Dear Lourdes, I write in response to your question.  But before I answer, I’d like to tell you how I miss those Sundays when we had our Sunday School lessons by the calamansi tree in the backyard of #15 Smiling Street in BF Homes.

Your mother was our Sunday School teacher and we saw each other every Sunday.  When we were in high school, we had the junior choir and the juniors’ fellowship.  That was fun.  But we didn’t see each other anymore after I came back from the States because we both went off to college and my Dad resigned from being pastor in Almanza.

It was truly nice to meet you again on Facebook.  I was happy also that you read my blog.  Happier, that you actually asked a question.  Did you know that your name comes from the French adjective which means “heavy?” Your question is “heavy,” indeed and I can see that it has been weighing on your mind. So let me try to answer it.

Your question was: “Will a professing christian who commits suicide still be saved?” I said that the question was “heavy” because there are no simple answers:

1. “Suicide” is defined as an act or instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind.
2. The Roman Catholic Church has declared that suicide is a mortal sin because it violates the sixth commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”  Also, anyone who assists in a suicide has committed a mortal sin. The RCC even goes so far as to say that a special place in hell is reserved for those who commit suicide but I think this comes from the book Inferno by Dante Aligheiri rather than dogma.
3. We are not catholics, so we have no official doctrinal declarations.  We go to the Word of God which is our standard for all matters of faith and doctrine.
4. The Bible teaches assurance of salvation:  by assurance of salvation we mean that once a person is saved, that saved person cannot commit any sin that will cause him to lose his salvation.
5. The reason that we cannot lose our salvation is because our salvation does not depend on what we do (our works) but on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary.  Jesus Christ secured for us eternal life and that life is eternal, it has no end.
6. In John 10:27-31, Jesus declared that “no man shall be able to pluck them out of my hand.” John 3:18 states that “he that believeth on Him is not condemned.” Romans 8:1 states: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.”
7. There is more:  Romans 8:38-39 is more precise: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, not depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
8. From these verses, it is clear that our salvation is secure.  You know this.  But I think your question is more like: do true christians commit suicide?
9. In the Bible, there are two recorded suicides:  King Saul of Israel in the OT and Judas Iscariot of the NT.
10. King Saul was saved: 1 Samuel 10:6 records that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul and he was turned into another man.  1 Samuel 10:9 states that “God gave him another heart.” These statements are similar to 2 Corinthians 5:17: “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”  And yet, King Saul’s later life was marked with backsliding that his mind and emotions were open to the influence of the devil.  In the end, instead of being captured by his enemies in battle, King Saul fell on his own sword. He led a life of rebellion against God that he lost his sense of who he was, a person loved and chosen by God.
11. Judas Iscariot ( Iscariot means “with a dagger”) was a partisan, an insurrectionist and zealot who believed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah who would bring back the kingdom to Israel.  He was so disappointed to learn that Jesus Christ fully intended to die on the cross and not reign as king that Judas Iscariot betrayed him.  Later, overcome with remorse for what he had done, he hanged himself.
12. Was Judas Iscariot saved?  Well, John the Beloved calls him “the son of perdition.”  He was a person who followed Jesus closely for three years but he had never believed that Jesus is the Son of God whose kingdom was not of this earth.  He believed that Jesus is the promised Prophet who will deliver Israel, but deliver Israel from Roman oppression and not deliver Israel from her sin.  He believed in Jesus Christ, but he did not believe in Him as His Savior.  Many people believe in Jesus Christ but they believe that Jesus Christ is one thing or another.  They do not believe and have never trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior, Redeemer and Lord. These are not true followers of Christ. They are not true believers.
13. Will a true believer commit suicide? If by “true believer” you mean a dedicated follower of Christ and not just a professing Christian or a nominal Christian, then I would have to say that only the Lord knows for sure.  I cannot read people’s hearts to see if they are true believers, if they truly believe in Jesus Christ to the saving of their soul. I cannot read their minds to see how they came to the conclusion that ending their life is their only option. But even true believers can be so overcome and overwhelmed by sin and the deceitfulness of sin that they listen to the devil’s lies and so lose all hope and see death as their only option.
14. We will have to wait for the Judgment Seat of Christ to see if that person who professed to be a Christian but committed suicide is actually a Christian.
15. The only thing I can say is that once we are saved,  no matter how much we live in sin, we cannot lose our salvation.  But we will lose our rewards. We will lose our close fellowship with God.  We cannot hear the comforting hope and guidance of the Holy Spirit in times of deep affliction.  These are the consequences of wilfully living in sin.
16. It doesn’t seem fair to most people that all saved people will be admitted into heaven even if they were not committed to follow and serve Christ after they got saved.  But they think this is unfair only because they don’t understand the Judgment Seat of Christ.
17. When we get to heaven, we can bring nothing with us.  What rewards Jesus Christ gives us are the only things we can offer back to God.  So, if you can imagine yourself standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ and everyone has some reward to offer back to Jesus Christ except you, then you can imagine the shame you would feel.  You will be in heaven, yes, but your hands will be empty for all eternity because you have nothing to show for your life. It’s the same disappointment a student feels when on graduation day, all his classmates received their certificates and also got awards except him.  He only got a certificate but he had no award.  He may be relieved that he graduated, but he cannot be truly happy because his lack of industry is on display for all to see.  This is probably why the Lord will have to “wipe the tears from their eyes.”

I hope I have relieved your mind.  I hope my answer has enlightened you somehow.  God bless you.