Puritan teaching on SUICIDE
I. God Preserves His Elect from Self-murderRichard Baxter
"The elect are upheld by the power of God, so that though temptations to self-murder assault them, they are not left to perish in the sin.""Melancholy may tempt a saint, but the Lord restrains His own from the fatal stroke."
John Flavel
"Christ keeps His people from final ruin; He does not allow His chosen to end their days by their own hands.""A believer may be sorely shaken, but Christ interposes, or else Satan would drive them to utter destruction."
"The preserving grace of God stands between the tempted saint and the last disastrous act."
Thomas Brooks
"Though Satan tempts the saints to despair and destruction, Christ breaks the snare, and so preserves His jewels from self-violence.""None ever perished in sin who were truly Christ's, for His grace held them fast."
"Despair may assault a believer, but the Lord restrains the hand from the deed."
John Owen
"Such as are truly Christ's, He preserves infallibly; and therefore they cannot finally destroy themselves, for He will not allow His elect to die impenitent.""The saints may be tempted even to self-ruin, yet the covenant of grace secures them from such a fall."
"Christ's sheep are safe, though assaulted; they are preserved, though endangered."
II. A True Believer May Fall into Deep Temptation, but God Restrains the Hand
Thomas Watson
"The best hearts may have sad thoughts, yes, temptations to self-harm; but God keeps His people from running upon the sword of their own despair.""A saint may be under a cloud, yet God will not give them over to such a sin as ends their life."
John Bunyan
"When I was tempted to destroy myself, the Lord quietly preserved me, and kept my hand from the act.""Many of God's children have been assaulted with thoughts of self-violence, but the Lord kept them as brands from the fire."
"God's preserving grace is seen in this—that though I was driven to the brink, He did not allow me to commit suicide."
William Perkins
"The regenerate may have horrid thoughts by indwelling sin or Satan's injection, yet God restrains the will from consenting to the fatal sin.""The elect are preserved from dying in any unrepented sin, and self-murder is of that nature."
III. Suicide Is the Result of Unbelief—and God Preserves His Own Redeemed People from Damning Unbelief
Jonathan Edwards
"The true saint cannot finally fall away into destruction; therefore God preserves him from ending his days in so dreadful a sin.""Self-murder is the fruit of reigning despair; but despair cannot reign in one who is born of God."
Samuel Rutherford
"Christ keeps His own from the last leap into Hell.""Temptations may be many, but the Lord's hold is stronger than the devil's pull."
"The elect shall not die impenitent; the Good Shepherd loses none of His flock."
IV. Puritan Pastoral Explanations
John Flavel
"Christ's intercession keeps the saints from destroying themselves."Thomas Brooks
"A believer may fall sadly, but not finally; he may be tempted to self-destruction, but Christ breaks the weapon in their hand."John Owen
"Perseverance is the guardian grace; therefore no elect person can be left to perish by self-murder, for God always perfects the work He begins."
V. Conclusion
Suicide is sin (Exodus 20:13).
Believers may be fiercely tempted (Psalm 42; 2 Corinthians 1:8).
Yet God preserves His elect from dying in unrepentant sin, including self-murder (John 10:28–29; Philippians 1:6; Jude 24).
Perseverance of the saints guarantees preservation from final, soul-destroying acts.
Thus the Puritans taught: True Christians are kept from perishing by their own hand, not because of their strength, but because of God's preserving grace.
WHY God Preserves His People from Committing Suicide
1. Because Christ purchased their perseverance
Philippians 1:6 — "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion."
John 10:27–29 — Christ gives eternal life; His sheep "shall NEVER perish."
Suicide is an impenitent act. But Christ's atonement includes the preservation of His people from dying in any damning, final rebellion.
The atonement secures both perseverance and preservation.
God preserves His elect because Christ purchased not only their forgiveness, but their perseverance.
2. Because the Spirit indwells them to KEEP them (Ephesians 1:13–14)
The Spirit is the Seal and Guarantee—not a passive presence.
He preserves the faith of God's people and restrains them from final apostasy.
Jude 24 — "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling…"
If God keeps His people from final stumbling, then He keeps them from final self-destruction.
3. Because suicide violates God's moral law, and God keeps His elect from dying in unrepentant sin
Suicide breaks the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13) and is an act of self-murder.
God's promise to His elect is that they will not die in unrepented rebellion:
1 John 5:18 "We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but He who was born of God keeps him…"
Meaning: God does not allow His regenerate children to be "kept in" a sin that leads to eternal ruin.
Since suicide is a final, unrepentable sin, God keeps His elect from perishing in it.
4. Because God ALWAYS provides the way of escape from every temptation
1 Corinthians 10:13 "God is faithful… with the temptation He will provide the way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it."
Suicide is a temptation to destruction (John 10:10).
God promises:
temptation will never be irresistible,
escape will always be provided,
perseverance will always be supplied.
So the elect are not abandoned to self-murder.
5. Because the Good Shepherd actively protects His sheep from Satanic attack
Suicide is a Satanic temptation toward destruction (John 8:44).
But Christ says: John 17:12 — "I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost…"
1 Peter 1:5 — believers are "kept by the power of God."
The Shepherd guards them from ultimate self-destruction, including suicide.
SUMMARY. WHY God preserves His elect from suicide:
Christ purchased their perseverance (Philippians 1:6).
The Spirit keeps them (Jude 24).
God prevents His elect from dying impenitently (1 John 5:18).
God always provides an escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The Shepherd guards His sheep (John 17:12).
HOW God Preserves True Christians from Committing Suicide
1. God preserves His people by restraining the hand even when the mind is assaulted
Believers can experience despair (Psalm 42:5), overwhelming anguish (2 Corinthians 1:8), or even desire for death (Numbers 11:15; 1 Kings 19:4; Job 6:8–9).
Yet in every biblical example, God intervenes and restrains the act, preserving His elect.
Moses despaired; God intervened (Numbers 11:16–17).
Elijah wished for death; God strengthened him (1 Kings 19:4–8).
Paul "despaired of life itself;" God delivered him (2 Corinthians 1:8–10).
David cried from the pit; God delivered him (Psalm 40:1–3).
Every saint tempted to self-destruction in Scripture is preserved.
None actually murder themselves.
God restrains His elect from final suicide.
2. God preserves His people by sustaining their faith
Suicide is the fruit of collapsing faith into full despair.
But true saving faith is sustained by God Himself:
Luke 22:32 — "I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail."
Hebrews 12:2 — Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith.
Because Christ sustains their faith, He prevents the act that springs from faith's collapse.
3. God preserves His people by the ordinary means of grace
Scripture (Psalm 19:7–8)
Prayer (Hebrews 4:16)
The church (Hebrews 10:24–25)
Discipline and shepherding
Providential comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)
By these means, God strengthens weak saints and restrains destructive despair.
4. God preserves His people through His providential intervention
Providence is not passive; it actively keeps the elect.
Psalm 121:7 — "The LORD will keep you from all evil; He will keep your soul."
This includes:
preventing the opportunity,
breaking the plan,
sending help,
interrupting circumstances,
imparting sudden conviction,
sending a believer at the exact moment.
God's Providence is usually invisible, but His preservation is always deliberate.
5. God preserves His people by making suicide inconsistent with the regenerate nature
1 John 3:9 — "No one born of God makes a practice of sin…"
The regenerate nature cannot settle into, rest in, or complete a sin that leads to final destruction—because the Spirit wars against the flesh (Galatians 5:17).
SUMMARY. HOW God preserves His elect from suicide:
He restrains the act, when tempted (1 Kings 19).
He sustains faith (Luke 22:32).
He strengthens through means of grace (Psalm 19:7–8).
He intervenes providentially (Psalm 121:7).
He makes the act inconsistent with the new nature (Galatians 5:17).
Scripture does not give a single case of a true believer committing suicide.
Scripture only gives cases where God PRESERVES them from suicide.Therefore: The regenerate may be deeply assaulted in mind; but God's preserving grace keeps them from final destruction.
WHY Professing Christians and Pastors Are Committing Suicide at Alarming Rates Today
I. The Biblical Reasons Why We Are Seeing Rising Suicide among "Christians" and Pastors
1. Because many professing Christians today are FALSE convertsChrist Himself warned:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord'…'" — Matthew 7:21–23
"They went out from us because they were not of us." — 1 John 2:19
"In the last days… people will have the appearance of godliness but deny its power." — 2 Timothy 3:1–5
False conversion produces false hope, false peace, and no preserving grace.
A man-made conversion cannot sustain the soul in dark hours.
2. Because many pastors today are unregenerate and emotionally fragileBiblical pastors must be:
qualified (1 Timothy 3:1–7; Titus 1:5–9)
theologically grounded (Titus 1:9)
courageous (2 Timothy 1:7–8)
tested (1 Timothy 3:10)
The modern evangelical industrial machine often ordains:
the immature,
the untrained,
the unexamined,
the unbroken,
the unsanctified,
the unconverted.
When men enter the ministry without a calling from God, or regeneration, they collapse under burdens they cannot bear.
3. Because therapeutic evangelicalism has replaced biblical discipleship
Instead of teaching:
sin,
holiness,
mortification,
repentance,
perseverance,
self-denial,
suffering well.
We now hear:
"Your mental health is your first priority."
"Jesus wants you to be happy."
This produces fragile souls with no categories for suffering, and therefore no categories for endurance.
But Scripture says:
"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom." — Acts 14:22
"Do not be surprised at the fiery trial." — 1 Peter 4:12
"Rejoice in sufferings, for suffering produces endurance." — Romans 5:3–4
Modern Christians are not taught to endure, but to escape.
4. Because most evangelicalism openly denies or avoids the doctrine of perseverance
Biblical perseverance is not taught in modern pulpits because it requires:
holiness,
self-denial,
vigilance,
warfare,
dependence on God,
and the fear of God.
Jude says:
"Keep yourselves in the love of God." — Jude 21
"He is able to keep you from stumbling." — Jude 24
Both are true simultaneously.
But modern preaching only affirms a distorted "grace" that:
requires nothing,
expects nothing,
produces nothing.
Thus, when despair comes—there is no anchor.
5. Because churches have replaced biblical hope with sentimental theories
Instead of proclaiming:
God's sovereignty,
God's providence,
Christ's sufficiency,
God's faithfulness,
the Spirit's help,
the believer's preservation,
the benefits of trials.
Pastors preach vapid therapeutic sentimentality.
When real darkness comes—sentiment evaporates.
6. Because modern funerals preach the unconverted into Heaven, and preach suicide as a shortcut to paradise
This is profoundly unbiblical.
Scripture says:
"You shall not murder." — Exodus 20:13
"No murderer has eternal life abiding in him." — 1 John 3:15 (referring to unrepentant murderers)
"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning . . ." — John 8:44
"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur." — Revelation 21:8
"Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." — Revelation 22:15
When pastors confidently preach a suicide into Heaven:they contradict Scripture,
they contradict church history,
they give false assurance to the grieving,
and they subtly teach the lie: "You can escape your misery and go straight to glory."
This is damning.
II. Why Modern Pastors Preach Suicides into Heaven
1. Because they fear man more than God
Proverbs 29:25 — "The fear of man lays a snare."
They fear:
the family's anger,
the congregation's reaction,
social media outrage,
appearing "unloving."
They do not fear God.
2. Because they no longer truly believe in HellThey won't admit it—but they preach as though:
Hell is empty,
judgment is symbolic,
God is soft,
sin is psychological.
This is not Christianity—it is universalism wrapped in evangelical clothing.
3. Because they do not believe in the perseverance of the saintsIf they did, they would preach:
God preserves His elect.
The regenerate are kept from final self-destruction.
But they cannot preach this because it openly contradicts their "unconditional assurance without perseverance" theology.
4. Because sympathy has replaced ScriptureSympathy is vital.
But sympathy without truth becomes sentimentality, and sentimentality becomes damning error.
Isaiah condemned such shepherds:
"They heal the wound of My people lightly, saying 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace." — Jeremiah 6:14
III. Bottom Line
Yes—most modern evangelicalism is indirectly encouraging suicide.
Not by intention, but by:
Denying the necessity of perseverance.
Preaching universalism in disguise (Heaven is the default destiny of virtually everyone who dies.)
Removing fear of judgment.
Elevating feelings over Scripture.
Promising Heaven without holiness.
Refusing to warn.
Refusing to preach the severity of self-murder.
Refusing to preach biblical suffering.
Turning funerals into eulogies instead of sober warnings.
Declaring people saved on the basis of sentiment.
This is pastoral malpractice of the gravest kind.
Puritans would have thundered against it.
IV. Puritan Voices
John Owen
"To promise Heaven without evidence, is to harden multitudes in sin and to make the way to Hell easy."Richard Baxter
"Presumption of salvation is the mother of destruction.""He who dies in the act of self-murder, gives the greatest evidence of being without saving grace."
(The above was AI generated)