If Hitler, Mao, or Pol Pot repented at the hour of their deaths, are they now in Glory?
What many miss is that between repentance and forgiveness is penance. Highly unlikely any of these tyrants, including Chavez, passed through that stage.
"I don't want to die" is not repentent. The socialist tyrant is receiving his "reward"...
Exactly. I doubt the almighty can be outsmarted by a bedside conversion. Also, it’s barely loving and kind to wink at the suffering of the millions caused by those tyrants.
Penance? sorry I don’t buy that, at least not in God’s word. I don’t know what you’re reading.
Now, that being said, I also highly doubt any of these understood their need for a savior because their sin was an offense to a Holy God and the wrath of that Holy God rested upon them (John 3:36). But had they understood that...repented...and placed their faith in the finish work of Christ...then the Bible promises salvation. Too many have worldy sorry about their sin...and not Godly sorrow. They think, somehow, their righteousness makes them BETTER than those mentioned above...when in fact, all of our righteousness...the best part about us...is but filthy rags (IS 64:6). We are ALL unclean and need to be washed...and HIDDEN in the Blood of Christ.
Rewards? Not so much...but only as one escaping through the fire (1 Cor 3:15)
My Bible says Jesus Christ.
Are you saying that Christ's work on the cross isn't sufficient all by itself?
Interesting. Please explain the thief on the cross.
If so, Heaven has gone to Hell in a handbasket.
You posted, in part: What many miss is that between repentance and forgiveness is penance.
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Not to get all religious, but not everyone believes as you do (and that is perfectly ok by me, for the record).
My belief is that honest acknowledgment of God as God, and Christ as Savior, confessing one’s sins, is sufficient for salvation. I don’t know when the last shot at that is giving by God (I think of the parable of the workers in the vineyard, where the workers who show up just before quittin’
time get the same pay as those who were there all day— not sure when “quittin’ time” is...).
But not everyone believes as I do...
Jesus paid the price. But they have to accept His sacrifice. Having believed otherwise their entire lives, it is unlikely that they changed their minds at the last minute.
Could have happened, though, and if so he is now in Glory with God. However, I’m not expecting to see him when I get to Heaven.
If I do, I can only rejoice that God brought another sinner home. Whichever it is, though, he has decided his own eternal fate for himself.
What many miss is that between repentance and forgiveness is penance. Highly unlikely any of these tyrants, including Chavez, passed through that stage.
And the thief on the cross? How much penance did he have to do before he went to Paradise that day? Maybe he received a special dispensation because the college of cardinals were out of town at the time.
More of the foolish theology that Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t enough, man has to help in order for the cross to be fulfilled. Idiocy
Yes. As evidence, I would cite the parable about the workers in the vineyard, (Matthew 20:1-16), or the Good Thief.
But it's also true that those who are habituated to sin are unlikely to have a change of heart, in the end, which is one reason why it is wise to live a virtuous life.
What many miss is that between repentance and forgiveness is penance.
True. Which is a logical argument for the existence of a state of purification after death, i.e., Purgatory.
Matt. 12:32 – Jesus says, “And anyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but no one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven either in this world or in the next.”Jesus thus clearly provides that there exists the possibility of forgiveness after death.
The phrase “in the next” (from the Greek “en to mellonti”) generally refers to the afterlife (see, for example, Mark 10.30; Luke 18.30; 20.34-35; Eph. 1.21 for similar language). Forgiveness is not necessary in heaven, and there is no forgiveness in hell. This proves that there is another state after death, and the Church for 2,000 years has called this state purgatory.