Aaron Erhardt

Jul 14, 2026

By grace, Jesus died “for all” (2 Corinthians 5:14), tasted death “for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9), and is the propitiation “for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). This means that all can benefit from what God has done through Christ. No one is beyond reach.

Perhaps the scope of God’s grace is best seen in the life of Paul. He was a spiritual terrorist who did much harm to the church of Christ. In fact, he said to King Agrippa, “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities” (Acts 26:9-11). Yet Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was baptized to “wash away his sins” (Acts 22:16). If he could receive grace when judgment was long overdue, anyone can (1 Timothy 1:16).

Another example is much more recent. Jeffrey Dahmer was one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms for the rape, murder, and dismemberment of 17 males between 1978 and 1991. Some of the murders involved cannibalism. Yet he learned the truth and was baptized into Christ shortly before he was beaten to death on November 28, 1994. Below is an excerpt from Roy Ratcliff, the preacher who did the baptism:

“Nearly everyone raises the question about Jeff’s sincerity. But I was there, and these questioners weren’t…I cannot know the condition of another person’s heart unless I listen to his or her words. I listened to Jeff’s words, and I watched his eyes and his body language. I listened to the tone of his voice and observed his mannerisms, and I am convinced that he was totally sincere in his desire…Jeff had nothing to gain in this life by being baptized; he had everything to gain in the next life. He was baptized for the same reason anyone else is baptized. In the light of the Bible, he surveyed his life and concluded that he needed to be saved” (The Baptism of Jeffrey Dahmer, Roy Ratcliff, Christian Woman, 1995).

If Paul was the “foremost” sinner of the first century (1 Timothy 1:15), Jeffrey Dahmer was certainly among the “foremost” sinners of the twentieth century. However, neither man was beyond the scope of God’s grace… and neither are you!