. I turned to suicide and entertained the thoughts of it.
God had to pull me out of that perception, else I would have. No one knew the turmoil I was in. But God knew and He turned me around for the better. All I had to do was repent and follow Jesus Christ. My life has never been the same since, praise God!!
 
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A mental case whereby the person did not even know wrong from right (ever in their life) is up to God to decide. But did they once know right from wrong? Did they continue to justify sin while they had their mind? If they did, it most likely appears like judgment upon them if their mind slipped away into doing irrational sinful things. In one sense, they would be the walking dead.

If a person is aware of right and wrong, and they commit suicide, and they stay dead and did not get a chance to confess of their sins before they died, they will be condemned by God. For if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9). 1 John 3:15 says no murderer has eternal life abiding in them. Suicide is just another form of murder (i.e. self murder). God’s Word says that if we defile the temple, He will destroy us (1 Corinthians 3:17).

Also, what about George Sodini?

Here is a snippet from part of a Christian article:

Remember what happened in LA Fitness Gym in Pennsylvania on August 4, 2009? When a man named George Sodini fired 50 rounds into an aerobic class before turning the gun on himself. The shooting resulted four deaths (including Sodini himself) and nine injured. George Sodini was a member of the Tetelestai Church where he sat quietly for many years, listening to the deceptions of his preacher. Talking about the pastor of his Church, Sodini wrote in his blog dated Dec. 31, 2008,

“this guy” (Alan “Rick” Knapp) “teaches (and convinced me) you can commit mass murder then still go to heaven. Ask him.“​

And in a post dated August 3, 2009, Sodini said;

“Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for every sin, so how can I or you be judged by GOD for a sin when the penalty was already paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.”​

After the horrible incident in Pennsylvania, Pastor Knapp’s deacon, Jack Rickard commented on Sodini’s death and said;

“George is going to heaven, but he’s not going to get his rewards,” (SOURCE )​

Kenneth Nally, another believer of this unscrupulous doctrine, committed suicide in 1980 after he was taught that even self-murder would not stop a person once saved from going to heaven. Definitely! This kind of belief would reclaim many people to Satan, the author of all lies and abominations.

I also remembered a certain time when I tried to ask a Born Again pastor who preaches about the assured salvation. I asked him, “Pastor. If doing good works is unnecessary for salvation so that I decided to cease from giving my tithes, am I still saved?” The pastor answered and said, “Definitely not, son. If you will cease from giving your tithes and offerings, you will become a robber, because the Bible said, ‘ye rob God’.” See??? Born Again and many Baptist and Evangelical pastors who hold this kind of shameful doctrine are just after to our tithes! They don’t care about our salvation. They don’t care whether we will become evil or not, but what matters most is our money. They are telling their members that in salvation, good works are unnecessary things, except the giving of tithes and donations!

Source:
O.S.A.S. – THE WATCHMAN'S CRY
 
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Fervent

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I see no reason that a person who commits suicide in a moment of weakness would be cast out if they were in Christ. Though the question itself is rather difficult to answer, as finding oneself in that desperate, hopeless place there is the question of whether they know Christ. It seems often the answers regarding this question are aimed more to soothe those who are left behind than to wrestle with the questions themselves.
 
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SamanthaAnastasia

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.
In orthodox tradition it is very complicated.

here are some links
https://www.pravmir.com/orthodoxy-suicide/
http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/18705

So, as an example:
It’s the difference between someone who is severely mentally ill who committed suicide verses someone who planned their suicide in a calm manner no mental illness involved (think seppuku/patriotic suicide, spies who commit suicide to avoid torture etc).

Hope that makes sense.
God bless.
 
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Freth

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I too went through this. An ex-girlfriend and good friend of mine committed suicide twelve years after we broke up. I knew when I was with her that she had been through some trauma in her past; more than any person should have to go through. She had abusive parents. When she was a teenager, a good friend of hers committed suicide, and she carried that pain with her always, it never went away. Her relationships were abusive as well. She had been through a lot in her life. After her and I broke up, she immediately started a relationship with a good friend of mine, and they were together seven years before they got married. In their twelfth year of marriage, they were having heated marriage-ending arguments. She foreshadowed what she was going to do on Facebook, but no one realized it. She planned it out. She committed suicide during an argument with her husband, right in front of him.

The person I knew was a loving, kind woman. She volunteered her free time at animal shelters, transporting dogs and cats around the state. She had a quirky, matter-of-fact personality, and had passions in life, like cooking, and crochet. She was a geek for many things, which added to her quirkiness. And she didn't care what anyone thought about what she loved. This woman was amazing, but she had a dark past that hung over her like a cloud her whole life. She wasn't a strong person, she needed support always, and I think that's why she felt desperation. Anyway, I could write a book about her. She's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it.

I firmly believe that God judges the heart, and has compassion toward someone who feels they have exhausted all options in their life. The state of the person's mind is broken. Whether it's done in a moment of selfishness, or a moment of utmost despair, the person is not in their right frame of mind. I don't see it as an unforgivable sin, but each situation, each person, is different and I'm sure God judges based on the heart, and takes into consideration the fractured mind of the individual. The circumstances and the trauma that led them to their breaking point.

I think I'll see my friend in heaven, because I know who she was, and I know she's heaven material. She did get saved a few years before she passed, so she did know the Lord.
 
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Mark Quayle

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.
As I just finished writing to someone else: In the end, "the proof is in the pudding". If he is found there, he was saved; if not, he was not. Either way, I don't see the suicide as being the deciding factor.

This is in God's hands, who not only is loving and merciful, but who is just and judges deeds according to the motivations.

The question of whether a suicide can be saved is not brought up in the Bible as such. It is a construction of Christendom's —not of God's. ALL that God has chosen will be saved. This is in God's hands, not in the hands of even the individual.
 
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Maria Billingsley

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.
I guess the only example we have in scripture of someone who was severely depressed and ended up taking his life is Judas. I do believe he was in great pain and sadness however, rather than repent he chose to end his life.
I really can't say if it equates to the situation at hand however, if the Holy Spirit dwelled in the person, suicide would probably not be the answer. Blessings
 
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d taylor

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.

The problem is not that a person took their own life. If a person who ends up taking their life and then also ends up in hell after their death. It is not because they committed suicide.

The problem lies in, does or did this person ever understand how to receive God's free gift of Eternal life and that is by believing that Jesus is the promised Messiah from the prophecies of The Tanakh and trust in The Messiah for God's free gift of Eternal Life.

Simply stated did they trust/believe in the Messiah for Eternal Life.
 
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Mark Quayle

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I guess the only example we have in scripture of someone who was severely depressed and ended up taking his life is Judas. I do believe he was in great pain and sadness however, rather than repent he chose to end his life.
I really can't say if it equates to the situation at hand however, if the Holy Spirit dwelled in the person, suicide would probably not be the answer. Blessings
King Saul... (also without the Spirit indwelling)
 
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Strong in Him

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If a person was severely depressed or mentally ill and not thinking straight, could that person still get into heaven if they killed themselves. And no I am not by any means planning to do that.

I learned that a few years back a friend of mine (not a close friend) commited suicide. I don't know the reasoning behind this but I'm assuming it was mental illness of some type.

I am sorry to hear about your friend.
When you say, "person", I am assuming you mean a Christian who believes in and has accepted Jesus as their Saviour but, due to depression, lost sight of this or lost their way? If so, I believe the answer is "yes".
If the person did not believe in Jesus or accept him, that is a different matter. No one "gets into heaven" without Jesus, John 14:6 - though it is for God to say, and to judge, whether someone has truly rejected him, or not. If someone is depressed and mentally ill, that may well affect their ability to hear, understand and accept the Gospel. If that is the case, and only God knows, I believe he is merciful and will judge justly.

Incidentally, we prefer to say "taking your own life" rather than "committing suicide" - it is not a crime, nor is it a sin.
 
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To all:

The problem is that if God lets a believer into His Kingdom for committing suicide (without them having a chance to confess of this sin before they died), then God would have to let believers commit all kinds of other gross sins without seeking forgiveness of such sins and let them into the Kingdom, too. Meaning, a person can be living in fornication, adultery, idolatry, murder, hate, etc. and still be saved by a belief alone in Jesus. However, God would have to agree with sin in order to make this kind of plan of salvation work. But God is holy, and He cannot break His own rules He gives to us. We are only forgiven of sin if we confess it (1 John 1:9). We only receive mercy if we confess and forsake sin (See: Proverbs 28:13). It may sound harsh or sad to some people, but God is not into justifying any sin in our lives. We have to repent, and turn to God, and not justify sin. If we turn back towards sin or justify sin in some way, that only shows that sin is our Master and not God.
 
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