“but I wonder if sinners have one more chance at redemption when they stand in front of God and have to explain themselves.
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“it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. No explanation.”
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I try to run my life as if in everything I do, a post-death Uber is there in the corner with the Lord, and has to explain every critical decision made through his life, now with full knowledge of event details and eventual ramifications.
May or may not be the case, but it sure makes you do your best in everyday life knowing you might have to explain yourself. After a while, you do start making pretty good decisions.
Just my $.03.
That’s a good approach to life and decisions. I’m hoping the gates will just swing wide open when I arrive, as I’d rather not have to explain anything in front of God when my time comes. But I’m an imperfect person and I imagine there will be questions. I hope they will be few and minor.
I can’t get past Jesus on the cross saying, about the soldiers who nailed him to the cross, “Forgive them. They know not what they do.” That statement suggests that there may be room for forgiveness and/or redemption for evil acts if a person is ignorant that they were doing evil/harm. I’m not a biblical scholar though. It’s really best that, like you, Uber-Eng, I try to live as blameless a life as I can.
Biblical fact is faith is what justifies. It is also how the sheep and the goats are separated. You have to stand for your actions, but the faithful are judged on the Lord's work by faith and thankfully not our own efforts.