Saved in The Last Moment - Soul Choice Ministries

Is it fair for someone to live a wicked life and then get saved at the last moment?

To many, it doesn’t seem right that a person could be sinner right up to the last moment, and then call upon God, become a Christian and go to heaven just before death. A lot of people would say that person is deserving of hell.

The truth is that we all deserve hell. Remember, salvation is not based on our good works. We all are evil in God’s sight (Psalms 143:2; Romans 3:10–12,23). It is only repentance and trust that brings salvation. (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Luke 13:3; 15:7; 24:47; Acts 3:19; 17:30.)

Actually, when God saves an extremely wicked man on his deathbed it demonstrates how loving and forgiving our God really is. His love is far beyond ours (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 3:19).

He is not trying to keep people out of heaven but to get them in. We must understand that we can’t earn our way to heaven because it has nothing to do with our good behavior. Jesus can save a wretch at the last moment.

Look at the two thieves on the cross next to Jesus. The one said, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:40–43).

One man was humble and knew he deserved his punishment. He also knew Jesus was God. He called on Him at his last moment, and Jesus saved him. That shows God’s great love. You and I might not always be that loving and forgiving but God is. Just imagine, the other thief now has all eternity to know that he was right next to the only One who could have saved him from hell and he didn’t know it—or believe it. What an eternity of the deepest regret.

I’m not saying you can live any way you want and then plan to turn to Him at the last minute. God knows your heart, and only genuine repentance with a sorrowful heart brings salvation (2 Corinthians 7:9). You also don’t know that you will have an opportunity to get saved before you die. Many people die suddenly.

Don’t take a chance with your soul. Once you die, it is too late. You will have an eternity to think about your foolish procrastination so you must make the right choice today (Deuteronomy 30:19).

In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus shares a parable about workers in His vineyard. The workers are hired at different times during the day and some are hired at the end of the day, yet they receive the same wages as the ones who began their work at the beginning of the day.

They had each agreed for a denarius for the days work. At the end of the day when the landowner paid them each their denarius, the workers complained about the one at the end of the day receiving the same pay. Jesus said in verse 13, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?”

Just as God’s goodness was displayed in paying all the workers the same regardless of when they began their work, so the Lord grants salvation to the one who turns to Him from their heart at the last moment, just the same as He granted salvation to the one who has been serving Him many years.

Now that doesn’t mean they both will obtain the same rewards in heaven, as rewards are based on our obedience to God’s throughout our life. However, salvation is not based on our efforts or good works, but on God’s mercy and grace. The gift of salvation is offered to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ with genuine repentance.

Years ago, Dr. Donald Whitaker shared his testimony about how God’s love and mercy was extended to him on his deathbed. He was a professed atheist. He was a very successful man in the political realm in Oklahoma, and at this time he was in the hospital dying of a disease called, Acute Hemorrhagic, Necrotic Pancreatitis.

He said, “You don’t live with this disease.” One night when he was beginning to die, he said, “I was slipping out of my body going down a dark tunnel. It was so, so very dark, and I had untold terror, untold terror, because I knew, that if I ever slipped all the way out of my body, I would never get back.”

He came back into his body, and immediately wanted to get saved, so he called the only friend he had that was a Christian. He turned to Jesus Christ that very day. Look at God’s mercy in giving him a glimpse of the pathway to hell. Then God brought him back to call his one friend who was a Christian, and who was most likely praying for him. God rescued him at the last moment.

One more example is Mickey Robinson, a pilot, who was an atheist. He had a near death experience after his plane crashed. He was slipping out of his body and said: “The darkness that encompassed me was something more terrifying than evil. This was total emptiness, waiting to penetrate and swallow all that made me alive. And I was helpless, totally incapable of saving myself….he said that he experienced an agony more terrible than being burned alive. He said he knew if the darkness swallowed him, he would be imprisoned in an empty world with no windows and no door.

He described that he would cry for help, yet never be heard….and this aloneness would be final, nonnegotiable, never-ending, forever. Then, like a drowning man gasping for air, he said, “my spirit screamed out the same words I’d prayed that night in intensive care: ‘God, I’m sorry! I want to live! Please give me another chance!’” God sent him back. He became a Christian and to my knowledge has served God ever since.

Throughout people’s lives, God attempts to reach them and warn them of hell. He motivates Christians to share the way of salvation with others so they can become God’s child, and live in heaven for all eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ shows mercy to all but many are prideful, stubborn and rebellious in their heart towards God. Sadly, they reject the Lord’s warnings and His great love for them. They will have and eternity to regret their foolish decision.