Last Minute Redemption



Dear Catholic Exchange,

I had a Jewish friend tell me, “I will never believe in a religion that says a person can live a life of sin and at the last minute state that he or she believes in Jesus and is saved while a Hindu or Buddist can live a love filled, giving life and be sent to Hell.” How would you respond?

Thanks,

Dave LaPatka

Dear Mr. LaPatka,

Peace in Christ!

You asked us to respond to a Jewish person who says he can’t believe in a religion— i.e., Christianity— in which a person who “lived a life of sin” could be saved through a last-minute conversion, while simultaneously providing no hope for the salvation of a virtuous Hindu or Buddhist.

First, it must be understood that salvation is always a free gift from God; no one can earn salvation on his own, no matter how virtuous. Every human being needs a Savior, i.e., Jesus Christ, if for no other reason than to be delivered from the impact of original sin. But our choices in life are not unimportant. Salvation is a free gift, yet we accept or reject that gift through our choices.

In response to your friend’s charge, the Catholic Church, unlike some fundamentalists and evangelical Christians, does uphold the hope for the salvation of non-Christians. All are saved by Jesus Christ through His one Catholic Church, but those who are invincibly ignorant of the need to become Catholic are without blame and can be saved, provided they respond to God’s truth and strive to follow the law of God written on their hearts. Such would be their way of accepting or rejecting God’s gift of salvation.

Nevertheless, the Church does not presume upon anyone’s invincible ignorance, including Protestant Christians and various non-Christians, and thus continues to strive to make disciples of all the nations, as Our Lord commanded (Mt. 28:18-20; Catechism of the Catholic Church (Catechism), nos. 843-45, 849-56). While the Church recognizes the possibility of invincible ignorance, it continues to uphold the famous teaching, “Outside the Church there is no salvation” (Catechism, nos. 846-48). For more information on the proper interpretation of this teaching, please read our Faith Fact Without the Church There is No Salvation. [Click here for an on-line version of the Catechism.]

You conveyed that your friend takes issue with the Church for extending salvation to one who lives a “life of sin” and then merely states that he/she believes in Jesus. The question here then is whether the individual is merely stating that his/her belief to placate God and escape hell, or whether this statement is an expression of a true interior conversion to Christ. To merely declare belief in Jesus Christ does not necessarily indicate true belief and inner conversion, marks of true faith. In stating that faith is necessary for salvation (Catechism, no. 161), the Church understands faith as an act by which “man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. With his whole being man gives his assent to God the revealer” (Catechism, no. 143). Thus, faith, by which one accepts the gift of salvation, involves conversion of heart, not merely an external proclamation to that effect.



Regarding last-minute conversions to Christianity, the Church very much cautions people against the sin of presumption, i.e., thinking one can easily become a Catholic or reconcile with God at the end of one’s life (cf. Catechism, no. 2092). In addition, when one has lived a dissolute life, he/she has developed a bad character that will be more resistant to God’s grace. Still, as the parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates, all things are possible with God (Mt. 19:26), and we should never underestimate the power of His mercy.

Furthermore, the concept of salvation being extended to individuals who experience belated conversions is rooted in what your Jewish friend calls the Hebrew Scriptures, specifically in the Book of Ezekiel 18:21-32, which manifests well the interplay of God’s justice and mercy:

21 “But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, he shall die.

25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die for it; for the iniquity which he has committed he shall die. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his life. 28 Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord God; so turn, and live” (Revised Standard Version).

For additional reading on the virtue of hope, that confidence granted to us by God Himself which provides us with “the confident expectation of divine blessing and eternal life with God (cf. Catechism, no. 2090)” see our Faith Fact entitled, Hope: A Pilgrim's Virtue.

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