My heart is heavy today. During the last several months, people have pointed out on social media that the thief on the cross was delivered to paradise even though he had not been baptized, had not given financially, had not done anything else that Christians are raised up to do. Therefore, the implication is given, “I don’t need to do these things either.”
My first response to this is – we need to check our hearts. God looks upon the heart and we should be very wary of looking for the easy way out when it comes to making the decision to follow Christ.
Let me also acknowledge this – yes, the thief received God’s amazing grace and was saved by that grace. We are saved by grace alone. The thief story acknowledges that. However, grace initiates the relationship of joyful obedience.
The question to ask is, “If he did not die immediately after that salvation story, what kind of person would he have been?”
Based on the numerous other stories in the gospels, the people who received such amazing grace gave up everything to follow the one who had saved them. The prostitute poured out her very expensive perfume, Zacchaeus offered to give back four times more than what he had taken as a tax collector, the disciples left everything to follow Him.
The problem with citing the thief story is that you cannot build a theology on one passage of scripture. This is what is being done by these posts. It says ‘this’, therefore I will apply ‘that’ to everything else. This is a complete failure to rely on the whole counsel of God – the entirety of His Word to us.
There are so many passages outside of that text that tell us we are called to more than the easy believism implied by the thief passage.
Just a few: He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23. All of James chapter 2 – but especially the last line: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” Then the section in Romans 12 – especially verses 9-21. This is the passage where Paul says things like: “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
There are so many other references that I could fill pages. The point should be clear. We don’t build a theology of laziness or “How much can I get away with?” based on the story of the thief.
So, what does the thief story teach us? Of course, it demonstrates that grace is the means of salvation. Undeserved, unmerited favor from a merciful God. It also teaches us that when people are close to breathing their last breath, God is still reaching out His merciful arm and offers salvation to us. It also says that Jesus saw the heart of the thief and knew that his response to Jesus was genuine. He knew that he deserved the death and suffering he was enduring. He knew he was there as a sinner. This particular story simply shows us that if a person has no opportunity to abide by the rest of scripture, there is still grace for them.
The Bible (all of it) makes it clear that we are chosen by grace, saved by grace, and we do not deserve that grace. At the same time, it also makes clear that once we have received that grace we have become servants and friends of Jesus. That following requires self-sacrifice. It has expectations of changed behavior, a transformed life, and that we become someone who lives to know the mind of Christ rather than serving the mind of the flesh.
Don’t use the thief story as an excuse to avoid being a disciple. It may prove to be a costly mistake.
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A particular post of late says that with the thief there was “No baptism, No communion, No confirmation, No speaking in tongues, No mission trip, No volunteering, No financial gifts, No church clothes.” The below verses can be taken into account with the reasonable assumption that the thief on the cross would have followed Jesus wholeheartedly had he come down and carried on in this world.
Baptism: Matthew 28:18-20
Communion: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
Confirmation: Agreed – not a biblical expectation, but we are called to make disciples. We are called to be raised up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Speaking in Tongues: 1 Corinthians 14:5, 14:18
Mission Trip: Matthew 28, see Acts for additional info on Paul’s four mission trips, plus the other disciples going into the world.
Serving/Volunteering: Romans 12:1-2; John 15:5-8
Financial Gifts: Matthew 23:23; 2 Corinthians 8:1-4
Church clothes: Agreed.
May the Lord grant His church the wisdom to teach and follow the Word of God as He has instructed us in a call to faithfulness. Amen
