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Jeffrey Dahmer will definitely go down in history as a very wicked
man. Being a deviant sex practitioner who abducted, raped, tortured, murdered
and cannibalized his many victims, he is ranked among the worlds
worst men in the minds of most. Now I want you imagine a difficult
thing; that Dahmer went straight into the arms of Jesus the moment
he died. "Impossible", you might snort with indignation!
"Why this guy was a real sicko, an evil savage. The Devil
incarnate! This boy will surely burn in hell for eternity!"
Well, I would like to tell you a true story about Dahmer which
was reported in the "Christian Chronicle" and "The
Daily Oklahoman" newspapers. A Christian lady named Mary
Mott saw Dahmer on a TV show discussing his need for inner peace.
Mott mailed a series of Bible lessons to Dahmer which he completed
and mailed back to Mott. He thanked Mott and said he wanted to
become a Christian. Through a series of events a Christian minister,
Roy Ratcliff, went into the prison and studied the Bible with
Dahmer. He was immersed in water for the remission of his sins
on May 10, 1994. He continued to study the Bible every week in
prison until the day of his murder, Nov 28, 1994. One TV report
quoted Dahmer as saying that he was at peace with himself and
God, just two weeks prior to his murder.
Now I am not playing down the horrendous sins that Dahmer committed.
But the real qustion is; could Dahmer go to heaven? Could God
forgive him for what he did? I must admit that when I first heard
this bizarre twist of events, that I had no problem believing
God could forgive. My problem was believing that someone like
Dahmer could truly repent of his sins.
The Jews on Pentecost asked Apostle Peter after he convicted them
of murdering Jesus Christ, "What shall we do?" Peter
replied to them, "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
for the remission of your sins" Acts 2:37-38. Which sin was
worse? Dahmer's or the murder of the sinless Christ? God forgave
3000 souls of their sin of murdering Christ. "So then, those
who had received Peter's word were baptized; and there were added
that day about three thousand souls." Acts 2:41 The critical
question is not whether God could forgive Dahmer, but whether
Dahmer truly repented.
Apostle Paul was also guilty of murdering the innocent. He was
primarily responsible for the stoning of Stephen in Acts 8. Later,
after Paul was converted, he wrote of himself, "It is a trustworthy
statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. And
yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the
foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience,
as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life."
1 Tim 1:15-16 Paul was acutely aware that he had committed a terrible
crime by murdering Stephen.
Will Dahmer go to heaven? No one knows except God. It will be
based upon the genuiness of Dahmer's repentance and conversion.
But I would personally like to think he is. In fact I would like
God to use Jeffery Dahmer as an example of His divine forgiveness.
Perhaps God picks one notorious sinner who repented from each
generation and holds him up and says, "If I can forgive Jeffery
Dahmer, I can forgive anyone of any sin."
Imagine you have two men. One is a vile sinner, murderer and thief.
The second was awarded the citizen of the year award and only
has a little sin in his life. Which one is closer to God? Neither!
They are both equally far away because it is the first sin that
sends us to hell, not the number of sins or how bad the sins are
we commit.
If Dahmer is saved, it only illustrates that God is not a respector of persons, that God sees all sins as equal. Yet for many people they cannot even consider that Dahmer could be saved. That is because they mistakenly think that our salvation is based upon our good works rather than the unmerited favor of God. I call this misconception, "balance scale salvation". They think that as long as the good outweighs the bad that they will go to heaven. Well, not in God's eyes! For unless the citizen of the year truely repents of his one and only sin he ever committed and believes in Jesus as the eternal divine savior, it is he who will go to hell and Jeffery Dahmer (with true repentance), will go to heaven!