by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
Forget for now that we don’t know if the thief had been previously baptized by either John or Jesus’s apostles before he was captured and condemned. Many were baptized (John 3:22-23), and the thief knew much about Jesus and His kingdom.<\/p>\n
For now, remember this. Jesus said, “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins<\/em>” (Mark 2:10). Do you believe this? I do.<\/p>\n While on earth, Jesus said to the thief, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise<\/em>” (Luke 23:43). Did Jesus have the right to forgive the thief? Yes, because “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins<\/em>” (Mark 2:10).<\/p>\n While still on earth, Jesus said to His apostles, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned<\/em>” (Mark 16:15-16). Did Jesus have the right to tell the world they must believe the gospel and be baptized to be saved? Yes, because “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins<\/em>” (Mark 2:10).<\/p>\n I believe the thief was saved because Jesus had the right to save him then and there.<\/p>\n I believe the world is saved when believing and being baptized because Jesus has the right to save us then and there.<\/p>\n Are we the thief to whom Jesus didn’t mention baptism, or are we the world that Jesus said must be baptized?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 was captured and condemned. Many…<\/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":[27],"tags":[78,47],"class_list":["post-81568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-thief-on-the-cross-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":81568,"position":0},"title":"What About the Thief on the Cross? (Bassford)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford When it comes to discussion about baptism for the forgiveness of sins, most Christians know all the steps of the dance. If we're studying with a non-Christian and we show them passages like Acts 2:38 and I Peter 3:21, one of two things is going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/top_53_bmp-251x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":511,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-the-thief-on-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":81568,"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":52482,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-faith-alone-save-one-from-his-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":81568,"position":2},"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":44443,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-apostles-have-the-right-to-forgive-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":81568,"position":3},"title":"Did the apostles have the right to forgive sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear sir, A question was posted a decade or so ago on John 20:21-23 and whether or not all men could forgive sins. I couldn't see that the responder actually addressed what was meant by the Apostles having the authority to forgive sins, except to say that they could\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":81568,"position":4},"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":13755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-john-2023-say-that-priests-can-forgive-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":81568,"position":5},"title":"Doesn’t John 20:23 say that priests can forgive sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You commented on priests not being able to forgive sins. What about John 20:21-23? 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