IS there a second chance for salvation after death? There are many, including many professed ministers of the gospel, and professors of theological colleges who affirm that there is.
The fact is, there never was a more stupid idea than this of the second chance. Apply it to earthly things, and the stupidity is very evident. Apply it to spiritual and eternal things, and its misleading tendency is attended with very serious consequences indeed.
Take a homely illustration.
A man is trudging along a heavy road. Long-continued rains have turned the turnpike road into a veritable morass. Moreover, a strong head-wind and a steep hill, and a heavy load, under which he staggers at every step, make the man’s task a severe one.
A motor car drives along. The owner kindly and warmly offers the burdened man a free seat. He will carry him and his load to his destination.
What would you think of the man if he declined the offer, and said he would wait for a second chance.
You reply, There must be some strange reason why he should refuse such a timely offer.
And there is a strange reason indeed, we are assured, behind this desire for a second chance. Let most people, who defer the question of their soul’s salvation in the hope that after death they may get a second chance, examine the motive that animates them.
It can only be that they have a distaste for spiritual things, that they want the pleasures of sin, that they wish to go on with the world as long as they can. They refuse deliberately the offer of salvation in this life with scorn, and propose to accept the mercy of God when they positively cannot help it. They would rather have earth than heaven, and heaven only to be endured as something not so bad as hell.
There is not a line in Scripture that holds out any hope of a second chance after death. The whole theory is founded on one solitary text in 1 Peter 3:18-2018For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:18‑20). On the face of it, even if the interpretation were correct, it does not say that any offer of salvation was made to the spirits in prison.
Further, the offer, if made, was made long ago, and there is no hint of a repetition.
Thirdly, it involved only those who lived in the days of Noah, so certainly cannot apply to you by any stretch of imagination. To such lengths does crazy exegesis go.
We would not dare to take the risk of a second chance on such slender grounds. The risk is too great.
Again, we ask, “Are those who refuse a first chance in this life, likely to accept a second in the next? Does punishment effect a change in a man’s nature and tastes? There is a solemn verse in the Bible that looks like giving a negative answer to these questions. “They gnawed their tongues with pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven... and repented not of their deeds.”
Again, we read that when eternity comes, “He that is unjust let him be unjust STILL: and he which is filthy let him be filthy STILL: and he that is righteous let him be righteous STILL: and he that is holy, let him be holy STILL” (Rev. 22:1111He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. (Revelation 22:11)). That word―STILL―wakens the very echoes of eternity and bespeaks no second chance.
The most solemn declarations as to hell and eternal punishment come, almost exclusively, from the lips of the Son of God Himself, as if to give all the weight possible to these stern truths. And He―the One who fully proved God’s love on the cross―hints at no second chance.
On the contrary, He places the matter in the clearest, possible light again and again. Let one verse suffice: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life [this disposes of the false doctrine of Universalism by one stroke of the pen]; but the wrath of God abideth on him [this disposes of the false doctrine of Annihilationism]” (John 3:3636He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)).
Let me beseech you not to listen to the devil’s lie about a second chance. It suits the carnal mind. It attracts men of impure life.
And let me entreat you to accept here and now the first and last and ONLY chance of salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)).
“There are no pardons in the tomb,
And brief is mercy’s day.”
Now! Now! NOW!! NOW!!!
THE EDITOR.