Day 24

“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭39‬-‭43‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The penitent thief.

I’ve seen many friends post his story over the years with some form of a commentary about how the apparent salvation of this thief could pose a challenge to what some Christians believe about how a person is saved. This thief had no good deeds to validate his conversion, no “fruits” to show that he had truly turned from his sinful lifestyle. The thief hadn’t even been baptized and yet, according to Jesus, entered into paradise on the direct invitation of the King of Kings. It’s a legitimate quandary for anyone who adds even an iota to the concept of saved by grace through faith, but it’s hard to find many who would deny that salvation is anything but a free gift outright. For most, the difficulty lies in the definitions of terms and two questions: What does it mean to believe and can a person believe without repentance. To answer these, let’s look back at the thief starting by looking at what the thief believed.

The first response we hear from the 2nd thief is astounding considering who he was and where he was at. A thief, likely an especially heinous criminal or revolutionary of some kind considering the fact that he was receiving the highest form of capital punishment, moments from death and he is stricken with something that has befallen the hearts of countless men and woman staring down their own demise; the fear of God.

“But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?’”

This utterance, alone is not necessarily a profession of faith in Jesus. Simply recognizing you are guilty and worthy of the punishment you are receiving is nice, but not necessarily life changing. Recognizing that you are guilty before God is definitely a further step in the right direction, but acknowledging your sin leads some to put their hope for salvation in their own works to balance out their misdeeds rather than see the futility of their striving and look for a savior.

The thief could have been just one among the countless number of lost, trusting in their own goodness to save them in the end, but remember where he was - hanging on a cross. At this point, there are no more options, no more opportunities to make amends. But, he has heard the stories about this man next to him. He witnessed the crown of thorns being placed on his head and saw the sign reading, “Jesus, the Nazarene. King of the Jews.” He had heard the incomprehensible grace as the nails were driven through His hands and feet and yet He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” As all of this unfolded before him, at some point it struck him and he realized, “This man is the messiah. This man is the Son of God!” This could all be speculative except for what the thief says next.

“‘And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”

The thief has made some pretty huge theological claims in the matter of just a few lines. First, he says that Jesus had done nothing wrong. That wouldn’t seem too heavy of a claim, but remember what Jesus was being crucified for; His crime was blasphemy.

“But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭61‬-‭64‬ ‭ESV‬‬

When the Jewish thief says that Jesus was sinless in the charge of blasphemy, that means that he believed Jesus had to be who He claimed to be. Secondly, he appealed to Jesus as not only the king of the Jews, but also the King and Lord of the next life. “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” That was a pretty massive statement, especially considering that the Sadducees didn’t even believe in resurrection or an afterlife. And the words, “Remember me.” This was not a plea of, “when You’re sitting on Your throne, think back on me fondly.” He was pleading his case before His judge. He knew that very soon he would be standing before Jesus, not as the man, but as the Judge of his eternal destination and begging for mercy when that time came. In just a few sentences, the thief has covered more theological ground than many preachers do in a Sunday sermon! Clearly, the thief believed, but did the thief repent?

If repentance means do works to prove your saved, then he didn’t really have the opportunity for that, but is that how scripture defines repentance?

““Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭26‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Did you catch that? Repentance precedes works. So, logically, if repentance comes before works and works are the fruit of repentance, then repentance itself cannot be a work. To repent means to change one’s mind or for your thinking to be transformed. Up to the very last moments of his life, the thief had thought, or more directly believed, one way about his life and eternity and, upon seeing Jesus, realized he was wrong and this Man hanging next to him was the only way to be made right.

That is it.

That is repentance.

There is obviously much more depth and richness to that realization, but this is the fundamental shift that occurs moving from unbelief to belief. This is the belief that saves. This is the belief that Abraham, Moses, David and all of the faithful in the Old Testament were saved by even though they didn’t know the name of Jesus or what He would do on their behalf. They didn’t have to have a fully fleshed out understanding of the coming incarnation or crucifixion, but they knew that they were not holy, that God is, and in His goodness, He would make a way for them somehow. This belief, this repentance, is a the kind that will most definitely produce fruit over the proper time as the Holy Spirit works in a person’s heart and begins the process of sanctification in their life. That fruit, by the way, is grown on His time table and in the order that He predetermined is best for their  greatest good and His eternal glory.

We are saved by grace through faith we believe in Jesus as the sole source of our salvation. When we realize that we cannot save ourselves and only He can, this is true repentance.