The thief on the cross?

Question

The thief on the cross was saved by saving faith and that is all we need right?

Answer 1

To a perfectly righteous God, all sin is bad sin. Whether someone (1) leads their entire life willfully sinning or (2) striving to do good things, yet still sinning (for we all sin), makes no difference to God when it comes time for genuine repentance and redemption. Folks confuse the linear passage of time we experience with how God experiences time (all at once, in the eternal now). So someone who had willfully lived a life of sin and genuinely repents at the last few moments of life gets the same consideration from a perfectly just God.

All sins, but one, can be forgiven by God for the truly repentant. That one sin is the fully knowledgeable sin of disbelief. This is the unforgivable sin. God cannot forgive the person who refuses to believe.

Since we know that the sinful thief on the cross was redeemed at the 11th hour of his death (see Lu 23:40-43), I am confident that for a truly repentant person, God would forgive their sins in the final moments of their lives. But that is God's decision to make as He is the One who truly knows the heart of the person making the claim for redemption. But, having said all of that, let’s consider what God would be looking for in a last minute redemption using the thief of the cross scenario:

As in the thief on the cross who repented and was redeemed by Christ, there is more required of the mental and spiritual state of such a person. I observe that the events of the thief on the cross (or the last minute repentant) were exegetical of the following required mindset of someone repenting:

1. Is deserving of just punishment for sin (Lu 23:40)
2. From testimony of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26), sees Christ was a sinless man (Lu 23:40-41), but also God (Lu 23:42)
3. Makes earnest confession (Lu 23:40-41), being convicted by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8)
4. Feels repentance of the heart and spoken by the mouth (Lu 23:40-41)
5. Possesses a true Faith (Lu 23:42)
6. Knew Christ possessed and was in authority in a Kingdom (Lu 23:42)
7. Believed Christ could forgive sins and grant eternal life. Another attribute of God. (Lu 23:43)
8. Christ lives even after death (Lu 23:43)

I don’t think we can look to this event for clarity about whether or not good works were required for salvation. On the one hand, we might interpret that the thief performed some good works (see #2, #4, #6). The thief’s public witness of Christ’s sinless state was bold given the mood of the mob around the Crucifixion. Yet, one can just as readily interpret these actions as the workings of the Holy Spirit in convicting the thief towards repentance. The amount of saving faith the thief exhibited was extraordinary.

It might also be assumed that the thief had heard the Gospel being preached, when the thief heard Christ’s prayer to God the Father in Lu 23:34. Imagine being there on the cross and hearing Christ pray to God the Father to forgive these persons who were crucifying Him. The grace one would be witnessing is quite a Gospel message!

As an aside, it is also instructive from the thief on the cross event that other Christian doctrines are in evidence:

9. No sacraments, e.g., baptism, Lord's Supper, etc., were required for conversion (Lu 23:43)
10. There was no soul sleep after death (Lu 23:43)
11. The same message leads to death for many and eternal life for few (Lu 23:43)

Really is quite amazing that in only a few verses we find so many of the major Christian doctrines!

While the thief on the cross is clear evidence that a last minute or deathbed conversion is possible, the event should also indicate how rare such and event would be. So, I repeat what I stated earlier, that only God will be able to determine the person’s mental and spiritual state. Anything else is pure speculation.

Lastly, the bible suggests that the rewards in Heaven will be apportioned according to one's righteous behavior on earth. Thus, in the case of the thief on the cross, or similar scenarios, the heavenly rewards would be very different from, say, a Moses, John the Baptist, or even Mother Teresa.

Answer 2

Yes, one thief went to death, the other to life. Always look to Scripture for answers.

The thief who asked to be remembered had accepted his punishment as just, had revelation that Jesus was the king, as had been posted on His cross, and made his prayer of faith believing that Jesus was a king with a kingdom. Mark 23: 39,43. It was foretold in Genesis that this man would be restored to life.

We know from Scripture that the two thieves were Gentiles. The dispensation of today did not start until Pentecost. It was not until after Pentecost that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles. All to say that this thief responded to the word of God for his day, not for this day.

The result of this exchange between the Lord and these two men is recorded in Genesis, chapter 40. The specific verse is 40:13; the chief butler being restored to life while the baker was put to death. Here we find Joseph, like Jesus, in prison unjustly accused.

In Chapter 41, Joseph is still in prison and is not restored until the third year (again the sign of Jonah).and after his journey into prison (being death, hell and the grave) he comes forth to rule a Gentile kingdom (Egypt) and save his own brothers.

So, if you can accept it, Chapter 40 looks in part to the very day and the very conversation you speak of. Saving faith requires hearing the word of God in power for the day that you live in. Saving faith only comes from truly speaking with Jesus heart to heart. A living word, and not scriptural copy work from a scribe or pharisee of today.

Answer 3

As the hours passed, the thief's life would ebb out and his spirit would abandon the lifeless body and go into the spirit world, where Christ was going to organize his missionary program. (See 1 Peter 3:18-20;4-6.) There he would live along with the antediluvians and all others who had died in their sins. All the Lord's statement promised the thief was that both of them would soon be in the spirit world. The thief's show of repentance on the cross was all to his advantage, but his few words did not nullify a life of sin. The world should know that since the Lord himself cannot save men "in" their sins, no man on earth can administer any sacrament which will do that impossible thing. Hence the mere display of death-bed faith or repentance is not sufficient. The Lord cannot save men "in" their sins but only "from" their sins, and that only when they have shown true repentance. The one thief did show some compassion, whether selfishly with hope we are not sure. He was confessing, but how could he abandon his evil practices when dungeon walls made evil deeds impossible? How could he restore the stolen goods when hanging on the cross? How could he, as John the Baptist required, "bring forth fruits meet for repentance"?

Repentance takes time. It is inseparable from time. No one can repent on the cross, nor in prison, nor in custody. One must have the opportunity of committing wrong in order to be really repentant. The man in handcuffs, the prisoner in the penitentiary, the man as he drowns, or as he dies--such a man certainly cannot repent totally. He can wish to do it, he may intend to change his life, he may determine that he will, but that is only the beginning.

Answer 4

I could turn theological on this but it isn't necessary. The man repented of his sin as evidenced by his words to the other thief and to Jesus Himself.

I like to think that Jesus couldn't leave earth without taking someone along with Him. Just a thought! :o)

Answer 5

The Word of God tells us that we need to believe on the Lord our God and His Son who died for us so that we may have life everlasting. That we need to confess our sins, repent of them and be willing to change. God knew this thiefs heart and heard his lips speak with sincerity, compassion and remorse to Jesus. God judged him accordingly. I believe this shows us the compassion and mercy of an all-loving God who is willing to forgive us tho we are all sinners even to the point of death. But to plan to repent when you feel time is more suitable for you is foolish, as none of us is guaranteed our next breath. We may not fully know what this thief was saying in his heart to God while he was dying. I also think the 2 thieves on the cross represent men who follow the Lord and men who follow the god of this world (satan) who, even in death, their hearts are so hardened that they do not cry to the Lord.

Answer 6

Yes

Answer 7

Not necessarily, the thief on the cross may have been previously baptized. Remember that just because somebody is a Christian it doesn't make them perfect. Prisons the world over hold Christian thieves.

Answer 8

Yes!

Answer 9

Yes.

Answer 10

Ephesians 2:8-10 is your answer. Yes... it is all you need.