On Deathbed Conversions

The notion that a man could lead a life of sin -- indeed, a life of violent debauchery -- and then receive God's forgiveness at a conversion to Christianity on his deathbed is a notion that our sense of justice often finds offensive. Christ himself predicted that this would be our reaction when he told the Parable of the Vineyard:

9"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' "

I was put in mind of this parable while reading one of Ilkka's posts:

Years ago, I read how somebody had asked a Catholic priest if God can forgive anything, even being a pedophile nazi rapist murderer. The priest had answered affirmatively, so the guy had asked him if he could now lead a lifestyle full of partying and casual sex (which are surely lesser sins than murder and rape) and later when he eventually gets tired of it, become a good Christian and have this past wiped clean in God's eyes. The priest had gone apeshit and told the guy in no uncertain terms that God can't accept or forgive that sort of manipulation. Which is kind of interesting, when you think about it. Apparently there are "meta-sins" that are worse than regular sins, even murder.

The unspoken assumption of the man who would lead a life of drunken fornication, and then seek God's forgiveness when he tires of it, is that his own will is sovereign with respect to his relationship with God. This assumption is in error.

While no Christian sect teaches that there are "meta-sins", the standard Evangelical response would be along these lines: the intent to manipulate God in such a manner calls into question to authenticity of his claim to faith and repentance. But while faith and repentance must indeed be genuine in order to be efficacious, this answer overlooks the fact that if indeed a man's will is sovereign, then he can genuinely plan to genuinely accept Christ on his deathbed.

But what did the Reformers teach? Let us turn once again to the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Q. 30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in effectual calling.

Q. 31. What is effectual calling.

A. Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

Notice here that our salvation is not dependent on our will! Indeed, our natural wills are utterly incapable of spiritual life apart from the prior work of regeneration; however, once we our spiritually quickened, our embrace of Christ follows inexorably, as does our repentance:

Q. 35. What is sanctification?

A. Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.

So I would answer in this way: yes, God can and does work faith in the elect at all times during our lives, including on our deathbeds. But we cannot plan this, for it is God that is sovereign, not man. The hypothetical becomes impossible: a man cannot plan to embrace Christ at some future date, for these things are controlled by God, as any man who tries will discover to his bitter disappointment.