THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE – 50 The Thief On The Cross

“42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43, KJV).

Loved ones, in our Spiritual Battle, Satan uses his false teachers to deceive many souls concerning the way to salvation. The goal of this post is to dispel some of the popular myths concerning the subject robber.

First of all, the two men who were crucified on either side of Jesus were not common thieves. A thief is someone who secretly removes an item from your pocket without your knowledge or approval. A thief is someone who sneaks into your house while you're away on vacation and steals your possessions.

The crimes of the men executed with Jesus were much more sinister. They are generically referred to as "criminals" (kakourgon) in Luke 23:39, but in Mark 15:27 they are more specifically identified as (lestai), i.e. "robbers" or "bandits."

In other words, they had used brute force to carry out their crimes and were therefore violent criminals. In fact, the same word (robber) is used to describe Barabbas (John 18:40), who had been arrested with his fellow rebels; “they had committed murder in the rebellion” (Mark 15:7).

Seeing that Jesus took the place of Barabbas, it is reasonable to suspect that the other two men who were crucified with Him were Barabbas' partners in crime. While both convicted felons initially participated in the reviling of Jesus (Matthew 27:44), in the course of time one of them seems to have had a change of heart. “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42).

Simply calling Jesus "Lord" is in itself insufficient (cf. Matthew 7:21; Luke 6:46), but the intriguing thing is that he knew about the Lord's kingdom. Consider the following… Jesus' reply to the criminal's request was as follows: “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

The record pretty much speaks for itself. Nevertheless, for some curious reason, this account has been completely removed from its context by certain religionists in an attempt to establish a precedent for salvation devoid of obedience, particularly BAPTISM.

The argument typically goes something like this: "The thief on the cross was saved without having been baptized; therefore baptism is not essential to salvation."

An initial response is the simple fact that the Scriptures clearly teach that baptism is a necessary step in the salvation process (Acts 2:37-41; 22:16; Luke 1:77; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Peter 3:21; Mark 16:16; etc.), therefore any interpretation that suggests otherwise must be wrong.

Furthermore, IS it legitimate to confidently affirm that this man had never been baptized? From the biblical evidence, what would be a more reasonable inference? The man clearly had knowledge of the Lord's kingdom (Luke 23:42), so how was this knowledge attained?

In all four Gospel accounts, of all the words recorded that Jesus spoke from the cross, nothing is said about the kingdom. However, John the baptizer had preached, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). In response, “5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins" (vs. 5-6).

Further, Jesus Himself had preached, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). As Jesus proclaimed, "the gospel of the kingdom," His influence reached as far north as Syria, and great "multitudes followed Him —from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan" (vs. 23-25).

Not only did baptisms result from His preaching, but they exceeded the numbers of those baptized by John (John 3:22-26; 4:1-2). The Lord's reach had extended even further by sending out multiplied dozens of His disciples throughout the regions of Galilee and Judea, propagating the same Gospel message (Matthew 9:35-10:7; Luke 10:1-11).

Considering the evidence, can anyone say with full assurance that the robber under consideration was definitely never baptized? Admittedly, no one can say for sure either way, even though it is certainly within the realm of plausibility that he was. But an alleged precedent is not a genuine precedent when it is unprovable and even questionable.

Notwithstanding deceptive claims to the contrary, at the end of the day it really doesn't matter, especially when we consider this final point. Baptism is an integral part of the Christian system, which was NOT inaugurated prior to the Lord's death (Matthew 28:18-20; cf. Romans 6:3-5).

The baptisms before the cross were preparatory for the approaching kingdom (Matthew 3:1-6; John 3:1-4:2). Christ's death on the cross was the transitional point between the old and the new convents (Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 9:15-17).

Since Jesus had the power while on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-12), and the crucified robber was living under the old covenant system of the Jews, and the Lord's eventual death covered the sins of those living prior to the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15), the account in Luke 23:39-43 is readily explicable and easily harmonizes with the rest of Scripture. Any other interpretation creates unresolvable problems.

Seeing that no one on earth today is in the physical presence of Jesus or is living at a time when the new covenant teachings were not in force, the so-called "thief on the cross" argument is irrelevant.

There are numerous examples of conversions recorded in the Book of Acts (inclusive of baptism) that set the precedent (Acts 8, 9, 10, 16). When anything different is asserted by professed Bible-believers, it gives the impression of grasping at straws in order to justify a “saved by faith only” preconceived idea.

Your Bible and my Bible will always reveal the true words of Jesus, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16).

Through the free gift of God’s grace by Jesus’ blood (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 1:5) and your obedient faith (Romans 1:5; 10:17; 16:26), salvation is offered.

Shared with you by Samuel A. Matthews, preaching with the Liberty NW church of Christ, meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA. The God of Heaven and Earth is so good, and His love reaches all. He is in control, so trust Him. We love you with the love of the Lord (John 13:34-35).