I have a question that I hope you can help me with. I have a friend that believes that salvation can happen after physical death. He says that he believes that Christ is the way to the Father but that can happen after death. Is there any scripture that says that salvation, through believing in Jesus Christ, must happen before physical death?
Thanks for your question. Hebrews 9:27 states that it is appointed to
man to die once and then the judgment. This indicates that after death,
there is the judgment, and there is no mention of a second chance. In
Jesus' parables of the kingdom, judgment follows after death. One
example is Luke 16, Lazarus and the rich man. Immediately after they
died, Lazarus was taken to Abraham's bosom and the rich man to hell.
Even in hell the rich man saw that he was wrong and sorry for his sin but
could not change his outcome. I am sure if he had a second chance, he
would not have been there. Parables like these indicate there is no
second chance. Finally, we are saved by faith. Faith is defined in
Hebrews 11:1 as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen." Saving faith is exercised while on earth. When we are face
to face with the Lord, we will no longer be exercising any kind of faith;
we will see as 1 Corinthians states, "face to face." So all scripture
indicates judgment after death. The burden is on those who say there is
a second chance after death. Where are the verses to uphold that view?
Thanks for your question. I hope this helps.
Patrick Zukeran
Probe Ministries