Do Actions have Long Term Consequences?

[leftrightleftrightleft]

I've been going on a bit of a thread-burst lately all related to actions and works. This will hopefully be my last one

Simple question: do actions have long term consequences?

As in, do actions have eternal consequences?

To me, according to Christian theology, there is only one action you can perform which has any eternal consequence: believing/accepting Jesus is Lord.

The other actions you do may be GOOD actions. You may want to do them. You may want to do them so that you can bring joy to other people. You may want to do them to please God. You may do them because you want to follow Jesus' example. You may want to do them because you're bursting at the seems with God's love and compassion. You may do them purely because they make you feel happy and content. These are all GOOD reasons. But, as a Christian, I think it seems quite clear that you shouldn't be doing them in order to "earn" merit and "earn" eternal life, right?

So, despite all these good reasons for doing good actions. Do these actions actually have any long term consequences? In the long run, with Jesus helping you, you make it to heaven and receive eternal life. So, in the long run, helping Grandma Jane bring her groceries in or helping Stranger Bob when he fell down the stairs has no consequence to your eternal well-being. Nor does it have any consequence to Grandma Jane and Stranger Bob's eternal well-being.

Thoughts?

 

[drich0150]

I've been going on a bit of a thread-burst lately all related to actions and works. This will hopefully be my last one

Simple question: do actions have long term consequences?

As in, do actions have eternal consequences?

It depends on which side of grace you stand on.
If you have found the forgiveness offered by Christ, then no. If not then your sins do indeed have an eternal consequence.

To me, according to Christian theology, there is only one action you can perform which has any eternal consequence: believing/accepting Jesus is Lord.

But, as a Christian, I think it seems quite clear that you shouldn't be doing them in order to "earn" merit and "earn" eternal life, right?

Good deeds do not "earn" you a place in heaven. Good deed do however allow you to store up eternal rewards.

So, despite all these good reasons for doing good actions. Do these actions actually have any long term consequences? In the long run, with Jesus helping you, you make it to heaven and receive eternal life. So, in the long run, helping Grandma Jane bring her groceries in or helping Stranger Bob when he fell down the stairs has no consequence to your eternal well-being. Nor does it have any consequence to Grandma Jane and Stranger Bob's eternal well-being.

Thoughts?

[/QUOTE]
Getting into heaven is not the ultimate goal. For we are told there are many who will enter heaven with nothing. "as one escaping from a fire with nothing more the the cloths on their back." So in a sense someone like that will be like an eternal beggar on the streets of heaven.

The Goal is to get into Heaven with enough "reward" to be close to God as possible.

 

[Emmy]

Dear Leftrightleftrightleft. Jesus died that we might live. God is our Heavenly Father, who wants us back, to live with Him and eachother for eternity. Jesus told us: " Be ye perfect as God is perfect." God is Love. Jesus told us in Matthew: " The first Commandment is : Love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds. The second is like it: Love our neighbour as ourselves. On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Love is of major importance, Love does not only feel good, Love is also a doing-word, and Love changes people and many happenings. God does not only want loving actions from us, ( long term or short term) God wants us to become loving and caring sons and daughters, to be with eternally. We have years to become better and better, and Jesus promised us His Love and Joy, and the Holy Spirit will give us His Love, also. We are on Earth to learn to love and care: Love God our Heavenly Father with all our beings, and love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Needless to point out: God wants selfless Love, and freely given.
Do actions have long term consequences? Loving and caring actions will always bring blessings and rewards, and unloving, or even worse actions will bring fitting consequences. Blessings immediately and fitting consequences at the right and appropiate times. I say this with love, leftright. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

It depends on which side of grace you stand on.
If you have found the forgiveness offered by Christ, then no. If not then your sins do indeed have an eternal consequence.

So if you are a Christian, then your actions don't have eternal consequence.

If you are a non-Christian, then only your bad actions have eternal consequences. Good actions count for nothing. Seems a bit unfair to me.

To me, according to Christian theology, there is only one action you can perform which has any eternal consequence: believing/accepting Jesus is Lord.

This, to me, is really depressing. There's only one thing you do that matters. The one cause for the eternal effect. I feel like reality should be more multifaceted than that. I feel like life should have more purpose than one single action. It seems too black and white when our world is full of shades of grey.

Good deeds do not "earn" you a place in heaven. Good deed do however allow you to store up eternal rewards.

Can you elaborate on what these "eternal rewards" are?

Getting into heaven is not the ultimate goal. For we are told there are many who will enter heaven with nothing. "as one escaping from a fire with nothing more the the cloths on their back." So in a sense someone like that will be like an eternal beggar on the streets of heaven.

This is an interesting concept that I've never heard before. If heaven is not the ultimate goal, then what is the ultimate goal? What determines the ultimate goal? All my threads relating to works/actions have been centered on the fact that eternal life in heaven is the ultimate goal. If it isn't, then this changes everything.

Also, I thought one of the definitions of heaven was that it was perfect. A socially stratified heaven doesn't seem like its perfect because then there are some that are better than others.

What determines whether you build up "eternal rewards"? How can a Christian ensure that they are not a beggar on the streets of heaven?

The Goal is to get into Heaven with enough "reward" to be close to God as possible.

This is the ultimate goal? So actions do matter? You just said earlier that, according to Christian theology, there is only one thing that matters: belief in Jesus Christ. But apparently that isn't enough if the ultimate goal is to get as close to God as possible. Because you've just said that belief in Jesus Christ can leave you a beggar in heaven, far from God. So clearly there are more things of consequence that you can do to get closer to God other than simply believing in Jesus Christ.

Please elaborate. Your theology intrigues me with its contradictions.

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

Do actions have long term consequences? Loving and caring actions will always bring blessings and rewards, and unloving, or even worse actions will bring fitting consequences.

Can you elaborate on these "blessings and rewards" that come from loving and caring actions? Are these blessings and rewards eternal? How so?

Blessings immediately and fitting consequences at the right and appropiate times.

I'm not sure that this is a sentence. I'm not sure what you're trying to say.

 

[drich0150]

So if you are a Christian, then your actions don't have eternal consequence.

If you are a non-Christian, then only your bad actions have eternal consequences. Good actions count for nothing. Seems a bit unfair to me.

"good actions" do not count towards righteousness. Meaning they are not the reason you get into heaven. They are what can potentially help you build a relationship with God.

This, to me, is really depressing. There's only one thing you do that matters. The one cause for the eternal effect. I feel like reality should be more multifaceted than that. I feel like life should have more purpose than one single action. It seems too black and white when our world is full of shades of grey.

Christ just tells us in Mat 6 to store up our treasure in Heaven. But be warned not to do your good deeds for the express purpose of being seen by men, or you will have no reward in Heaven.
(Read mat 6)

Can you elaborate on what these "eternal rewards" are?

Your position or place in Heaven. some speculate it as a job or having to do with your relationship with God other seem to want to gravitate toward more material things.

This is an interesting concept that I've never heard before. If heaven is not the ultimate goal, then what is the ultimate goal?

Relationship with God.

What determines the ultimate goal?

God does. Based on what you are faithful with in this life.
(Read the Whole of Mt 25) Pay close attention to the parables of the talents(bags of gold) and the reward to the servants faithfulness to that money.

All my threads relating to works/actions have been centered on the fact that eternal life in heaven is the ultimate goal. If it isn't, then this changes everything.

Maybe this is why you believe things to be unfair.. If you view Heaven as a reward, and Christ's atonement can not be earned, then I can see some level of frustration with that.
Heaven can't be bought because nothing we do can be considered righteous enough to deserve Heaven.

However when we give truthfully and completely from the Heart it changes us and our disposition and helps us become more aware of God. As we come more aware we can benefit more. I can only imagine how this effects our eternal lives.

Also, I thought one of the definitions of heaven was that it was perfect. A socially stratified heaven doesn't seem like its perfect because then there are some that are better than others.

Do you think Heaven is what is flawed or those who populate it are?
Again if Heaven is not the ultimate goal then the "perfection" Heaven may or may not contain becomes a non issue. Only God is Perfect. Our ultimate Goal is God, not Heaven. Heaven is simply the place where God lives. Or exposure to God is determined on how much of God we can understand or process. This is largely determined by the relationship you forge with Him in this life.

What determines whether you build up "eternal rewards"? How can a Christian ensure that they are not a beggar on the streets of heaven?

Again Read Mt 6

This is the ultimate goal?

Your relationship with God is the ultimate Goal, and our Greatest Command.

So actions do matter?

Not in so far as salvation is concerned.

You just said earlier that, according to Christian theology, there is only one thing that matters: belief in Jesus Christ.

In so far as salvation is concerned yes.

But apparently that isn't enough if the ultimate goal is to get as close to God as possible.

It truly depends on who you are talking to. For the lost, salvation is paramount. For the saved relationship is paramount. There is no need to speak to the lost about the rewards of the saved.
Once we are saved then it becomes a matter of "what we do."

Because you've just said that belief in Jesus Christ can leave you a beggar in heaven, far from God.

I said if Heaven is your only goal then Heaven is what you will get as a beggar on the streets of Heaven. Perhaps if you are not working on your relationship with God, and If you are looking to be a death bed convert then this is what your heaven will be like..

So clearly there are more things of consequence that you can do to get closer to God other than simply believing in Jesus Christ.

You need to understand that Heaven is a goal, just not our ultimate goal. Without Christ Heaven becomes unattainable. The second thing, is filling our after life with "treasure." You can not fill you after life without first obtaining the salvation offered by Christ.

Please elaborate. Your theology intrigues me with its contradictions.

This is why unbelievers are only privy to one aspect of "salvation" at a time. It's all too much for you to take in all at once. let me know if you need more help.

 

[bling]

I've been going on a bit of a thread-burst lately all related to actions and works. This will hopefully be my last one

Simple question: do actions have long term consequences?

As in, do actions have eternal consequences?

To me, according to Christian theology, there is only one action you can perform which has any eternal consequence: believing/accepting Jesus is Lord.

The other actions you do may be GOOD actions. You may want to do them. You may want to do them so that you can bring joy to other people. You may want to do them to please God. You may do them because you want to follow Jesus' example. You may want to do them because you're bursting at the seems with God's love and compassion. You may do them purely because they make you feel happy and content. These are all GOOD reasons. But, as a Christian, I think it seems quite clear that you shouldn't be doing them in order to "earn" merit and "earn" eternal life, right?

So, despite all these good reasons for doing good actions. Do these actions actually have any long term consequences? In the long run, with Jesus helping you, you make it to heaven and receive eternal life. So, in the long run, helping Grandma Jane bring her groceries in or helping Stranger Bob when he fell down the stairs has no consequence to your eternal well-being. Nor does it have any consequence to Grandma Jane and Stranger Bob's eternal well-being.

Thoughts?

You did very well, but it is not complete.

As soon as we humbly accept God’s free gift (charity) of God’s forgiveness, we are not taken up to heaven, but have the privilege and honor of allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to work through us to serve others and thus share in His glory by being close to Him.

We are given lots of wonderful things we can do that we be rewarding (provide purpose and meaning to our lives), challenging, interesting, growing , joyous and working with the power of the Spirit can be very exciting.

The problem is we still have free will and can quench the spirit at any time (take control and do what we carnally want). Over time if we give up doing all this wonderful stuff we will wind up sowing bad seed again and we can give up our harvest (God is not taking our birthright away it is us giving it up Gal. 6: 9).

So these good actions we do after becoming a Christian with a birth right that includes heaven is not for us to earn anything, but it does help us from losing interest in Godly type Love, God and heaven to the point it is worthless to us and we give it up.

 

[salida]

Being good or bad natured which leads to doing good or bad things without Christ in ones life won't give you eternal life. Its a redemptive issue.

http://carm.org/christianity/christian-doctrine/why-did-jesus-have-die-our-sins
　
God is a righteous Judge and His justice needs to be satisfied by having a penalty paid for our sins or "lawless deeds".

The only way that debt could be paid is 2 ways; if we pay it ourselves by suffering eternal separation from God or if God provided a substitute who had no sin debt of His own to take our penalty on the cross.

Are you a good person? www.livingwaters.com/good/
Can you keep the 10 commandments 100% of the time all the time? So, have you ever lied or steal something or break any of these commandments once in your life? If the answer is yes-than you are guilty.
We are all guilty. Only Jesus kept these. Also, if a doctor had just one cure for you to live would you tell him no?

Doing good deeds will benefit others and the community on earth but again this won't give you eternal life.

 

[GrayAngel]

The afterlife is not the same for all people. First, we are separated into Heaven and Hell based on faith, but judgement doesn't stop there. The people in Hell receive a certain degree of punishment depending on what they had done in their lives. Meanwhile, the people in Heaven are rewarded based on what they had done. What those rewards are, nobody knows.

 

[razeontherock]

I've been going on a bit of a thread-burst lately all related to actions and works. This will hopefully be my last one

Simple question: do actions have long term consequences?

As in, do actions have eternal consequences?

To me, according to Christian theology, there is only one action you can perform which has any eternal consequence: believing/accepting Jesus is Lord.

The other actions you do may be GOOD actions. You may want to do them. You may want to do them so that you can bring joy to other people. You may want to do them to please God. You may do them because you want to follow Jesus' example. You may want to do them because you're bursting at the seems with God's love and compassion. You may do them purely because they make you feel happy and content. These are all GOOD reasons. But, as a Christian, I think it seems quite clear that you shouldn't be doing them in order to "earn" merit and "earn" eternal life, right?

So, despite all these good reasons for doing good actions. Do these actions actually have any long term consequences? In the long run, with Jesus helping you, you make it to heaven and receive eternal life. So, in the long run, helping Grandma Jane bring her groceries in or helping Stranger Bob when he fell down the stairs has no consequence to your eternal well-being. Nor does it have any consequence to Grandma Jane and Stranger Bob's eternal well-being.

Thoughts?

We don't truly know. We should be able to deduce, from Scripture, that the time will come when we will regret every decision that resulted in us not doing good things that furthered the Gospel.

Yes, consequences to our actions is the most basic teaching of the Bible.

 

[zaksmummy]

I think you need to understand what the word "faith" means. It does not mean believing, this is what many people think it means, but it doesnt.

The word faith is a verb, a doing word. So when you act in faith you do something. This is why the Apostle James said "faith without works is dead". You cannot have faith and sit back and wait to die to get into heaven.

God expects that you will do good things to help your fellow man. This comes from the two primary commandments - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbour as yourself. Jesus said that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

Have you read the parable of the sheep and the goats? They all believed but only the sheep actually made it to heaven because of what they had done.

this might help you understand

The Sheep and the Goats - Keith Green - YouTube

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

I think you need to understand what the word "faith" means. It does not mean believing, this is what many people think it means, but it doesnt.

The word faith is a verb, a doing word.

Faith is a noun. The following sentences aren't proper English:

"I faithed once, but haven't in the last few years."

"I was going to faith, but then I found some contrary evidence."

"Was she truly faithing? If so, that's awesome"

"You must faith in Jesus Christ in order to gain eternal life."

Faith is a noun.

"Believe" is a verb. If you insert "believe" into the above sentences in place of "faith" then you have some sentences that make sense.

What I'm saying in this thread is that from the Christian perspective it seems that "to believe in Jesus" is the only action which has long-term consequences. The rest don't really matter. So long as heaven is your only goal.

 

[Lindas Place]

I've been going on a bit of a thread-burst lately all related to actions and works. This will hopefully be my last one

Simple question: do actions have long term consequences?

As in, do actions have eternal consequences?

To me, according to Christian theology, there is only one action you can perform which has any eternal consequence: believing/accepting Jesus is Lord.

The other actions you do may be GOOD actions. You may want to do them. You may want to do them so that you can bring joy to other people. You may want to do them to please God. You may do them because you want to follow Jesus' example. You may want to do them because you're bursting at the seems with God's love and compassion. You may do them purely because they make you feel happy and content. These are all GOOD reasons. But, as a Christian, I think it seems quite clear that you shouldn't be doing them in order to "earn" merit and "earn" eternal life, right?

So, despite all these good reasons for doing good actions. Do these actions actually have any long term consequences? In the long run, with Jesus helping you, you make it to heaven and receive eternal life. So, in the long run, helping Grandma Jane bring her groceries in or helping Stranger Bob when he fell down the stairs has no consequence to your eternal well-being. Nor does it have any consequence to Grandma Jane and Stranger Bob's eternal well-being.

Thoughts?

his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; HE HIMSELF WILL BE SAVED, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3 13-15

 

[Emmy]

Dear leftrightleftrightleft. Do actions have long Term Consequences? If they are good actions, like loving and caring for all we know and all we meet, whether friends or not friends, then we will have Blessings. If they are selfish, or unloving actions, then we will have fitting consequences. I am talking of God`s eternal Law of Justice, and the world knows it as: "What ye Sow ye will also Reap." Do Good and you will have Good done back to you, do wrong or unkind actions, and you will have the fitting consequences. Good for Good, and Bad for Bad. God`s Law is always working, but sometimes it may take longer than other times, for the Good, or the Bad to come to you, but we may be sure, that all rewards, (good or bad) will come at the perfect time. Will they be Long Term Consequences?? It depends how quickly the appropiate lessons are learned. I say this with love, leftright. Greetings from Emmy, sister in Christ.

 

[zaksmummy]

Faith is a noun. The following sentences aren't proper English:

"I faithed once, but haven't in the last few years."

"I was going to faith, but then I found some contrary evidence."

"Was she truly faithing? If so, that's awesome"

"You must faith in Jesus Christ in order to gain eternal life."

Faith is a noun.

"Believe" is a verb. If you insert "believe" into the above sentences in place of "faith" then you have some sentences that make sense.

What I'm saying in this thread is that from the Christian perspective it seems that "to believe in Jesus" is the only action which has long-term consequences. The rest don't really matter. So long as heaven is your only goal.

In Hebrew, which is the language the OT was written in, and which Jesus and the Apostles thought in, faith is a verb.

Regardless of what Christians believe, it is more important what God says on the matter and he says that there is more to life than waiting to die and go to heaven, he says that what we do here and now have eternal consequences, and that we are to love and care for our fellow man, and we will be judged on that as well.

There is no dichotomy here - In the sheep and the goats parable Jesus said that if you love your neighbour you are showing love for him, which is how eternal life is gained.

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

Dear leftrightleftrightleft. Do actions have long Term Consequences? If they are good actions, like loving and caring for all we know and all we meet, whether friends or not friends, then we will have Blessings. If they are selfish, or unloving actions, then we will have fitting consequences. I am talking of God`s eternal Law of Justice, and the world knows it as: "What ye Sow ye will also Reap." Do Good and you will have Good done back to you, do wrong or unkind actions, and you will have the fitting consequences. Good for Good, and Bad for Bad. God`s Law is always working, but sometimes it may take longer than other times, for the Good, or the Bad to come to you, but we may be sure, that all rewards, (good or bad) will come at the perfect time. Will they be Long Term Consequences?? It depends how quickly the appropiate lessons are learned. I say this with love, leftright. Greetings from Emmy, sister in Christ.

If heaven is perfect then there cannot be a "better" heaven and a "lesser" heaven. This defeats the definition of heaven being perfect. So, if good actions lead to differing rewards in heaven, this makes no sense because it implies some sort of stratification in heaven based on works.

If you're implying that good actions lead to good blessings in this life then I can tell you this is quite patently false. The evil become rich and powerful. Some of the nicest, most wholesome, most helpful (Christian) people I know have had the worst calamities befall them. I thought the Christian idea of grace was supposed to compensate for this injustice by saying that the poor will be rewarded in heaven.

 

[leftrightleftrightleft]

In Hebrew, which is the language the OT was written in, and which Jesus and the Apostles thought in, faith is a verb.

But we aren't talking in Hebrew. We are talking in English. Faith is a noun. Look in a dictionary. If faith is a verb in Hebrew then it would be better to translate it as "to believe". In fact, the root for "faith" in Hebrew is "aman". The word "aman" in the Bible is translated as "faith", "believe", "nursing", "faithful", "assurance". So clearly the Hebrew word "aman" can be applied as a noun, verb or adjective. Because of the ambiguity of Hebrew, I don't think saying "Faith is a verb" adds anything to the discussion.

Regardless, I have already said that there is only one action which you must perform that has any long term consequence: to believe in Jesus Christ. If you insist that faith is a verb then I will continue to say the same thing. There is only one action you must perform that has any long term consequence: to faith in Jesus Christ.

Regardless of what Christians believe, it is more important what God says on the matter and he says that there is more to life than waiting to die and go to heaven

Eternity is a long time. It seems that, if you believe heaven is eternal, then life IS all about waiting to get to heaven because the time spent on Earth is totally inconsequential when compared to eternity.

he says that what we do here and now have eternal consequences

Care to elaborate on these eternal consequences?

and that we are to love and care for our fellow man, and we will be judged on that as well.

How will we be judged on this? Isn't there just a heaven/hell dichotomy? You're either in or you're out? If you're in then heaven is a perfect place of eternal relationship with God. If you're out, then hell is a terrible place where you are eternally devoid of God.

If you're in via your action of believing in Jesus, then that's all that matters. How can you be judged further? If you can be judged further then heaven is imperfect and no different than Earth.

There is no dichotomy here - In the sheep and the goats parable Jesus said that if you love your neighbour you are showing love for him, which is how eternal life is gained.

So showing love to my neighbor will get me to heaven? I was under the impression that Christians thought they were saved by grace. I didn't think you could "gain" eternal life by merit or action. But your quote says otherwise?

 

[razeontherock]

In Hebrew, which is the language the OT was written in, and which Jesus and the Apostles thought in, faith is a verb.

Regardless of what Christians believe, it is more important what God says on the matter and he says that there is more to life than waiting to die and go to heaven, he says that what we do here and now have eternal consequences, and that we are to love and care for our fellow man, and we will be judged on that as well.

There is no dichotomy here - In the sheep and the goats parable Jesus said that if you love your neighbour you are showing love for him, which is how eternal life is gained.

This gets my hearty amen, all except for the final 7 words I emphasized. Not sure that parts works like a formula the way this reads to me, but I expect your own understanding of what you mean lines up to the Word ...

 

[Lindas Place]

There is no dichotomy here - In the sheep and the goats parable Jesus said that if you love your neighbour you are showing love for him, which is how eternal life is gained.

You see works as the difference between the people at the right and the left side of God. I see the difference is that God blessed the people on His right hand and those on the left were not blessed. You seem to think the people on the right "earned" the blessing. I don't think we can earn God's blessing.

Matthew 25:34
“Then the King will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

The difference was the blessing.

Romans 4

4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

 

[hedrick]

There are relevant pieces in several of the postings. Pretty clearly, one either goes to hell or not.

However there are still consequences.

For others:
* We are responsible for being Christ's agents. If we don't do our job, some people aren't reached.

For us:
* There are suggestions in several places that there are differing levels of honor.

* Little is said about what happens right after you die. While we have confidence that God will forgive us, that doesn't instantly get rid of the consequences of our actions. Paul speaks of being saved, but like someone who just makes it through the fire, burned. That suggests some kind of judgement or consequences. Also, my suspicion is that where we alienated people, we're going to have to do the same thing we would in this life: take responsibility for our actions and become reconciled to them.

* The issue isn't just actions, but how our characters develop. I assume that we go into eternity with the same basic characters we had here. While we believe that all of our sins will be forgiven, their effects on our characters still have to be dealt with.

People ask whether Hitler could find himself in heaven if he repented at the last minute. In theory the answer is yes. But there are two qualifications:

* Actions affect our development, just as our character is reflected in actions. While there is no sin that can't be forgiven, the effect of continuing sin on our character makes it unlikely that Hitler would really come to understand what he did and take responsibility for it at the last minute. People ask why we can't just sin throughout our lives, expecting to repent at the end. The problem is that anyone having that intention is unlikely to actually repent, or even be capable of repenting at the end.

* I admit that it's just my own speculation, but I imagine a repentant Hitler in heaven faced with having to become reconciled with millions of people, probably one at a time.