What is the penalty for waiting until death to become a Christian?

[Showtime2507]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to do some online research to find the answer to this question. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[Drick]

I'd imagine it results in a lesser heavenly reward. Of course, not everyone has a chance for near-death conversion, so it's not an ideal thing to shoot for in any case.

 

[HereIStand]

Not a good idea. We never know when or how death may come.

Historically, some Christians delayed baptism until the end of life, believing that it forgave past sins. This seems to misunderstand faith and the Christian life though.

 

[SkyWriting]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to do some online research to find the answer to this question. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

The only way into Hell is to actively reject God's Holy Spirit and it's
influence in your life. God will forgive all other sins on request.
God exists outside of time, so timing is never an issue. God judges
according to your heart.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

God knows your heart. If you're waiting just to "game the system", He won't be fooled. Also, you never know when the end will come.

 

[Soyeong]

Hello,

In short, the penalty is a wasted life. I recently saw this on a bumper sticker that said something to the effect of: repent now because those who wait for the 11th hour often die at 10:30. We often don't get the chance to repent later, however planning to repent later completely misses the point of what it means to repent because it is about changing our thinking and turning from following our ways to following God's ways. Someone who plans to repent later is about doing what you want to do, refusing to submit to God, but hoping to avoid the consequences of their actions by taking our a last minute fire insurance policy. To quote C.S. Lewis, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." Planning to wait until death to become a Christian is essentially treating Christianity as if it were moderately important. If Christianity is true, then it impacts how we should live our lives today, but waiting until the end is saying that God can't really be trusted to guide us in how to rightly live. The truth is that Christianity is as much about getting us into heaven as it is about getting heaven into us. It is about dying to ourselves and becoming the love of God to the world. It's not about forcing someone to spend eternity with God when they didn't want to spend any time with Him in this life.

 

[paul1149]

If by becoming a Christian you mean accepting Christ as Lord and Savior, I would say the problem is there's a good chance your faith is probably insincere. Otherwise why would you be trying to game God?

 

[rockytopva]

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. - 2 Corinthians 9:6

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. - Daniel 12:3

Deathbed repentance is the ultimate life sewn sparingly. In which, they may make it into heaven, but they will not have the reward they may have had in lifelong service to God.

 

[FenderTL5]

I must presume your birth certificate lists the expiration date?

 

[seeking.IAM]

One might be missing out on a lot of opportunity, but there is no "penalty" for those saved last as opposed to those saved first. God rejoices in the salvation of each person equally. Consider the men on the crosses next to our Lord, or this...

Matthew 20: 1_16

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”​

 

[Neostarwcc]

Waiting until death to become a Christian can be disastrous. Reason being, nobody knows when they're going to die. You can die suddenly tomorrow. It's important to convert NOW. As for people who do deathbed confessions I'd say there's Really no consequence. They'd get the same salvation with zero rewards.

 

[jax5434]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to do some online research to find the answer to this question. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

If you wait until death the penalty is eternal separation form God. There is no option to confess Jesus as Lord after you die.
God Bless
Jax

 

[Dave G.]

Incidentally eternal separation is commonly known as Hell. Hell is, according to scripture, a terrible place to be eternally. Also it is torment yes, not just separated from God but everyone else too, at least according to the account of the rich man and the poor. We have heard accounts of people saying I'm going to Hell but all my friends are there anyway. it doesn't exactly work that way, again according to scripture.

But here is the deal, salvation is by faith, not just saying Jesus is savior. IE: saying it is not an insurance policy into heaven, you have to mean it from your heart. Yes you have to say it but also believe it. As I said, it is by faith, no matter how small that faith. I highly recommend you reconsider your options. We have heard of people who accepted Jesus maybe at church or in private and never made it home, died in a car crash that night or heart attack etc. And what of the ones who did not accept him but met the same fate ? People die instantly every day. Don't be foolish.

I came to Jesus in 1979 upstairs in my bedroom, i never understood the reality of Him till I was in a corner,not knowing what way to go and I reached out to Him. Guess what ? He responded and in a big way. He has a faithful follower, a believer forever. He is indeed my savior, there is no guessing about it. He is our savior, the fathers plan to get into His presence, salvation, intercessor, friend and prince of peace not just in the world but in your own personal heart.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to do some online research to find the answer to this question. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Hello Showtime, welcome to CF and welcome to Traditional Theology.

Since you posted in TT, I will attempt to give you the understanding that goes back to the earky Church.

We do recognize a moment of conversion. However ... it was never regarded as something like a ticket stamped for heaven and that's that.

Christianity is about transformation. It's about becoming like Christ. Someone who delays until the end of their lives to become converted has lost the opportunity they might have had during the years if their life to cooperate with the grace of God to be transformed.

How God judges is s separate matter, and not one that we presume to take ourselves. Only God can see the heart. But He certainly isn't looking for technicalities on which to condemn men. Rather He looks for anything within a person that inclines toward Him. Again, what He does with that, is not our place to say. I will only say that it is possible to have a true saving conversion at the end of life.

But such a one would be a spiritual infant in the life of the age to come. The grace of God will still work in him, but he will start disadvantaged compared to those who have spent a lifetime being imitators of Christ.

People today tend to think of "rewards in heaven" with materialistic eyes, sometimes. There may be some hint of that, but mostly we are told about those who will "shine brightly" and have "many crowns".

That's the theological answer. But the real and practical answer is - how does any of us know he has tomorrow?

And truthfully, if someone plans to become a Christian later ... there is probably a fundamental misunderstanding somewhere. Do they plan to become a Christian because they actually believe it is true? Then in a sense they are already on the road to Christianity - perhaps they just reject the practice of the faith that would actually nurture them. Or do they plan to do it later "just in case" although they don't really believe? Such faith is worthless and is not saving faith. Or something else? In order to answer more fully, we would have to know why, what the person believes, and so on.

 

[~Anastasia~]

(By the way, those who delayed baptism until near death did so because of a false teaching that sins committed after baptism would not be forgiven, so they aimed for the "one baptism for the remission of sins" near death, but this was an error and not the consensus of the early Church.)

 

[Blade]

Hello everyone,

I was trying to do some online research to find the answer to this question. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Lets add a true story. So this preacher had a friend he would talk to about Jesus. The man never wanted to hear about Jesus. Said.. I going to wait just before I die and then repent. Man I am going to do everything I want before that day.

A few months passed. The preacher heard this man was in the hospital. So he goes to see him. The man is in a cast head to foot. Now the preacher said (not me) God has him right where He wants him. Anyway.. the man was so touched that the preacher came. The man told him.. he was driving and the other car came out of no where and hit him.

The preacher said.. did you remember to repent? The man looked at him and started to cry.. repented right there..gave his life to Jesus. True story. And there are more. We as in all were not promised tomorrow. For today is the day of salvation.

 

[Tangible]

One might be missing out on a lot of opportunity, but there is no "penalty" for those saved last as opposed to those saved first. God rejoices in the salvation of each person equally. Consider the men on the crosses next to our Lord, or this...

Matthew 20: 1_16

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”​

This is the only Gospel response in a thread of Law answers.