When talking to others from various denominations about the subject of salvation, we can see that man has many different ideas as to how one is saved. Some will tell you that in order to be saved, you just need to receive Jesus into your heart and accept Him as your personal Savior. Some will say you need to pray the “sinner’s prayer” and ask God to forgive you of your sins. Others will tell you that as long as you believe in God, then that is all that is necessary to receive salvation. Usually no passage is cited to prove their assertion. When one is, it has been taken out of context and misapplied. When we study the New Testament, we see one consistent message showing what man must do in order to be saved. We must believe in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized in water, and live faithfully in service to God from that point forward (John 8:24; Mark 16:16; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Revelation 2:10).
When pointing out these things to others, a question will often come up – “What about the thief on the cross?” Notice what Luke recorded:
“One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’
“And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’ And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise’” (Luke 23:39-43).
The argument that many make is that since the thief on the cross was saved without being baptized, then we can also be saved without being baptized. However, it is merely an assumption to say the thief was never baptized. We simply do not know if he was or was not. We know that both John the Baptist and Jesus and His disciples were teaching and baptizing people (John 3:22-23). It was reported to the Pharisees that Jesus was “baptizing more disciples than John” (John 4:1). Does this prove the thief was baptized? No. But there is also no proof he was not. It is interesting to see how he described Jesus. This man knew that Jesus was innocent and undeserving of death (Luke 23:41). He also believed that Jesus was going to rule over His kingdom despite certain death on the cross (Luke 23:42). It is then reasonable to believe that he at least heard about Jesus. It is very possible he even heard Jesus teach. To say this man was never baptized is an unwise assumption.
Regardless of whether or not the thief was baptized, there are two basic principles that will help us understand the difference between his salvation and ours. First, a testament is only in force after a man dies (Hebrews 9:16-17). Second, Jesus had “power on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6). When Jesus was on the cross, the New Testament was not in effect. He was alive at that time so it could not have been in force. He also had authority to grant forgiveness to whoever He wished. This is why he was able to pronounce and provide forgiveness of sins to this man.
We cannot be saved like the thief on the cross today. Since Jesus has died, we are now under the New Testament. That is the law that is in force. Christ is now in heaven seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33-34; 1 Peter 3:22). He is not here on earth to pronounce forgiveness upon us. If we want to be saved today, we must obey the terms given in the new covenant. At the first preaching of the gospel following the death of Christ, “three thousand souls” responded to the message (Acts 2:41). They believed that Jesus was the Christ (evident by their being “pierced to the heart” and asking what they needed to do – Acts 2:37), repented of their sins, and were baptized (Acts 2:38, 41). This was the message that was consistently preached in the New Testament and it is the message we need to be preaching today.
