While running low on inspiration for articles to write, I asked several of my friends to ask me Bible questions. The first question I received was are there any serial killers in Heaven?
The most obvious answer would be "no". Aside from there being no death in Heaven, 1 John 3:15 clearly tells us that murderers have no life in them. So, serial killers can't get to Heaven.
But...
On our own, no one gets to Heaven. The Bible clearly tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Thus, none of us deserve Heaven. We all deserve Hell. But we also know that we don't all get what we deserve. Most people, unfortunately, will. Jesus said "wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14). But as narrow as it is, people do find it.
And of course, Jesus is that gate. The Bible says that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). And Christ is obtained not by deserving Him by doing good, or by not doing a certain amount of bad. In fact, in Paul's testimony found in 1 Timothy 1, Paul claims to be the chief of sinners. There was no one on the earth whom he considered worse than him. And for good reason, he killed many many Christians. Yet, in verse 16, he tells us "However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."
And so we see that Christ is capable of saving literally the worst of the worst. Serial killers, rapists, paedophiles, God can save absolutely anyone. Or, as the old hymn goes, "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives".
And so we can say for a fact that there is at least one serial killer in Heaven. Paul the Apostle, a serial killer, put his faith in Christ, and so all of his evils were dealt with at the cross.
Paul is not alone. Although he is the only one the Bible expressly tells us is definitely in Heaven (at least to my knowledge), there is a very famous serial killer who was active from 1978 - 1991. Jeffrey Dahmer was known to have raped, killed and dismembered 17 male victims. Not long before his death, Dahmer was interviewed, and he had this to say:
"If a person doesn’t think that there is a God to be accountable to, then what’s the point of trying to modify your behaviour to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing, and I’ve since come to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God, and I believe that I, as well as everyone else, will be accountable to Him."
In the end, Dahmer accepted Christ. Roy Ratcliff, the minister who baptised him, testified to the apparent sincerity of Dahmer's faith. So penitent was Dahmer that he wondered if he was sinning just by remaining alive. All the outward signs suggest that Jeffrey Dahmer's conversion was genuine. He received the Holy Spirit, he repented of his sins, and with it, he received the salvation that Jesus can bring to anyone who believes. Even a serial killer. We serve an awesome God.
Recommended song: To God be the Glory - Lou Fellingham