Are you Catholic? This is a Catholic/Orthodox caucus thread.
When I was studying theology way back in the 1970s, the priest who taught Eucharistic Theology often said that the Son of God did not die in vain. Repentance is necessary, belief in the Jesus as the Son of God is necessary, for salvation, but who knows what graces are poured out upon individuals when they die, when the Shepherd calls their names in His loving attempt to turn their hearts to Him, even at the last moment of free will decision.
The great saints quoted in this thread are an inspiration to repentance, but theirs are personal statements, not dogmatic tenets.