“Can an evil person like Hitler be forgiven? Could he have turned to Jesus at the last minute before he died? How about suicide terrorists such as the 9/11 perpetrators who slit stewardess’ throats and then rammed planes into buildings murdering thousands? It’s difficult to imagine such people in heaven and yet the Bible does teach that everybody is a sinner. Isn’t the Gospel of Jesus for all human beings regardless of what particular sin they have committed? According to you Christians, even a person who repents at the end of his life has a chance just like the thief on the cross, right?”
Yes, Christ did die to save all sinners. Yes, we all are sinners. And yes, Jesus offers forgiveness to any genuinely repentant individual regardless of their particular sins.
Having said that, all too often we Christians find ourselves in discussions about wicked people like Nazis who ran death camps, or terrorists who cut people’s heads off, and then go on to suggest that these very same people might be in heaven right now if perhaps in the quietness of their hearts they experienced some kind of regret before perishing.
Meanwhile, supposedly, somebody who led a better life but merely failed to become a Christian ends up in hell for all of eternity! This is the natural conclusion of a faulty theology Christians put forth in conversations with honest skeptics and seekers. It is not difficult to understand why those who ask questions of their Christian friends are not coming away with satisfactory answers.
Lest the true Gospel of Jesus Christ become distorted to the point where it appears unfair and unjust, it is imperative to understand that there is a difference between a sinful man turning back to God or an evil man who in all likelihood, will NOT turn back to God. The very same Bible which teaches forgiveness also draws a keen distinction between being sinful and being evil.
As human beings, we have two sides to our nature, the good side with its conscience knowing right from wrong, and the selfish side interested only in pleasing self, even to the point of hurting others if that’s what it takes to obtain personal gratification.
“They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.)16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ,as my gospel declares” (Romans 2, 15-16).
“ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing …So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” (Romans 7:18-19, 25).
This selfish side is certainly evil so yes, we all have an evil side, but we do not actually become evil until we completely give in to that evil side! Once that has happened, we can sear our conscience to a point of no return. Such a person will never be forgiven because they will never repent.
Sometimes a person is able to hide their evil but when such malicious ugliness reveals itself, well intentioned Christians often rush to judgment by assuming this person is just as likely to turn to Jesus as anybody else.
Let me say this as carefully as I can: As a general rule, the person who has committed a heinous act of evil such as rape or cold blooded murder is not forgiven. I say general rule because the Bible acknowledges exceptions to rules and despite what something looks like on the outside, we have no way of knowing what kind of struggle may be going on deep in a person’s soul. We cannot read people’s minds. Perhaps they are experiencing horrible grief over their actions. Perhaps they are repenting. It is possible.
So there are always exceptions to rules. But right now I think it is important to stress the rule because for far too long this rule has been forgotten.
Here’s the rule: Apart from extremely extenuating circumstances, cutthroats and tyrants who seek to control other people’s lives, who exhibit no conscience, will not go to heaven when they die.
They should not be compared to your average person who struggles with gossip or greed or sexual temptation.
Instead, these people, in all likelihood, have reached a point where they become so evil that they will never repent. Hypothetically, they could repent, but in reality they won’t.
Since Hitler’s name frequently pops up like a Jack in the Box in these discussions, let’s go ahead and talk about Hitler for a moment. If I may be permitted to make the understatement of the century, he showed zero signs of remorse. The Bible teaches that repentance is accompanied by actions (Matt 3: 8), that faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and that by a person’s fruits we shall know them (Matt 7:16). No we are not earning merit with God. Salvation is a free gift but the sign of the gift is a new life.
In Hitler’s last diaries, he took no responsibility for the death of untold millions of people and still blamed the majority of World War Two on the Jews.
He was not some mere thief on the cross who felt bad upon reflection of his life and turned to Jesus. The Nazis gassed both women and children. Toward the end of the war they even threw live babies into ovens! It is impossible to imagine such actions from people who still had any kind of conscience.
Certainly Hitler had a chance to receive Christ like anyone else earlier in his life but it is a safe guess that he had long since hardened his heart. For Hitler, that ship has sailed.1
In the Old Testament days, wicked people were mentioned quite frequently. Their destiny was also declared without qualification or apology.
“The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish” (Proverbs 14:11).
“Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away” (Psalm 37:1).
Where as the Old Testament uses terms like righteous and wicked, the New Testament talks with more specific theology. It is explained that those who walk with God do so because they have been forgiven of their sins and indwelled by His Holy Spirit. They did not achieve righteousness on their own, neither will they completely attain righteousness in this life. It is a state they aspire to which will reach fruition only after the great resurrection in heaven.
This same idea was more or less understood in Old Testament days. It was certainly assumed by the ancient Israelites that all humans were sinners and in need of a substitutionary atonement for their sin. Such animal sacrifices typified and looked toward the ultimate substitution of Jesus. Godly men like Moses or Joshua, or David still needed atonement for their sins. Obeying the Law meant being as true to the moral principles as possible and offering animal sacrifices for those times when they fell short morally. Such a man was deemed as “following the law” or “righteous.” In reality, that was merely another way of describing a forgiven sinner who had repented.
And so, the terms righteous and wicked did not mean sinful and sinless. They meant repentant and unrepentant.
The same varying conditions are described in the New Testament but with different terms and greater detail.
Instead of righteous we read words such as saved or believer or Christian.
All are sinners. Some have turned from their sins and given their lives to Christ. Others are still in their sins. They have not yet turned but may someday. And still others, have given in to their sinful natures to the point of no return.
Paul talks about this third person as having a seared conscience.
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”(1Timothy 4:1-2)
He also describes those who abandoned their conscience as “shipwrecking their faith.”
“…holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith” (1 Timothy 1:19)
The New Testament also talks about people with a depraved or reprobate mind:
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone” (2 Timothy 3:8-9)
There is also the fatalistic status of people who are beyond any hope of repentance:
“If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that” (1 John 5:16).
Hebrews 6:4-6
“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”
2 Peter 2: 20-22
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”
Jesus described this same sin as “The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.”
“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10)
In context, Jesus had just done a miracle (which many had asked him to do) to provide a sign that He was the Messiah (Christ) whom He claimed to be. When, after witnessing this miracle, the Pharisees accused Him of doing it by the power of Satan, they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit, the source of the miracles. In other words, it was no longer about sincere doubt. It was now about insincere doubt, because these men were choosing to justify their sin.
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:17-19)
Notice that in verse 19, the rejection of Jesus is compared to the rejection of light. This is referring to the fact that it is the Holy Spirit who makes Jesus known:
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26)
“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11)
Now, back to Mark 3, where Jesus says that all sins will be forgiven accept for “The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”.
“I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29)
Remember that Jesus is giving them a warning. The Pharisees were not yet at the point of no return but they had started down this path. If they had already sinned beyond hope, what would have been the purpose of a warning? The warning would have been rather pointless. He seems to be warning them not to continue down this road of self deception.
Bottom line: People who worry about having committed this sin have not committed this sin, for those who harden their hearts against God reach a point where they no longer worry about pleasing Him and no longer worry about their own salvation.2
So the New Testament for the most part is using theological terms we relate to when talking about an evil state, terms such as; reprobate heart, seared conscience, Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, Sin That Leads to Death, etc.
The Old Testament simply designates such people as wicked or evil .
“Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble” (Proverbs 24:1)
The book of Jeremiah, speaking of the King of Babylon, referred to him as “…the evil Merodach” (52:31).
This isn’t to say that the actual term evil cannot be be found in the New Testament as well.
John the Baptist calls Herod Antipas evil in Luke 3:19.
Jesus, while speaking of Judas, used a term far beyond evil, but going to the source of all evil. He said “Did I myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil” (John 6:70).
Obviously, Judas was not literally a demon. Jesus was using hyperbole to describe the condition of his heart. But this condition was such that Satan himself, the prince of demons, later on completely possessed Judas (John 13:27).
“Let’s get back to your distinction between rules and exceptions to rules. Could you explain that better because it seems to be a contradiction. On one hand, you suggest that people can reach a point of no return but if there are exceptions, then apparently this was not really a point of no return. King David is a perfect example. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and tried to cover it up by sending her husband to the front lines of the battlefield where he was likely to be killed. This made David guilty of both murder and adultery. And yet, the Scripture is very clear about David’s repentance.”
Yes, David did repent. This means he had not yet become completely sold out to evil. Shamefully, he did evil things emanating from his evil nature. But David’s conscience still functioned. This was very obvious when Nathan the prophet publicly confronted him. David took sole responsibility for his actions, something an evil man does not do and something we seldom see today’s politicians do (2 Samuel 11-12).
But not everybody reacts like David. Many reach a point of no return with their evil. That is taught clearly in the Scriptures quoted and listed above. The uncertainty is in whether or not we are able to accurately identify such a person.
Here is where rules and exceptions to rules kick in. The more heinous the crime, the more likely it is that we are witnessing the actions of a seared reprobate who has ultimately denied God’s Spirit. The exception is that not being able to read the person’s mind we may never know for sure.
David is an exception to what we might have concluded had he not repented.
So was King Nebuchadnezzar. He not only conquered the Jews, he insisted on being worshipped himself as God. But the real God had his way with this king and later in his life Nebuchadnezzar served and obeyed the real God.
Even Judas was able to temporarily repent after betraying Jesus, although the repentance did not last (Matt. 27).
And so, let us review the facts:
Fact: Everybody is sinful but not everybody is evil.
Fact: Everybody has an evil side to their nature but not everybody has given in to this side completely.
Fact: One can be on the road to giving in to evil and start exhibiting evil. For a while, the chance to repent still exists.
Fact: One can also reach a point of no return. Such people had a chance to repent long ago, but that chance no longer remains. Hypothetically, they would be forgiven even at this late hour if they did repent but in reality, this will not happen because their conscience has completely died.
General Rule: Those who commit wicked deeds and show zero signs of remorse are probably prime examples of people who have completely given in to their evil.
Exception to Rule: However, it is possible that due to very unusual, occasional circumstances we are witnessing somebody close to the point of no return who has not seared his conscience one-hundred percent.
When we see an exception to the rule, we should be grateful for the power and forgiveness of God. But this should not lead us to a quick assumption that evil people are as easily brought to repentance as other sinners because in all likelihood they forfeited that opportunity long ago.
The reason this distinction is important is that we do not want the love of Christianity to confuse people into thinking we do not serve a just God. It is important to know that unrepentant evil will be punished. Speaking out against evil is also part of your responsibility as Christians.
1) There are some people who make the ludicrous claim that Hitler actually was a Christian. I will invite you to read another article of mine in which this nonsense is dispelled. It’s entitled, Was Hitler A Christian?
2) For a fuller discussion on this subject see my article, What is the Unforgivable Sin and How Do I know If I’ve Committed it?
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