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This is a deeply personal and difficult question, and many people have wrestled with it. The Bible teaches clearly that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and not by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9). When someone sincerely trusts in Christ as Savior and Lord, they are forgiven of all their sins—past, present, and future—based on the finished work of Jesus on the cross (Romans 8:1; John 10:27-29).
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Suicide is a serious sin because it is self-murder and contradicts God’s design for life (Exodus 20:13; Psalm 139:13-16). However, nowhere in Scripture does it teach that a true believer who sins, even in such a tragic way, loses their salvation. Eternal life is a gift from God that cannot be taken away by our failures (John 6:37-40; Romans 8:38-39).
“You shall not murder.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That said, suicide is never God's desire. It grieves Him and deeply wounds those left behind. If you or someone you know is struggling, please seek help and know that there is hope and forgiveness in Christ. Christians are called to care for one another and point each other back to the truth and love of Christ.
So, according to the Bible, a true believer who sadly commits suicide is still saved—not because suicide isn’t serious, but because our salvation rests on what Jesus has done, not on our ability to maintain perfect behavior (Romans 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The Bible introduces Joseph as the earthly father of Jesus—Mary’s husband, a righteous man, and a carpenter by trade (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7; Matthew 13:55). Joseph played a key role in the early life of Jesus: he cared for Mary, protected Jesus from King Herod by fleeing to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15), and raised Jesus in Nazareth (Matthew 2:19-23).
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
However, after the story of Jesus as a twelve-year-old in the temple (Luke 2:41-52), Joseph is not mentioned again in the accounts of Jesus’ adult ministry. The Bible doesn’t record how or when Joseph died. The most likely explanation—based on his absence in later narratives, such as the crucifixion, when Jesus entrusts Mary to John (John 19:26-27)—is that Joseph had died by that point.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
God used Joseph in a special way, but after fulfilling his role, Joseph quietly fades from the biblical record. We trust God’s wise sovereignty in this, knowing Joseph was faithful with the task God gave him.
1. What is “the place of the dead”?
In ancient Jewish thinking, “Sheol” (Hebrew) or “Hades” (Greek) was understood as the place all departed souls went—the righteous and unrighteous alike. But it wasn’t just one “room.” Jesus describes in (Luke 16:19-31) a great separation between the comfort of “Abraham’s side” (Paradise) for the faithful and a place of torment for the unrighteous.
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
2. What did Jesus do in those three days?
- 1 Peter 3:18–19 says Jesus was “made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.”
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
Most evangelical scholars believe this means that, during those three days, Jesus proclaimed His victory—both to the demonic powers that opposed God and to all the souls awaiting God’s judgment in the “place of the dead.”
- There is no scriptural evidence that Jesus offered a second chance for salvation to the dead. Instead, He declared His triumph (“It is finished!” John 19:30).
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
3. Did Jesus “lead the dead to Heaven”?
- Ephesians 4:8-10: “When He ascended on high, He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.”
Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
This echoes Psalm 68:18. Many Christians understand this to mean that, after Jesus’ resurrection, all those Old Testament believers who had trusted in God’s promises (Abraham, David, the prophets, etc.) were brought into God’s immediate presence. Before that, they were waiting in Paradise/Abraham’s bosom for the full payment for sin—Jesus’ death.
You ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
After Jesus rose from the grave, He opened Heaven’s gates for all who trust in Him, Old and New Testament alike (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
4. Why is this important?
- Jesus’ actions in those three days show His complete authority over death and hell (Revelation 1:18).
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
- It assures believers that when we die, we go immediately to be with Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23). There’s no waiting room now—thanks to the finished work of Christ!
Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Biblical summary:
- Paradise (“Abraham’s side”) existed for Old Testament saints until Christ’s sacrifice.
- Jesus’ death and resurrection opened direct access to God (Hebrews 10:19-20).
- Now, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” for all believers (2 Corinthians 5:8).
