Salvation & Grace
My father turned to God only weeks before he died, after a lifetime of wanting nothing to do with it. Does something that late really count?
“But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.”
Ezekiel was arguing against a proverb the exiles kept repeating, that children were simply being punished for their parents and nothing anyone did could change it. His answer insists that a person's direction can genuinely change and that God treats the change as real. The striking part is what God says he then does with the earlier record. In Ezekiel's account, a life is not simply totalled up.
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
The last conversation Jesus has before he dies is with a condemned criminal hours from his own death, a man with nothing left to offer and no time to prove anything. He asks only to be remembered. The answer is immediate and specific, with no probation attached to it. Luke chose to include this scene, and its placement at the very end of Jesus's life is not accidental.
A path forward
Ask the people who were there what he actually said, and write it down. Families lose these details fast, and you will want the specifics later.
Grieve the years as well as the death. Being glad about how it ended and sad about the decades before it are not in competition with each other.
Bring the doubt to God directly in prayer rather than turning it over alone at night. Ask him to settle you about your father, and tell a pastor you are carrying this.
Closing verse
“So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.”
- Matthew 20:16
Coming Soon
Want to ask your own question?
Revealed is building a feature that lets you ask anything and receive a Bible-rooted response drawn from both Testaments. Join the waitlist to be first to know when it launches.