Saturday Special: Examining the Last Words of Scott Adams

Welcome to a Saturday special edition of When We Understand the Text. Looking at current events and responding to them with a solid understanding of scripture. Visit our website at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Scott Adams, Dilbert, and the Question of His Final Statement

Examining the Last Words of Scott Adams. Pastor Gabe's blog for January 16, 2026. On Tuesday, I received this message from a friend named Gary. He said, Pastor Gabe, I assume you've seen that Scott Adams died today, and many people are saying he converted to Christianity.

I read the statement posted on his behalf, and it doesn't sound like he placed his faith in Christ as his only hope of heaven. He just did a version of Pascal's wager and was playing the odds. I'd love it if you would speak to this issue, and I'd love to be wrong about my assessment, as in he actually became a believer.

Thank you, Gary. At the time Gary had sent this to me, I had seen that Adams had died, but I had not yet read the statement that had been released. Scott Adams was the creator of the long-running comic strip Dilbert.

He died on Tuesday, January 13, of prostate cancer at the age of 68. Dilbert was first published in 1989. I remember reading it when I was in the sixth grade. Though I was so young, I enjoyed The Office humor.

Hard to believe it's been around for that long. In 1997, the character Dilbert became the first fictional person to make Time Magazine's list of the most influential Americans. You may have also seen the character in commercials for Office Depot, and there was a Dilbert animated series, though it only lasted for 30 episodes.

The comic strips have been compiled in nearly 40 books. It was also the first syndicated comic strip ever to be published on the Internet for free. In early 2023, Adams got into hot water when he aired a rant on YouTube saying that black Americans who disagreed with the slogan, It's Okay to be White, were a hate group, and he told white Americans to get away from them.

It was branded a racist rant by The Economist and Reuters, and most major newspapers across the country dropped Dilbert from print. A month later, Adams made Dilbert a web-only comic under the new name Dilbert Reborn, containing more anti-woke and conservative-leaning themes.

Adams was also the author of several non-Dilbert-related books, a couple of which were New York Times bestsellers. He continued to update his YouTube channel, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, which has over 200 ,000 subscribers.

The Statement Scott Adams Released Before His Death

Presenting a Statement Through his channel, Adams announced in May of last year that he had stage 4 prostate cancer which had spread to his bones. By the end of the year, he had been given near zero odds of survival.

On January 1st, he wrote a final public message in preparation for his death. That message, posted to X on the 13th, began like this. If you are reading this, things did not go well for me. I have a few things to say before I go.

My body failed before my brain. I am of sound mind as I write this, January 1st, 2026. If you wonder about any of my choices for my estate or anything else, please know I am free of any coercion or inappropriate influence of any sort.

I promise. Next, many of my Christian friends have asked me to find Jesus before I go. I'm not a believer, but I have to admit the risk-reward calculation for doing so looks attractive. So, here I go.

I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I look forward to spending an eternity with Him. The part about me not being a believer should be quickly resolved if I wake up in heaven. I won't need any more convincing than that, and I hope I am still qualified for entry.".

For the remaining two-thirds of the statement, he talked about his failed marriage, but how grateful he was for family, the books he wrote, the impact he made on people's lives, and telling people that in whatever way they benefited from his work to pay it forward to someone.

Else.

He closed with the words, be useful. But of course, the part of the letter that most everyone talked about was the part where he said he had accepted Jesus. Praising the statement. The popular account Christian Tweets posted, quote, the final statement from Scott Adams, I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and look forward to spending an eternity with Him, unquote.

Disclosed TV, with 1 .5 million followers, posted this announcement as well. Roman Catholic and pro-life advocate Anna Lulis said, long-time atheist Scott Adams accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior moments before passing away.

Anyone can be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. May God rest his soul, unquote. Another popular Roman Catholic, Jack Posobiec, said, quote, Scott's acceptance of Christ is a massive win for God, unquote.

Colin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, said, quote, Scott Adams leaves one final message for his followers, says he has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior before telling his life story, unquote.

Korean-American and content creator Kangmin Lee also shared Adams' last words and said, quote, rest in peace, brother, unquote. Filmmaker Robbie Starbuck said, quote, the great Scott Adams died this morning, but my heart is filled with joy to know that he gave his heart to Jesus before he died, unquote.

Benny Johnson, host of The Benny Show, said, quote, in his final days, he boldly proclaimed Jesus Christ as his Savior. Rest easy, Scott, you will be missed, unquote. Former Survivor contestant Anna Kate said, quote, Scott Adams is resting in heavenly glory.

Praise Jesus, because in the end, that's all that truly matters. She also said, quote, I can just imagine how tightly Scott Adams hugged Jesus and then hugged Charlie, unquote, referring to Charlie Kirk.

Andrew Colvett of TPUSA and producer of The Charlie Kirk Show said, quote, Scott Adams just passed. With his final breath on this earth, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. May he rest in eternal glory and peace, unquote.

And you know, it's wonderful that upon Adams' passing, the name of the Lord was praised all across social media. That's certainly something that should delight the soul to see. Well, except for rosary waving Jack Posobiec's blasphemous comment.

Why the Statement Does Not Prove Saving Faith

But was Scott Adams' soul truly saved? Questioning the statement, a journalist named Michael Tracy said, quote, Scott Adams died. He apparently left a note saying, while he is not a believer, he accepts Christ as his Lord and Savior as a risk reward calculation.

Is someone saved if they simultaneously declare they do not believe in the creed they're avowing? Unquote. Dan from Tucson, Arizona, said, quote,. How can someone say I'm not a believer and I accept Jesus Christ in the same breath?

Maybe this isn't the right time to ask this, but people could be led astray if they think this is how salvation works. Unquote. An anonymous account said, quote,. I'm kind of shocked at all the Christian celebratory responses to Scott's statement when it seems uncertain whether he actually placed his faith in Christ.

Unquote. Said another Anon, quote,. Sadly, in his letter, he stated he didn't believe. So how does one truly accept Jesus as their Savior and not believe? Unquote. Said Mark from McDonough, Georgia, quote,.

He basically said he didn't believe, but made the statement anyway. That doesn't qualify as faith in the Lord. Unquote. Said Rob from Dallas, Texas, quote,. His words in that letter scare me for him. I really hope he meant it.

Unquote. Said Jason Whitlock of Blaze TV, quote,. I was not a fan of Scott Adams. Farewell letter comes off like a smug leftist who sees himself as his own God. Unquote. Agreeing with Whitlock, Virgil Walker of the Just Thinking podcast said, quote,.

He treated the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on a cross flippantly. Unquote. And he went on to say that Scott just said the hocus pocus thing and hoped it would work out for the best. Questioning Adams' final words have been perceived by many as trampling on a man's grave.

Nonetheless, he made a theological statement about salvation before he died. It was read and shared by millions of people. It is necessary for us to examine it according to Scripture, for we are told to test everything and hold fast to what is good.

First Thessalonians 521. Answering the statement. One of the more popular posts about Scott Adams was viewed nearly a million times, posted by an account that simply goes by biblical man. He said the following, quote,.

A man said, I accept Jesus Christ on his deathbed. The church asked if he really meant it. I need to ask you something. When did we become the gatekeepers of grace? I've watched Christians dissect Scott Adams' final words like prosecutors.

They parsed his phrases. They weighed his tone. They measured his faith against some invisible scale and found it wanting. That doesn't sound like surrender, they said. That sounds like a man hedging his bets.

And I understand the instinct, I do. But there's a verse that haunts me. Not because it's obscure, because it's too simple. Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10, 13. Whosoever.

Not whosoever truly believes in their heart of hearts. Not whosoever demonstrates sufficient sincerity. Not whoever calls early enough in life that we trust their motives. Whosoever, unquote. Now a biblical man went on with this post for quite a while.

It was rather long, but I only had to read that far to spot the error. I said to him, brother, the Bible actually does say you have to believe in your heart. I pointed him to what Romans says just a few verses earlier.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10, 9. And I reminded biblical man, Scott said he didn't believe, but I hope he did before he died.

Scott's statement was written on January 1st and he died on January 13th. So I hope that somewhere in the middle there, God truly granted Scott repentance. He understood that because of his sin, he deserved to die.

Worse than that, he deserved eternal judgment under the wrath of God. But Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice for sins. And by faith in Jesus, he would be saved and have eternal life. If we went just by the statement that Adams wrote, by his own admission, he did not have faith.

I'm not a believer, he said. It wasn't Jesus that looked attractive to him, but the risk reward calculation. He wanted the gift of life without the giver of life. He thought merely saying the words would gain him life.

He would work out the faith thing after he died. But what did the scripture say? Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5, 1. You do not have peace with God if you do not have faith in Jesus.

Saying magic words does not assuage God's wrath. You must believe from your heart in Jesus Christ. Of course, the Roman Catholics were ready to pronounce Adam's salvation because they don't believe you have to have faith in order to be saved.

Adam's pronouncement was enough. His calculus was sufficient. He hedged his bets and won. There were, of course, many Protestant influenced believers who also pronounced Adam saved because they put their trust, not in Christ, but in easy believism, altar calls, the sinner's.

Prayer.

Just say these magic words and you're saved. Just like biblical man said, he stopped at where the Bible says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. He should have kept reading. The very next verse says, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

Adams may have said words that looked to us like he was calling on the Lord, but he wasn't really calling on the Lord. If he did not believe in him, he was speaking into the air to a God he did not believe in.

And again, I hope he really did believe, but God only knows. We have a responsibility to tell people what Adams did is not the way you do it. You must believe in Jesus now, truly believe in him, truly believe that he died and rose again from the dead and not play these risk reward games with your eternal soul.

The Thief on the Cross and the Only Hope of Salvation

Dan Phillips is the pastor of Copperfield Bible Church in Houston, Texas. He said the following quote, I hope Adams died in saving faith, but nothing in this statement is reassuring. God's perspective is not that we have good reason for demanding that he gives us one more proof before we repent of our unbelief.

God's perspective is that every one of us is without excuse. Romans 1 20, if your plan is to get to heaven by penning a technical statement, dying an unbeliever, then becoming a believer. If God meets your demand that he buy your faith by rewarding your unbelief with heaven, that's a terrible plan.

I urge you to abandon it and flee to Christ right now while you can. The next event after your last breath is not further negotiation. The next event is judgment. Hebrews 9 27, which in this case will be the pronouncement of a judgment already reached during your unbelieving life.

John 3 18 repent and believe in Jesus now unquote. Closing statement. There were many hopeful persons who related Adams last moment conversion to the thief on the cross next to Jesus, but Adams conversion was nothing like the thief on the cross who believed in him in Luke 23 39 to 43 as Jesus died between two criminals.

One thief railed at him saying, are you not the Christ save yourself and us, but the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation and we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds.

But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And as you know, Jesus replied, truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. The thief recognized his own sin.

He knew he was getting what he deserved. He feared God. He said as much to the other thief. Do you not fear God? But he knew the one man who could save him from a penalty worse than death. But the judgment of God itself was the man hanging on a cross next to him.

He knew that Jesus though dying was going to come into his kingdom. He believed in his heart and called upon the name of the Lord. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he was saved.

I say to you that the last words of Adams that we have sound more like the thief who railed at Jesus than the thief who believed in him. Deathbed conversions are a real thing. I'm so delighted that the Bible gave us such an example in the thief on the cross.

But to answer Gary's question, we don't know if that's what Scott Adams experienced. And that's a scary enough thing to consider. It's in the Lord's hands now. We can know the way to eternal life. And the Lord wants us to know.

It's why he sent his son to save us. It's why he sent someone to share with you the gospel of Jesus Christ so that you would believe in him and be saved. We have this moment to put our faith and trust in Jesus and know right now we will be forgiven our sins and reconciled with God so that whenever death does come, we will be ready.

Not because you rolled the dice and hedged your bets, but because you believe in the Savior who saves.