The Atheist, the Serial Killer, and the Scandal of Grace

A good atheist goes to hell while a serial killer goes to heaven because of a last-second prayer? That's not justice. It's a joke."

We are kicking off a brand-new format! Moving forward, Pedro is taking real, hard-hitting comments from skeptics on social media and breaking them down. We aren't just looking at the apologetics—we are diving into the psychology, the theology, and the very real human heart behind the screen.

In this episode, we tackle the deep end of the doubt pool: our core sense of fairness. If you view heaven as a VIP lounge for moral high-achievers and hell as a prison for bad people, then a deathbed conversion feels like a cosmic miscarriage of justice. But what if Christianity isn't about good vs. bad, but dead vs. alive?

What we cover:

• The "Just World" Fallacy: Why the concept of radical grace completely shatters our psychological need for a predictable, karma-based universe.
• The Heart Behind the Objection: Why skeptics aren't rejecting grace because they love sin, but because they are fiercely defending victims of injustice.
• The Thief on the Cross: How Jesus handled this exact scandalous scenario in real-time—paying the massive cost of justice Himself so that no one is beyond the reach of rescue.

Grace isn't fair. And thank God it isn't. Because if God only gave us exactly what we earned, none of us would make it.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Hey everyone, welcome to Is It Because of Jesus. I am your host, Pedro Garcia, and today we have a new episode. I wanted to let you know that things are changing, and from now on, the format is gonna change a little bit. So I've decided, and this is actually what I do on social media too, which is I go to YouTube or TikTok and I find someone that is mocking Christianity or someone that is just being fears about it, and I get one of the comments in the comment sections, and then I take it out of that context and then analyze it, even though you know it always comes in the context of a video. What I'm going to do is to go through it through the apologetics, theology, hearts behind the comments, and psychology side of things, so that we can actually learn that there is a person behind every comment that we can learn also about Christianity, but also to bring our focus to the person behind the comment. Because comments always come, you know, out of a mouth that has been going through a journey to that point where that mouth is actually uttering that comment. Actually, there is a heart behind it. So that's what we're going to do. I'm excited about this. And today we're going to start with our first comment. So please buckle up. Here it goes. A good atheist goes to hell while a serial killer goes to heaven because of a last second prayer? That's not justice. It's a joke. Let me read it again. A good atheist goes to hell while a serial killer goes to heaven because of a last second prayer? That's not justice. That's a joke. Okay, if you have ever wrestled with the psychology of doubt, this comment is the deep end. It hits right at our core sense of fairness. The logic here is built on a massive culturally accepted assumption that heaven is a VIP lounge for good people and hell is a prison for bad people. That's a wage system, that's karma. But that's not Christianity. The philosophical reality is that Christianity doesn't believe in good people or bad people. It believes in dead people and alive people. If we operate on a legal economy, then yes, the communist right. A serial killer going to heaven is a cosmic miscarriage of justice. But the gospel introduces a different economy entirely. Grace. Grace destroys the wage system. It says the gap between the good atheist and a holy god is just as infinite as the gap between the monster and a holy god. You cannot jump the Grand Canyon whether you get a running start or trip on your shoelaces at the edge. You still fall. Heaven isn't a reward for moral high achievers. It's a hospital for people who finally admit they are sick. Okay, now let's look closely at the person rising this. Imagine looking at a world bleeding from injustice. You know secular people, maybe your own family or friends, who are kind, generous, and sacrificed for others. Then you are told they will burn, while a monster who tortured people gets a golden ticket because he got scared on his deathbed. Behaviorally, what we're looking at here is a violent collision of moral injury and the just world fallacy. We are psychologically hardwired to need a just world, a place where actions have proportional, predictable consequences. Good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people. It keeps our existential anxiety in check. When you introduce the concept of radical race, you shatter that psychology safety net, creating a profound cognitive dissonance. The comment itself is a defense mechanism called reactance. By labeling the system a joke, they are aggressively rejecting a framework that feels like an assault on justice. They are not rejecting grace because they love sin. They're rejecting it because they are fiercely defending the victims. They're looking at a version of God that looks like a corrupt judge taking bribes, and they are saying, if that's God, I want no part of him. And honestly, well, if that were the whole picture, I wouldn't blame them either. But how does Jesus handle this tension? He doesn't offer us a neat philosophical thesis. He literally lives out the exact, this exact, scandalous scenario in real time. I mean, look at this crucifixion. Jesus is bleeding out on a Roman cross, suffocating to death. And right next to him is a convicted, violent criminal. A man who, by his own admission, deserves the execution he's getting. He has zero time to volunteer at a soup kitchen. He has zero time to make amends. He has zero time to build up a moral resume to hand to God. He has absolutely nothing to offer. All he does is turn his head in his final moments and ask to be remembered. And Jesus doesn't look at him and say, Let me check your file first. He doesn't say, What about the people you hurt? He says, Today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus doesn't do this to mock justice. He does it because he's currently in that very moment paying the tap for the injustice. The killer doesn't get off scot-free. The penalty was paid in full, but just not by him. Jesus sees the outreach of the person who wrote this comment and he actually agrees with them. Sin requires justice. The brokenness of the world requires a massive cost. But he steps in to absorb that cost himself so that no one, not the moralist, not the atheist, and not the monster, is beyond the reach of rescue. Grace isn't fair. And thank God it isn't. Because if God were only fair, if he only gave us exactly what we earned, none of us would make it. So the next time someone brings up this argument, don't just defend a religious system or argue theology. Agree with their hunger for justice. Validate their anger at the brokenness of the world. Turn the tables gently. Point them to the man on the middle of the cross who absorbed the injustice they are so incredibly angry about. And when they tell you they're walking away from the faith, ask them, is it because of Jesus? Well, that was uh today's episode. And uh as I always say, you know, you can email me at is it because of Jesus. Actually, not no question mark. Is it because of Jesus at gmail.com if you have any questions, and also you can you know check check out the social media stories that I share there that are very similar to this uh episode that you heard. And if you have any questions, please just contact me because I'm here for you. And remember, is it because of Jesus?