Saved Like A Thief?
Our Lord was crucified between two thieves. According to the accounts in
Matthew
and Mark, the thieves joined the enemies of Jesus in mocking Him (Matthew
27:38-44; Mark 15:27-32). However, Luke records that one thief repented
of his
evil speaking: "Then one of the
criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him saying, 'If you are the Christ, save
Yourself and us.' But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not
even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said to Jesus, 'Lord,
remember me when You come into your kingdom.' And Jesus said to him,
'Assuredly, I say
to you, today you will be with me in
The Bible teaches that in order for one to be saved today,
he must hear the gospel, believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, repent of
his past sins, and be buried with Christ in baptism so that his sins will be
washed away (Matthew 28:19,20; Mark
Does the salvation of the thief on the cross provide an
example for us to follow today in conversion? Is it possible for us to be saved as the thief
was? Does the salvation of the thief
mean that we can ignore the Lord's command to be baptized for the remission of
sins (Mark
First, the thief was a Jew. He was one of God's chosen people under the
Old Testament (Genesis 12:1-3;
Deuteronomy 7:6-8). He was born into
a covenant relationship with God. Therefore,
he was already a child of God. But he
was a child of God who had strayed into sin. He only needed to repent and he would be
forgiven. The case of the thief is the
same as that of several other Jews whose sins were forgiven by the Lord when He
was on the earth (Mark 2:1-12; Luke
Second, the thief was saved before the Great Commission was
given. This was given by Jesus to His
apostles shortly before He went back to Heaven. He commanded them to preach the gospel to the
whole world, every nation, and every creature. Those who heard and believed the gospel,
repented of their sins and were baptized, would be
saved. Those who refused would be lost (Matthew 28:19,20; Mark
Third, in every case of conversion recorded in the book of
Acts, people were required to obey the terms given in the Great Commission in
order to be saved.
In Acts 2, the Jews on Pentecost heard Peter
preach the gospel. They were "cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, 'Men and
brethren, what shall we do?"' They were commanded to "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins..." (Acts
if not stated, in every example of conversion in the book of Acts. Baptism is mentioned specifically in most of
them (Acts
Fourth, it is possible that the thief had already been
baptized. "John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the
Fifth, no one can be saved today the way the thief was saved
because no one is in the same situation the thief was in. He was in the physical presence of Jesus. He was able to speak with the Lord face to
face. The Lord as the testator of His
will had the right to do what He wished with His salvation while He lived, but
once He died, the conditions of His will have to be met in order for one to be
saved (Hebrew 9:16,17). Since Jesus has now died, the conditions of
salvation given in His New Testament are required of all today who want to be saved.
Dear friend, are you saved? Do not let someone deceive you into thinking
you can be saved like the thief on the cross. Today, we must obey the terms of salvation
given by the Lord in His Great Commission and clearly outlined in the book of
Acts. We must hear the gospel, believe
in Jesus Christ, repent of all our past sins, confess that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, and be immersed in water for the remission of sins. One is thereby added by the Lord to His
church, the
************
Gift of churches of Christ – Not to be
sold
For a Free Bible Correspondence Course
Write To:
Truth For The World
e-mail: tftworld@tftw.org.
Web Page: http://www.tftw.org