No only did Samson in the Bible take his own life, this act was called an act of faith in Hebrews 11. By today’s standards it would have been labeled an act of terrorism.
God has different standards than we do.
Usually someone choosing to die is an act of selfishness. It is the culmination of selfishness without considering the needs of others who will be impacted. Usually this act is properly called “murder” which is something uncharacteristic of a child of God.
1 John 3:15
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
How about those who jumped out of the windows of the twin towers to escape the flame? They probably knew they were jumping to their deaths. I don’t think anyone can blames someone for running away from severe pain. And suicide is usually similar to this in nature.
This is not an excuse for those who do such things, but we need to be careful not to use a broad brush to address delicate issues such as this.
When someone commits suicide it is not Biblical to say that person automatically must go to Hell. That is up to God. He knows everyone’s hearts. On the other hand, it does cause those left behind grief over whether we may have failed to help such people and whether they are lost forever because we have difficulty being certain of someone’s salvation when that person’s life is ended in such a away.
And also, those contemplating suicide should never rely on the theology of “once saved always saved” to think some act of conversion is their get-out-of-hell-free card. Salvation is about a genuine relationship with Christ, not getting fire insurance. There will be plenty of people on judgment day expecting to escape judgment but discover to their shock and horror that Christ says, “I never knew you, depart from Me.”
Suicide is NOT the way anyone wants to face God.
BM