Dying while sinning

Christians are sinners/saints until life on earth comes to an end. Then, they are no longer sinners but only saints in God’s eyes. Until life’s end Christians possess a sinful nature, they wage war against Satan and his evil forces, and they remain vigilant to all that is evil in this world.

In spite of their best intentions and efforts, Christians sin. We distinguish between sins of weakness which do not cause us to lose our faith (Romans 7:15-25) and deliberate sins that can drive saving faith from the heart (Hebrews 10:26-27). Because of this distinction, the response to your question could go in different directions.

The comfort you and I have is that Christians stand in God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:2). We are wrapped in God’s forgiving love. When we stumble into sin out of weakness, we confess our sins to God. But even then our confession does not earn forgiveness from God. Forgiveness is God’s free gift. “Forgiven” is our daily status as Christians. If earthly life ends without the opportunity to confess sins of weakness, we still stand in God’s grace and can look forward to standing in his presence.

God of course is the judge of people’s hearts (Hebrews 4:13). His pronouncement of what is in people’s hearts at the end of life is entirely accurate. It is finally Christian faith that saves and unbelief that condemns (Mark 16:16).

Your question is a reminder to take sin seriously—because of the high cost that was involved to forgive our sins (1 Peter 1:18-19) and the deadly nature of sin (Romans 6:23). Your question is a reminder to say “no” to sin and “yes” to godly living (Titus 2:12).