“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”<\/em>” (Luke 23:39-42).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAs the article you referenced points out, Jesus declares faith to be a work. “Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent’<\/i>” (John 6:27-28). Faith is something a person must choose to do. It is not a work of man because it is commanded of men by God. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him<\/i>” (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore, the thief’s faith was a work. He believed God exists and that Jesus would reward his followers.<\/p>\n
We can also argue that confession is a work because it requires men to do something. “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 10:32). Confession cannot take place without a man choosing to do something that God requires. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:10). Repeatedly confession is emphasized as being done verbally. “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation<\/em>” (Romans 10:9-10). And this verbal effort — work if you will permit — is connected to salvation. Therefore, the thief’s confession was a work. He confessed that Jesus was innocent, that he was Lord, and that he would live again after his death. “Glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God<\/em>” (Romans 2:10-11).<\/p>\nIn reference to his teaching, Paul stated, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building<\/em>” (I Corinthians 3:9). To the Corinthians, whom he taught, Paul said, “Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?<\/em>” (I Corinthians 9:1). Therefore, by instructing his fellow thief on the cross, the thief was also working for God. Though he might not have touched the other man’s heart, his words have touched the hearts of countless others who read the record of them. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord<\/em>” (I Corinthians 15:58).<\/p>\nHowever you look at the thief, you see a man who did something with the last minutes of his life and accomplished work for the Lord. For this, he was rewarded. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’<\/em>” (Luke 23:43). Even though we don’t have an opportunity to die on a cross with our Savior and take a stand with him, we can do the works God requires of us and be saved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I noticed your ‘Is water baptism is a work?‘ and I found it very insightful. I was curious about the thief on the cross. Did\u00a0this thief\u00a0do a ‘work’ before he died by rebuking his neighbor? Answer: Obviously the thief demonstrates faith in Jesus. “Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[51,228,49,55],"class_list":["post-14708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-confession","tag-crucifixion","tag-faith","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2920,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-thief-went-to-paradise\/","url_meta":{"origin":14708,"position":0},"title":"Which thief went to Paradise?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 4, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Several of my Christian friends and I were just wondering which thief on the cross believed that Jesus was indeed who He said He was and went to heaven? Does the Bible say if it was the thief on the right or the left of Jesus? I have searched\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":511,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-thief-on-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":14708,"position":1},"title":"What about the thief on the cross?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am still a little confused about what I need to actually do. I heard about baptism, but they say that the thief on the cross wasn\u2019t baptized. Isn\u2019t he in heaven? Answer: I appreciate the time taken to ask questions concerning your salvation. Personally, I don\u2019t believe the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57387,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-the-thief-on-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":14708,"position":2},"title":"Notes on the Thief on the Cross","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, 'He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29010,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-died-first-jesus-or-the-thief\/","url_meta":{"origin":14708,"position":3},"title":"Who died first, Jesus or the thief?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who died first, Jesus or the thief? Answer: \"Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52482,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-faith-alone-save-one-from-his-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":14708,"position":4},"title":"Does faith alone save one from his sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does faith alone save one from his sins? Answer: Faith does save (Acts 16:31). Grace saves (Acts 15:11). Jesus saves (Acts 4:12). The message saves (Acts 11:14). The resurrection saves (Romans 5:10). Hope saves (Romans 8:24). Confession saves (Romans 10:10). The gospel saves (I Corinthians 15:2). Knowledge saves (1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81568,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/simplifying-the-thief-on-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":14708,"position":5},"title":"Simplifying the Thief on the Cross","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall Forget for now that the thief lived and died under the Mosaical Law, and Jesus's Covenant didn't become effective until after He died (Hebrews 9:16-28). Forget for now that we don't know if the thief had been previously baptized by either John or Jesus's apostles before he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}