An Honest Question To All Christians ?

Question

If A Serial Killer Who Kills People For The Heck Of It And Had Raped Hundred Of Woman Go To The Confession Box And Asked The Preist For Forgiveness, Can His Sins Be Pardonable ?

I ask this question to all of you because I asked the same question to my Christian friend and he said yes... but I find it hard to believe

Answer 1

Believe it or not Romeo, a lot of people have an easier time picturing God forgiving the serial killer than they do picturing God forgiving themselves.

If God wants to forgive a serial killer, inside or outside of a confessional box, with or without a priest's intercession, that's God's business I suppose, and it's useless to try to talk Him out of it. But look at it this way. If you could calculate the human misery, and cumulative insult to God, caused by every marital infidelity, every broken promise, every needlessly cross word to a child, every character-damaging piece of gossip you passed on, would you find it hard to believe that God would forgive YOU?

Believe for yourself first. Then the serial killer's case might seem more clear.

Answer 2

There is a difference between forgivable and pardonable. Only the Creator and those who have realized the Creator within themselves may be capable of forgiving those who have committed such heinous deeds. Most people will not.

Irrespective of that, our government, supposedly in our behalf, decides what can be pardoned or not. By committing these crimes, this person will most likely face severe penalties under law. Forgiveness is a matter for the condition of his spirit and his relationship with the Creator. However, as brtual criminal if convicted, he has forfeited his liberties and rights as a citizen, perhaps even his right to exist at all. The unpardonable may be forgiven, but still face the justice that they have earned.

Answer 3

God knows the heart of the man. You and I don't.

We don't have all the facts.

A hypothetical situation seldom exists in reality anyway, so the entire inquiry is academic anyway.

We don't come to Christ on our terms, we don't set the time or the circumstance of our "enlightenment", God does.

Someone that deep in sin has probably already rejected Christ. Now they're just trapped in a Hebrews 10:26 scenario.

Heb 10:26-27
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
KJV

Answer 4

It would be very difficult for him to gain forgiveness. The kind of person who would commit such acts is unlikely to suddenly have a change of heart and genuinely desire to become a better person. Such a change of heart would probably be prompted by fear of the electric chair than of a genuine desire to accept christ and to change his life. If he completely changed his life and spent the rest of it only doing good, and doing everything possible to repay the pain and misery that he has caused I would think he might have a chance of forgiveness, but it would not be easy.


The Steps of Repentance:
1. Feel Godly Sorrow

First recognize that you've committed a sin against God's commandments.
Feel true sorrow for what you've done and for disobeying God.
Feel sorrow for any pain you may have caused toward other people.


2. Confess to God

Pray to God and be honest with him.
Tell him of your sin(s).
If necessary confess your sins to an appropriate religous authority (eg priest).


3. Ask for Forgiveness

Pray to God for his forgiveness.
Forgive others who have hurt you.
Forgive yourself and know that God loves you, even though you've sinned.


4. Rectify Problems Caused by the Sin(s)

Make restitution by fixing any problems caused by your sin.
Problems caused by sin include physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual damage.
If you can't rectify the problem sincerely ask forgiveness of those wronged and try to find another way to show your change of heart.


5. Forsake Sin

Make a promise to yourself and to God that you will never repeat the sin.
Recommit yourself to obeying God's commandments.
Continue to repent if you sin again.


6. Receive Forgiveness

The Lord will forgive you when you truly repent with a sincere heart.
Allow his forgiveness to come upon you.
When you feel at peace with yourself you can know you are forgiven.
Don't hold onto your sin and the sorrow you've felt.

Answer 5

There is alot more to repentance than going to a confession box and asking a priest to forgive your sins. No man can forgive your sins. Only God can do that.
Can God forgive the man in your example? Only if that man humbly comes to him, willing to turn away from his sins, and possibly take the legal consequences for his actions. He must have a truly broken and contrite heart, if he expects God to hear his plea.
What are the chances, do you think, that your serial killer/rapist is going to have the kind of heart experience that will prompt him to get on his knees before God? My guess is that they are pretty slim...the guy in your example would have to be a pretty cold-hearted b*st*rd. BUT...if he did come to God, ready to take his consequences, with a truly broken and contrite heart, hating his sin and ready to turn from it, even if it means going to prison...then, yes, God will forgive even him.
I used to have a serious problem understanding how God could love someone like this, yearning over him, waiting for him to come to the point of true repentance, wanting him to come to God for forgiveness....
and then, I became a parent, and I know, now, what "unconditional love" truly means......

Answer 6

I don't believe in confession boxes, the priest cant forgive your sins. God on the other hand can, if the person is sorry and never wants to do it again and asks Him to forgive and believes that Jesus died for him and is the son of God and asks him, Jesus to become his personal savior, yes he can be forgiven.

Answer 7

Actually, the man would have to ask God's forgiveness himself. He doesn't ask the priest for forgiveness, that's a Catholic tradition and has no Biblical foundation. He would have to be truly repentent. If he really was sorry for what he did, God would forgive him. It is unlikely that a person would truly be repentent of what they did if they had gone that far. But God is forgiving and gives unconditional love to His children. I would encourage you to keep trying to learn about God and to listen with an open heart. I recommend that you go to a Reformed church rather than a Catholic church.

Answer 8

God is the only one who can forgive sins. The man must seek forgiveness from God alone.
And even if he were forgiven, there is still a consequince for his actions. Our legal system should (I say should, but as we all know our legal system is a joke) punish him for his crimes.

A Biblical example of this is the thief on the cross. He believed in Jesus, but that didn't mean that he was set free from his punishment. He still had to hang on the cross next to Jesus and die, but once he entered eternity his sins were forgiven and that very day he was with the Lord in Paradise.

Answer 9

Ok i am not a christian, but in islam we believe that if he repents he will be forgiven. Confession are not allowed in islam. A repentance has to be genuine, with a resolution to never commit it again.

On the day of judgement god will 'credit' those who are wronged. So if god will 'make it up' to victims whats the beef.

If you had two kids and you gave each a candy. one of the kids decided he didn't have enough and took from the other. before you found out the other fervently regretted his action and apoligized to his sibling. Now you as a parent can compensate the wronged kid and as a result right the wrong that was done to him. Everyone is happy.

Answer 10

His sins can be forgiven if he is truely repentant of the sins he has commited and turns from sin and seeks God's forgiveness of those sins.We must all stand before God on judgement day and answer for what we did in our lives