Question:
Do murderers, rapists, or pedophiles that convert at the last minute before death go to the same tier of heaven as someone who has never killed anyone and been a Christian for most of their life? Is it fair that someone who has done something evil (like a serial killer) can pray the sinners prayer at the end of their life and end up in the same heaven as others?
Answer:
Let’s break this into two questions:
Question 1: Are there tiered levels of heaven?
Question 2: If there are no tiers of heaven, how can God let horrible sinners (like murderers, rapists, pedophiles, etc.) into the same level of heaven as others?
To understand the answer that I will give, you need to fist understand two foundational aspects of the gospel. First, while sin has different levels of seriousness and consequences from an earthly perspective, there is no difference in sin when it comes to our standing before God. “Big” or “small”, “grievous” or “culturally accepted”, in God’s eyes, sin is sin. James writes, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). Whether you have murdered someone or lusted, you are a sinner, and the consequence of sin is eternal separation from God.
The second foundational aspect of the gospel is that salvation only comes through grace. Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, NO ONE makes it into heaven based on their level of goodness. Conversely, NO ONE DOES NOT make it into heaven based on their level of badness (bad grammar, but you hopefully get the point). Any person that makes it into heaven is because of the grace of God made possible through the saving work of Jesus Christ. Period. To add anything else to that, such as, “I was only a little bad compared to the murderer in prison” is to turn salvation into a works-based religion.
With those established, let me answer each question.
Question 1: Are there tiered levels of heaven?
There are no Christian groups, that I can think of, that teach a tiered heaven. Protestant Christians, which is the group we fall into, hold to heaven being all-encompassing. There are some cults (according to Google) that believe in a tiered heaven with different levels and experiences depending on one’s actions and beliefs. The Mormons believe in a Celestial Kingdom, a Terrestrial Kingdom, and a Telestial Kingdom, each with varying levels of glory and access to God. Heaven’s Gate believed in a “Next Level” or “Evolutionary Level Above Human” as the ultimate destination.
Back to Protestant Christian beliefs: We believe that the Bible makes it very clear that everyone who is saved is equally and fully accepted into God’s presence.
That said, Scripture does indicate that our faithfulness on earth may be rewarded in heaven in different ways. For example, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12). Another one: “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35).
Unfortunately, from a curiosity standpoint, God does not give a lot of detail about what the rewards will be. However, given that he is the creator and sustainer of man, it is not a stretch to believe that whatever he rewards will be more than worth it.
Question 2: If there are no tiers of heaven, how can God let horrible sinners (like murderers, rapists, pedophiles, etc.) into the same level of heaven as others?
I totally get it. It does not sit well to think that a serial killer can live his whole life apart of God, do all kinds of evil, and then put his faith in Christ moments before his execution, and be saved. But as I mentioned in the beginning, none of us deserve to be saved. So if we are truly being honest, it shouldn’t even sit well with us (from a fairness perspective) that ANYONE can be saved.
However, that is the beauty of the gospel! Any person – even someone who has committed horrific sins — can and will be saved by Christ if they genuinely repent and place their faith in Christ. This has nothing to do with praying the “sinner’s prayer” the correct way. It’s all about whether or not you have genuinely gone to Christ, confessed him as Lord, and truly believed in your heart that he died and rose again (Romans 10:9-10).
That may sound shocking or even unfair to us. But it actually reveals the depth of God’s mercy, not a loophole. In Romans 5:8, it says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That includes everyone… from the outwardly decent to the deeply disturbing.
This idea is powerfully shown while Jesus hung on the cross and interacted with the two other criminals who were also on the cross. The “thief on the cross” was not just a guy who stole a few wallets. He was likely someone that had committed some sort of horrible crime. A crime that was bad enough that even HE admitted he deserved his punishment (see Luke 23). As they were all dying the thief asked Jesus to be remembered and Jesus promised him paradise that very day (Luke 23:42–43).
No matter the sin, God can and will forgive a person, if they genuinely turn to him.
Keep in mind that Christ’s salvation doesn’t mean we dismiss the horror of sin or forget the pain it causes. When we hear about people who hurt children, especially in horrific ways, everything in us recoils. That’s not wrong. That’s the image of God in you responding to injustice. Jesus Himself said it would be better for someone to have a millstone tied around their neck and be thrown into the sea than to hurt a little one (Luke 17:2). So your anger toward sin, especially against the innocent, reflects God’s own righteous anger toward evil. But that does not negate the fact that God can save anyone.
One closing thought. If you struggle with the idea of someone “really bad” getting into heaven, it most likely comes from one of two different beliefs. First, it may come from an incorrect understanding of what the gospel really means. Hopefully the above has shed some light into that. Second, it might also come from an incorrect perception of yourself. To believe that you are “less bad” is dangerously close to linking your goodness with God’s acceptance. You may not have murdered like those on death row, but from God’s perspective (which is the only perspective that matters), you are a sinner just like Joe on death row is a sinner.
To use an illustration, too often we think of sin like water test results. We sin a little so we the results for that particular test increase a little, but is still in the “safe” range. Others sin a lot, so their test results are significantly higher. Then we look at the two different results and think, “We have a lot better test results than the other guy!” But that is not how we should see it. Instead, think of sin as the deadliest poison out there. One little drop – even the tiniest bit – even the tiniest parts per million — is going to completely and totally pollute the water. The water will be undrinkable… even deadly. Whether it has a tiny drop or the entire vial, it is polluted. That is sin. One sin, no matter what it was, totally polluted our lives. Anything beyond that did not change things. We are polluted. And Jesus Christ is the only one who can take away that pollution.