Too Late for Salvation?

Do you ever feel it is too late for you to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you ever feel as if you have been disqualified from salvation because of what you have done in the past? Do you feel that you have waited too long and God will not accept you now?

I have written about this topic once before in a post called The Thief on the Cross but I want to touch on it again, this time using one of Jesus’ parables.

The Laborers in the Vineyard

The parable comes to us from Matthew 20:1-15 in the parable about the laborers in the vineyard. It goes like this:

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ ⁵ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ ⁸ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ ⁹ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. ¹⁰ Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹² saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ ¹³ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵ Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 

In this parable, all of the laborers received the same wage even though some were working in the vineyard for much longer than others. Those who worked all day resented the fact that those who worked much less received the same pay. They felt like they deserved more even though they received the money they were promised.

The master of the house in this parable is God. The laborers are those who come to God and work in God’s vineyard, which is the earth, to advance the Kingdom. The denarius represents the reward, which is the Heavenly Kingdom of God.

However, the actual identity of the laborers varies according to a few different interpretations.

Two Possible Interpretations

Because this parable comes shortly after the encounter with the rich young ruler, and directly after Peter’s question to Jesus about what the apostles’ reward will be, some have speculated that the laborers who were hired in the morning represent the apostles as the first followers of Jesus.

According to this interpretation Jesus was warning the apostles not to be resentful of those who come after them.

Others have speculated that the workers hired in the morning represent the nation of Israel and this is a warning to the Jewish people not to be resentful of the Gentiles who will come after them.

While both of these interpretations have merit, I believe there is still more here than that and there is a lesson here for all of us.

A Third Interpretation

This is the interpretation I favor.

The laborers hired in the morning represent people who come to Christ early in their lives. Those who for the most part have always had faith.

Next we have the laborers who were hired at differing times during the day. These laborers represent people who come to Christ at various points in their lives. Some who come to Christ as young men and women, and some who do not come to Christ until very late in their lives. Sometimes they might not even come to Christ until they are on their deathbeds.

This teaches us that if we truly repent and ask for forgiveness we can be saved any time during our lives, even if it is only at the end. Works do not matter for salvation, it is the belief in Jesus Christ and God’s grace alone that saves.

Is it Fair?

Sometimes it does not seem fair to us that a person who lives an ungodly life right up until the end can get into heaven along with those who have followed Christ since they were young and have always tried to live to please God.

But this is about God’s grace; it is not about how we feel or about what we think is fair. In fact, we shouldn’t begrudge others their salvation, because in reality none of us deserved to be saved in the first place. We are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God.¹ It is through God’s grace alone that any of us are saved and we are not in a position to judge what is or is not fair about God’s abundant grace. Who are we to say there should be limits to God’s grace?

Instead of being resentful of others for God’s abounding grace we should be thankful for the grace he has given us because we did not deserve it either.

There are no Loopholes

However, make no mistake about it; this is not about cheap grace. A person cannot use a deathbed conversion as a backup plan. This has to be a true conversion from the heart with honest repentance, and not part of a lifelong plan to get into heaven through the back door knowing you are leading a sinful, worldly life.

There are no loopholes into heaven, God sees into the heart and he understands who is truly remorseful, who is truly repenting, and who is using the “just in case” option.

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1. See Romans 3:23 ↩︎