Post-Mortem Redemption

The Bible does not offer any conclusive statements about whether or not post-mortem salvation is possible, but it does clearly teach that destruction--a cessation of conscious existence--is the ultimate fate of the unsaved.  In light of this, to say that God does not or would not offer redemption to the unsaved after they have died but before they have entered hell is mere speculation at best, an assumption with no Biblical evidence and no logical proof.

Hebrews 9:27 might be appealed to as an indication that Christian theology is incompatible with the notion of someone becoming saved after they have died.  It becomes clear from a genuine exegesis of the verse, though, that it is only describing two events and stating which one precedes the other.  According to the verse, death comes first, to be followed by whatever judgment awaits an individual.

This does not establish that post-mortem salvation is impossible according to the Biblical worldview; at most, it only affirms that the Bible teaches that the norm is for humans to die once before receiving divine judgment.  Nothing about Hebrews 9:27 excludes a hypothetical second chance between death and judgment.  The period between those two events is not necessarily without the opportunity for redemption, even if it is fallacious and Biblically unsound to actually think post-mortem redemption is part of Christian theology.

It must be clarified that to admit this is possible is not the same as saying it is true--or even the same as saying it is likely.  There is no evidence of any kind that God will grant an unsaved person a last choice to align with himself.  Of course, a lack of evidence is in no way proof that the alternative must be true, nor is it mere evidence for the alternative.  Logical possibility is quite different from actual confirmation that an idea is true.  However, Scriptural clarity can be found about other eschatological details.

Other parts of the Bible still plainly state that far more will be annihilated than saved (Matthew 7:12).  The finality of the second death is not obscure, nor is the prediction that the vast majority of humankind will be damned to eternal nonexistence at some point after being sentenced to hell.  What is not given specific attention in the Bible is what happens between death and judgment.  This life might very well be the only opportunity a person has to determine their eschatological fate, yet it remains logically possible that this might not be the case.