We are continuing our Questions of the Faith series.  Friday we learned that the unpardonable sin is rejecting the Holy Spirit’s conviction of our need for Christ.  Many people mistakenly believe that suicide is the unpardonable sin.  What does the Bible teach about this tragic subject?

God's word consistently warns us that suicide is always wrong.  Deuteronomy 30:19 is God's command, "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live."  Job knew that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, that life and death are with God and not us (Job 1:21).  Paul teaches us, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  And the sixth commandment is clear: "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).  God gives us life and he alone has the right to take it.  It is always too soon to give up on life.  God can always intervene, and often does.  You're not done until God says you're done.

That said, why is suicide so often thought to be the "unpardonable sin"?  Not because the Bible ever teaches this connection.  Here's the story in brief.

In the first era of Christian history, the Church came to separate "mortal" from "venial" sins.  "Mortal" sins would condemn a person to hell, "venial" to Purgatory.  Only by confessing a mortal sin could a person avoid hell.  Murder, including self-murder, was one of these mortal sins.  And of course a person could not confess this sin after committing it.  So by logic, suicide was defined as the unpardonable sin.  But nowhere does the Bible teach that this is so.

Suicide is always wrong, always a sin, and always a tragedy.  It places far more grief and pain on family and friends than choosing life would have.  It takes into human hands a decision which is God's alone.  It leads to judgment and loss of reward by God in eternity.  But it is not the unpardonable sin.  Those you care about who committed suicide are not in hell for having done so.  Rejecting Christ is the only unpardonable sin.

Don't doubt your salvation if you've trusted in Christ as your Lord (we will discuss this more tomorrow and Wednesday).  You cannot commit the "unpardonable sin," no matter what else you've done.  Doubts are normal.  And they are not unpardonable.

A parish priest heard confession from a woman who claimed to speak directly with God.  Skeptical, the priest told her to ask the Lord about a sin the priest had committed while in seminary, a moral failure which had plagued him even though he had confessed it to his Lord.  The next week the woman returned.  The priest inquired if she had asked God about his sin.  She said she did.  The priest asked, "And what was his response?"  "He said, 'I don't remember,'" the woman replied.  Neither should we.

Tomorrow: Is it possible for me to lose my salvation?