Is there a 2nd chance for salvation after you are dead?
I mean, a person can believe in Jesus after he dies?
Why evengelical Christians say cannot? Where is the proof?
Hebrews 11 lists many men and women of faith, speaking of them as
"having obtained a good testimony through faith." Similarly, King David
in his Psalms writes with an assurance of salvation that he already
holds in confidence.
In John 3:3 Jesus stated clearly "I tell you the truth, no one can see
the kingdom of God unless he is born again." In Romans 10:9 we read, "If
you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." We believe these
Scriptures to be true. However, Melchizedek and Job never knew clearly
who Jesus Christ was, and yet they were saved.
Jesus said there is no other way unto the Father but by Him. we know
that all salvation is accomplished through the shed blood of Jesus
Christ and its atonement for the sins of the world. Still, there is a
mystery here, in the sense that there were obviously many Old Testament
saints who were saved by Christ's death on the cross even though they
had never heard His name.
It is wrong to attempt to judge the salvation of others. Many people who
fluently speak the language of evangelical Christianity and speak
confidently of their "personal relationship" with Jesus Christ show few
of the fruits of the Spirit. In addition, some people are simpler than
others, and not as able to follow or express abstract doctrinal truth.
Yet when Jesus walked the earth, His special love and affection was for
those who were willing to "become like children."
It is difficult to know about the heathen or about nominal Christians
who have either had not contact with the gospel or who have received a
gospel that is badly distorted with traditional beliefs and false
doctrine. Many Jews, agnostics, and adherents to other religions have
not witnessed true Christianity to a significant degree. Instead, a
corrupt and worldly Christendom has distorted their view of Christ.
Just as Old Testament saints were redeemed by Christ's blood in spite of the fact that they never had a clear understanding of Christ and His work on our
behalf, so others in this age of grace who have never received the clear
gospel message can be saved if they have genuine faith in God.
This does not, however, mean that the final decision to accept Christ
still remains to be made by Old Testament saints or by the faithful of
this age who have not yet heard the good news of Jesus Christ. From the
divine perspective, the atonement offered mankind in Christ has an
eternal application, reaching back into the past all the way to Adam and
Eve and onward into the eternal future. Revelation 13:8 speaks of the
redeemed as having had their names written in the "book of life of the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Although e have searched
for Scriptures which would point toward the possibility of a "second
chance" after death, we have concluded that no solid biblical support
for such a position exists. As succinctly stated in Hebrews:
It is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment.
The indication of Scripture is that at the time of our deaths our
courses are already set for eternal life or eternal damnation.