What about the Thief on the Cross?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

When did the New Testament Church begin?

• The question posed (in the host's frame): the thief on the cross, in Luke 23, was never baptized. He never spoke in tongues. And he never joined a church. Yet, when he prayed a simple prayer of faith, Jesus promised him he would be with him that day (the promise as the frame quotes it). Should we conclude, that a simple prayer of faith is the only requirement for salvation? The frame sets the scene from the gospel accounts: Jesus was crucified, between two thieves. One of the thieves cursed, and reviled, him. But the other Thief turned to the first thief, and rebuked him. And then he turned to Jesus, and he said something, which has gotten a lot of people's attention: he essentially prayed a very short prayer. He said: Lord, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. That's found in the Gospel of Luke, of course. And so Jesus turns to him, and gives him the assurance (as the frame quotes it) that he would be with him that day. So a lot of people have pointed out, that this second Thief: he never went to church. He never joined a church. He was never baptized. He never spoke in tongues. And yet Jesus said very clearly, that he would be with him, that very day. So: should we conclude — and many people have concluded this — should we conclude, that all it takes to be saved, is to pray a simple prayer of faith? The answer: well, to answer your question, I think it's important, first of all, to understand when the New Testament Church was started ('when the new CH Testament Church was started', as the fused fragment stands). It's clear, that the thief on the cross was not baptized in Jesus name ('was Bap not baptized in Jesus name', as the letters stand), and didn't receive the holy spirit, with the initial sign of speaking in tongues, as we find in the book of Acts. Of course, that's true of Adam. That's true of Noah. That's true of Abraham. So what we understand is: the New Testament Church was started, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2. And we find this, from multiple references. If you go back to the Great Commission, in Luke's version — Luke 24: Jesus said, go back to Jerusalem, and the gospel will be preached, beginning at Jerusalem, and wait, for the promise of the father. Acts chapter 1: Luke continues his narrative. Jesus explicitly says: wait, until you receive the Holy Ghost. You'll be baptized with the Holy Ghost. And then, after that, you'll be Witnesses unto me. You'll go from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. And then there are many other verses of scripture, that we could use: John chapter 7 says, the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 14 — and you can continue reading, through John chapter 16 — Jesus explains: I must go away. If I don't go away, the comforter — which is the holy spirit — will not come. But after I depart, then I'll send the spirit. He will lead and guide you, into all truth. He'll bring all things, to your remembrance — whatever I told you. Another example is Luke chapter 7, where Jesus commended John the Baptist, and said: there's no Prophet greater, than John. But the least in the kingdom of God is going to be greater, than he. So I'm just giving you — just — a few verses, to support the understanding, that the New Testament Church began, on the day of Pentecost, in the city of Jerusalem, after the Ascension of Jesus Christ, as recorded in Acts chapter 2. So that's when we find the message preached, that the 12 Apostles ('that the TW Apostles', as the fused letters stand) — with Peter as a spokesman, but all 12 Apostles endorse the message. And when the question was asked: what shall we do? How shall we be saved? How shall we be forgiven, of our sin of murdering the Messiah? How can we now accept Jesus, as our personal savior? The answer was given, unequivocally, in Acts chapter 2:38 ('in Acts chap 2:38', as spoken), with all 12 Apostles at the same place, the same time, giving the same message, how to be saved: repent. Be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And then verse 39 explains: the promise is unto you, your children, are — and — all that are far off, even as many as the Lord Our God shall call. So from that point onward, we find the New Testament Church. And we find this command, in operation. And so Acts 2:38 ('acts 238', as the fused token stands), in a nutshell, describes our initial conversion experience — our conversion, initiation, into the New Testament Church, specifically.

Scriptures: Luke 23; Acts 2; Luke 24; Acts 1; John 7; John 14-16; Luke 7; Acts 2:38; Acts 2:39

The thief was saved under the old covenant

• Now, that does not mean no one was ever saved, throughout history, until the day of Pentecost. But there was a change of the age, where the New Covenant came into effect. And this makes sense: the book of Hebrews says, that a covenant doesn't come into effect — and it uses the testator, or like a will; it combines those two elements — until the death of the testator. And so, in order for the New Covenant to come into effect, Jesus had to die. And of course, he had to be resurrected, to turn defeat, to Victory, death, to life. So the New Covenant couldn't come into effect, until after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So you really couldn't have the Church of the New Testament, with the new birth experience, as recorded in Acts 2 ('as recorded in Acts two', as spoken in this section), until after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the thief on the cross, then, would have been saved under the old covenant, not the New Covenant. He was an Israelite. He was a Jew. Presumably, he had been circumcised. Presumably, he had participated in the sacrificial system. But somewhere along the way, he fell away from truth. He violated the teachings of the Old Testament. He sinned. And so normally, when someone like that — God has always required repentance, and Faith. So someone like a thief, when he recognizes his sin, and he wants to make it right with God: he would need to have a heart of repentance, a heart of Faith. But then he would obey whatever the Old Testament prescribed, in his case. So typically, he would go to the temple. He would offer a sacrifice, through the high priest. And, as we see in the Book of Psalms, he would have a repentant heart (the Psalms designation is priced in the refs note: no wording, or distinctive proposition, of any psalm is delivered, so no entry is made). But faith is always shown to be real, by obedience. So he would have had to be obedient, to the Covenant of his day, the Old Testament. Well: he's hanging on the cross. Obviously, he has a repentant heart. He has a changed heart, a heart of Faith. And he believes in Jesus Christ, as the Messiah. How much he fully knew, about the identity of Jesus — it would be impossible to say ('we it' be impossible to say', as the letters stand). But in some sense, he recognized Jesus, as the Messiah of Israel — the Lord, and Savior — who was to come. And he put his trust in him. Well: at that moment, he couldn't get down from the cross, and go to the temple, offer a sacrifice, and show his Contrition, to the priest. But Jesus Christ was the sacrificial lamb, for the whole world. And Jesus Christ was our high priest. So I would argue, that he was saved under the old Covenant, with Jesus Christ being his sacrifice, and high priest ('being his sacrifice in high priest', as spoken). But now we're under the New Covenant. And so the New Covenant is in effect. We're still saved by grace, through faith. God still requires a repentant heart. But today, he doesn't require us, to go to a temple, and offer sacrifices, through a priest. Instead, we can go directly to God. We can repent, of our sins. We can be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ. And then we can personally, individually, receive the Holy Spirit. And so that's what we're commanded to do. And it would be wrong, to try to use any one example, from the old Covenant. And sometimes people misunderstand: well — well, this is in the gospels. This is the New Testament. Yes. But if you look at the time frame: since it's before the death, burial, resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus into heaven, you're still under the old Covenant. You're still under the same teaching, as the people — the Saints of the Old Testament. And so that's how we would view the thief on the cross.

Scriptures: Hebrews (book-only)

Deathbed cases — preach the message; trust the just and merciful Judge

• Now, to the broader question: well, what about deathbed conversions? What about, you know, a person physically incapable of — maybe, you know — being baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, and so on? And so, in a theological sense, we have to simply give the message of scripture. We can't alter it. We can't make exceptions, that the Bible doesn't make. For instance, you know, people give hypothetical scenarios: what if you're in the middle of the desert, and you repent of your sins, and you're filled with the Holy Spirit, and there's no water? So you're crawling, in the middle of the desert, to an oasis, to get baptized. And you collapse, and you die. So are you going to hell? And that's not completely theoretical: I have actual cases, in the United Pentecostal Church. I had — years ago — a upci pastor tell me about his small son, who had a hereditary disease. And, on his deathbed, he received the Holy Spirit. But he died, and he wasn't able to be baptized (the son is unnamed in the telling). Another UPC Pastor told me of a couple, who had received the Holy Spirit, in a trinitarian church. He was giving them a Bible study. And they called, and they asked: you know, we want to be baptized. But on the way to being baptized, they had a car wreck ('a car wck', as heard), and they died. So: the Roman Catholic church has a couple of doctrines. One is called the baptism of Desire: so if you desire to be baptized, but you're physically prevented, for reasons beyond your control, before you die, then God will count your desires fulfilled. Likewise, they have what they call the baptism of blood: so if you convert to Christ, you're under persecution, and you are martyred, before you could actually be baptized, then God will count your blood sacrifice, as equivalent to baptism. Now, these two doctrines are not mentioned in scripture. So I mentioned them only to say: while they may seem to be reasonable human conclusions, or logical deductions, I think we should simply stick to the message of scripture. So we preach the message of scripture. We don't make exceptions, or Provisions, that the Bible doesn't teach. However, we do trust the justice, and mercy, of God. So, in the case of the small boy, that received the Holy Spirit. In the case of the couple, that was killed on the way to baptism. I have confidence, that God has a plan, for them. So if I were preaching their funeral, I would say: you know, they're in God's hands. We trust God. And there have been other cases, where I remember: someone — one of the men of our church, when I was a pastor, in Austin, Texas — he'd witnessed to his mother, for years. She never came to God. But on her deathbed, she made a change. She repented. By that time, she was not really able to speak coherently. But he spent the night, in prayer, with her. And the spirit of God came. And although she couldn't articulate clearly ('she couldn't Artic articulate clearly', as heard), he felt she'd receive — received — the spirit. And he performed — he himself took a pan of water, and tried to immerse her, as much as possible, in the bed, because she couldn't be moved. So he felt like she had had a True Heart of repentance, and she had submitted to the new birth. Could I verify that? No. But I could just simply say: she's in the hands of God. So when we're speaking, teaching, and preaching, we've got to stick with the clear, objective message of scripture. We can't make exceptions, that the Bible doesn't make. But we can always say: God is both just, and merciful. He will do what's right. If there's an exceptional case, we trust him, to apply his word, his way. So: I'm the preacher. I'm not the judge. So I can tell you what the word says. But God is the one, who will apply it, to any individual case. And so, when I'm dealing pastorally — as in a funeral, or in counseling someone, whose loved one has passed away — I will just say: you know, they're in God's hands. If there's some exceptional circumstances, that we're not aware of. And that's not a compromise, or a Dodge. Because when you hear about someone, or maybe read someone's historical account: you don't really know, if they repented. You don't know, if they received the Holy Spirit. You don't know, if they spoke in tongues, in private ('if they spoke in tongu in private', as heard). You may not even know, when they were baptized. They may have called on the name of Jesus. And while we don't know the circumstances, I'm content to just leave that in God's hands. But I don't think we can create a Doctrine. And so: if someone is living, the clear teaching is: put your faith in Jesus. If you haven't repented, repent. If you've repented, be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ. If you've been baptized some other way, get baptized: Acts 19 (as he cites the chapter). Receive the Holy Spirit, with the expectation. And keep pressing forward, until there is the initial sign, that we see in the New Testament, of speaking in tongues. So it's very clear, for anyone who's alive: we admonish them, to complete that process. But if someone has passed away, and we don't always know the circumstances — even if we think we know the circumstances, we may not. And anyway, God is the judge. So I'm content to say: you know, if you think there's an exceptional case, you know, that's — but that's your personal opinion. But God is the one, who will decide.

Scriptures: Acts 19

Summary — no exception from the thief's story

• But to summarize: no — the thief on the cross would not be an example of conversion, in the New Testament Church. So that story would not justify an exception. That story would simply say: here's a man, who truly repented. Who truly had Faith. Who trusted Jesus Christ, as his Savior. And he fulfilled the requirements of his day ('he fulfilled the of his day', as the letters stand), as much as physically possible, under his circumstances — with Jesus Christ being his sacrificial lamb, his Temple, and his high priest. And so, to the lesson, would be: we too, today, should put our faith, in Jesus Christ. We too should repent, of our sins. And we should follow the New Covenant. And do everything that we can, to submit ourselves, to water baptism, in Jesus name, and receiving the Holy Spirit — which everyone can do. And if there's some unusual circumstances, that intervene, we always trust, that God is a merciful, and just, judge. And he will judge, according to his word. We can't change his word. But we can simply preach, teach, believe, and obey, the word of God. And so: the Plan of Salvation, in the New Testament Church, is clearly stated, in Acts 2:38 (the fused token 'Acts 238' stands in the letters, in this section).

Scripture index: Luke 23; Acts 2; Luke 24; Acts 1; John 7; John 14-16; Luke 7; Acts 2:38; Acts 2:39; Hebrews (book-only); Acts 19.