Death-bed Repentance

I had a pastor once who said, “I used to believe in death-bed repentances, but I don’t anymore, because people who are dying are often so doped up to relieve pain that they do not have the ability to think and reason about their condition.”


I wasn’t thinking on this line at that time, but don’t you think God is able to override the “dopiness” to make the person’s mind clear enough for long enough to repent? There was an article in our Sunday School paper some years ago about a woman with advanced Alzheimer’s. Her children were concerned that she had never repented of her sins and accepted the Lord. I can’t remember all the details, but I believe they called a pastor to come and pray with her, and try to lead her to the Lord. While he was there – or just before – she became quite lucid, and as the pastor dealt with her, she repented of her sins and accepted Christ as her Saviour. I think it was the next day, the pastor contacted her again and she gave a lucid testimony. After that, however, she reverted to the advanced Alzheimer’s, not understanding anything or recognizing anybody. If God could do that for an Alzheimer’s victim, he could surely do it for a person whose body & mind were drugged with pain killers.


I have been aware of at least two death-bed repentances of relatives of people in our church. The one was several years ago; I don’t believe the man ever went to church. I never met him. As he knew he was nearing death, he acknowledged that he needed to be saved, but kept saying he wasn’t ready yet to take the step. Then one day when the pastor was visiting him, he said, “It’s time, preacher.” “Time for what?” the pastor asked. “Time to pray,” he said, and then and there he made his peace with God. A few days later he was gone.


The second one happened less than a week ago. This man was the brother of a very dear friend of mine. I met him once. He was raised by a Christian mother. He had accepted the Lord in his 20’s or 30’s, but later, due to something that happened in the church he was attending, he turned his back on God, and professed to be an atheist. In fact, from that time on, he was paying $500 a year as dues to an Atheists’ club of some kind. He refused to listen if anyone wanted to talk to him about God, but he demanded that they listen to his atheistic views. I’m not sure how old he was, but I think he was in his eighties when he died. His sister said that about 3 weeks previous, the Lord had lifted from her the burden to pray for him. This sister is now living in the “independent living” section of the equivalent of the old “County Home.” Her daughter also works there. It became her daughter’s task to tell her that her brother had died, and she was loath to do it, knowing what she knew about her uncle. She has a friend who also works there on whom she often calls for prayer under difficult circumstances. She asked her friend to pray for her because, “I have to tell my mother that her brother died, and he’s not a Christian.” The friend went into the bathroom (where she would go to pray when she was on duty). After a while, she came out with a smile on her face. “The Lord said to tell your mother that her prayers were not in vain.” So she went and gave the message to her mother. Later on, she had another indication when talking to the man’s wife. Knowing her brother, she would have expected curse words on his lips up to the time he died. And indeed, he was his “old” self up until about 4 days before he died. Then he was unable to function at all. But, 2 days before he died, his wife, seeing his lips moving, leaned closer, and asked, “What did you say, Joe?” Joe repeated, “Sorry, God.” This story impressed me about the goodness and graciousness of God who will take in the rebellious one who repents even at the last minute.


What a far cry from another “Joe” (Josef Stalin) who spent his last moments shaking his fist at God! (This was witnessed by his daughter Svetlana).

(Originally posted November 2, 2007)