Aurel Gheorghe

This is a thought-provoking question.

Revelation 1:7 unveils a scene from Christ’s Second Coming and the sorrowful reaction of the lost (those who pierced Him) – meaning those who demanded His death and those who participated (directly or indirectly) to His crucifixion. 

I’m always reluctant to declare anyone lost unless there is enough and clear Bible indication of that fact (E.g. King Saul or Judas Iscariot). However, Revelation 1:7 leaves no room for doubt that those who killed Christ will be lost. 

Yes, Christ asked the Father that they may be forgiven, however, in absence of any evidence that they took advantage of the forgiveness extended to them and repented, we probably should assume that they will not be among the saved. 

A similar situation is related in Acts 7:60 where Stephen just before he died (fell asleep) asked God to forgive those who were stoning him. Among those was Saul, who later repented of his murderous ways and became Paul (Acts 9), the Apostle to the Gentiles who authored a large portion of the NT. In this case, we definitely see how God acknowledged Stephen’s prayer and forgave Saul.

Looking back to Christ’s crucifixion, in Matthew 27:54 we read how a Roman centurion was moved to declare: “Truly this was the Son of God!” It is possible that just like Saul, the Roman centurion converted and repented of his sins? It is possible, however, the Bible doesn’t say much more about this case. If the centurion only acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God but no true repentance took place, it is unlikely that he would be saved - even demons believe but that is not going to save them (James 2:19).

April 18 2019 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report