What does the pardoned murderer story show about every human being?
It shows that every human being has been pardoned and reconciled because Christ paid the sin debt for all; everything needed on their behalf has been done. The issue is not lack of provision, but unbelief: many reject and stomp the pardon underfoot, going to eternal doom because they rejected it, not because of their sin.
Les explains the pardoned murderer story to illustrate every person’s spiritual position. A man was convicted of murder, and though the community was up in arms because he seemed so pious, there was no doubt he had killed a man. While on death row, the governor pardoned him and wrote him the pardon, but in anger and rebellion he tore it up and stomped it on the floor. As he was about to be hanged, he said, “Tell the world I’m not dying for murdering a man. I’m dying because I rejected my pardon.” Les then applies this: that is exactly where every human being is. They have been pardoned; they have been reconciled; everything has been done on their behalf that needed to be done, but they would not believe it and stomped it underfoot. Therefore they go to eternal doom, not because of their sin, but because they rejected the pardon. This connects with the earlier point that God was in Christ reconciling the world, and Christ paid the sin debt for every human being, so no one can say God did not supply their need.