Death Row Inmate Declares Faith in Jesus Christ Before Execution

Ali Reza Asadi, a death row inmate, declares his faith in Jesus Christ before the execution of his sentence.

These executions took place even as Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nations special rapporteur on Iran, had requested Iranian officials to immediately halt the execution of these 12 individuals.

Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Verses 14 to 18

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so too must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

In the Word of God we read that the Word became flesh and appeared in the form and likeness of humans on earth, and through obedience and servitude, without sin and through a pure and holy life, was able to take upon himself the burden of human sins and give humanity the hope and ability to repent once and for all from all their sins, and without any earthly intermediary or without resorting to any known or unknown being, and only through the Son of God (the very Word that became flesh) to speak with God and their unseen Creator and enter into a reciprocal and loving relationship.
For humanity, which had no hope of salvation from the burden of sins and saw no way to be freed from their sinful nature inclined to wickedness and depravity, He himself came to earth and stood before humanity. As Jesus Christ said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Throughout history there have been countless sinful humans who, lost and helpless in their sin-stained nature and at the peak of desperation, even in the final moments of their lives, reached out to this good and loving God, sought their salvation from Him, and attained true redemption.
We can see many examples of such people in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for Christ said: I came into the world for the sick, the needy, and the sinners to save them, for the healthy and the righteous have no need of a physician and a savior.
One such person who, in the final moments of his life and weary of his barren and sin-filled life, reached out to our Lord Jesus, was a thief who was being crucified alongside another thief and Jesus Christ, in the final moments of his life.
Although he saw all opportunities for repentance and life in this world and current age as lost and passed, he suddenly felt in his heart this call that this person beside him, who without any sin was being crucified and giving his life, was the one whose coming had been promised in the Word of God. In that instant, his heart was filled with love and devotion to the Lord, and with a pleading tone he said to Jesus, the Lord, who beside him was giving up his spirit: When you return to judge on the Day of Judgment and enter your kingdom and dominion, please remember me and forgive my sins.
The response of Jesus to this thief and robber who was receiving the due reward for his deeds is noteworthy and worthy of reflection.

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23, Verses 42 and 43

So he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus Christ never said to him: You have spent your whole life in debauchery and thievery and perhaps murder, gambling, adultery, and… and now, because of one word and because you have placed yourself beside me, you want me to consider you as a completely innocent person and admit you into my kingdom?
No. Christ immediately gave him a response that he longed to hear in those moments. Jesus Christ forgave him and, without reproach or blame, said to him that together with me you will enter the kingdom and paradise. Like me myself.
What incomparable and incomprehensible love and forgiveness. This is God who is able that with one word, from the sincere heart of a person and with their whole being confessed, He would wield the pen of pardon and write the signature of complete forgiveness over our entire unclean record and deem us worthy of sitting together with Him and, like Him, having eternal life.
There is only one condition. Sincere repentance from the heart and asking for forgiveness from the Lord Jesus Christ.
May it be that today you and I also, at any point that seems irreversible and irreparable, trust in this God of love and place our hope in Him, and with a humble heart accept that only our repentance and a gesture from God is sufficient so that we too may benefit and partake of the fruits of the crucifixion and death and then the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and His ascension to heaven. This door remains open as long as life exists in soul and world.
May God grant all of you seekers of divine mercy and forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord, blessings, health, forgiveness, and eternal life.
Amen

Source: VOCIR