It doesn’t seem fair if one Hail Mary prayer at the end of your life can make up for 70 or 80 years of cruelty. But that’s only because grace isn’t fair.
What’s fair is for every one of us to be sent to hell, because every one of us has rebelled against God. We’ve all sinned and fallen short of his glory. It’s just that some of us hide our sin better than others.
For example, I used to be really shy. I wouldn’t talk very much, so people thought I was a nice, shy person. I wasn’t. Inside I was judging you and cursing you. I was just too scared to say it to your face. That’s the reason why, now that I’m a dad, I get really suspicious when my kids are quiet. I start grilling them about what’s going on in their hearts.
Because we’re all sinners who need God’s grace. It’s just that some of us take a long time to realize that.
The thief on the cross was one of those guys. There were two criminals who were crucified next to Jesus. One of them was mocking him, and the other one was worshiping him. And even though the mocker had led a life of evil — even though he probably destroyed the lives of a lot of people — Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Some people need to look death in the face in order to realize how much they want to have life with Jesus. So yes, anyone can be saved no matter what kind of life they’ve lived, if they simply trust Jesus to pay the penalty for their sin through his death on the cross, and invite Jesus to be king of their life, no matter how much life they may have to live.
For more about the scandalous grace of God, I recommend Tim Keller’s book, The Prodigal God.