When a man whose rap sheet includes serial murder and serial arson calmly tells the public he believes he’ll one day walk through the gates of Heaven, the instinctive reaction for many people is disbelief. Maybe even outrage.
Our minds immediately race to the faces of victims, to the terror left behind, to the simple but deeply human question: How could someone responsible for such evil possibly stand forgiven before a holy God?
Yet Christianity has always contained a truth that cuts directly against human instinct.
The gospel does not teach that salvation belongs only to the respectable, the polished, or the comparatively decent. It teaches that all people stand guilty before God apart from Christ — and that the saving power of Jesus is vast enough to cover every sin for those who genuinely repent and place their faith in Him.
Not some sins. Not lesser sins. All sins. And that reality can feel scandalous precisely because grace, by its very nature, is undeserved.
Which brings us to one of the most notorious criminals in American history, David Berkowitz, perhaps better known by the alias “Son of Sam.”
Berkowitz terrorized New York City between 1975 and 1977, killing six people and wounding seven others, according toHistory.com.
To give you an inkling of an idea of the terror he inspired, Berkowitz’s preference for killing brunettes with long hair had swathes of New York women cutting their hair short and dyeing it blonde — assuming they were even brave enough to be outside.
And this is the man who told theNew York Postthat he’s going to heaven?
“My home is in heaven, not in the Bronx,” Berkowitz, who has been in prison for 48 years, told the outlet via email.
Source: VidNews » Feed
