WAS THE THIEF ON THE CROSS A CHRISTIAN?

 

   Luke 23:39-43 tells us “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’
  But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’
  Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
  Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

 When someone brings up the importance of baptism in our salvation (as I will in a future post), many people will object that “the thief wasn’t baptized, and he went to heaven!” After all, Jesus told this criminal “today you will be with me in paradise.”

   In my files I have some really intriguing thoughts about this powerful story of the thief.
  One is by W. Pink who wrote “Adam, by eating of the first tree, was turned out of Paradise, while the repentant thief, by eating of the second Tree, entered Paradise.”
  Another scholar noted that the Bible records the death-bed salvation of the thief by Jesus ONCE to prove it could be done, but only once, lest we use it as an excuse. That’s great stuff.

   The only problem is, when the thief died, he was still a Jew… not a Christian. In fact, there were no Christians until the day of Pentecost (where Peter preached his powerful sermon that led to the conversion of about 3000 to Christ).

   Now, how do we know there were no Christians until the day of Pentecost? Well, because the Spirit had not yet “been given.” John 7:37-39 tells us - “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”  Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet THE SPIRIT HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN, because JESUS WAS NOT YET GLORIFIED.”

   The Spirit was not given until Jesus had been glorified. And His glorification came when He ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Himself had said: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. UNLESS I GO AWAY, the Counsellor will not come to you; but IF I GO, I WILL SEND HIM TO YOU.” (John 16:7).

   Why is that important? Because the Spirit is the mark of our salvation.
  Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT, who is the GUARANTEE OF OUR INHERITANCE until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” The Holy Spirit is the mark/seal of our belonging to Christ.

   In fact, you can’t be a Christian without the presence of that Spirit.
   Romans 8:9 says “… Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ DOES NOT BELONG to him.” Since the Spirit wasn’t given until after the cross, the thief on the cross died as a Jew… not a Christian.

 Let’s review:

1.     The Holy Spirit was not given until after Christ had been glorified (i.e. ascended to His throne).
Jesus rose from the grave on the 3rd day and spent 40 days meeting with and teaching His disciples. Thus, He would have ascended to heaven to take His throne about a week before Pentecost.
2.    The promised Holy Spirit is the mark of our salvation.   You can’t be a Christian unless you have Holy Spirit inside you.
4.     And the declaration of Peter at Pentecost was “And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and YOU WILL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.” Acts 2:38

 ADDENDUM concerning Jesus being glorified:

  The exact prophecy out of John 7 was that the Spirit would be given AFTER Jesus was glorified (which Jesus also said later in John 16:7 that the Spirit would not come until He had gone away... which didn't happen until He ascended into heaven).

  There are two prophecies that point to Jesus not being glorified until He took His throne:
  Zechariah 6:13 makes a Messianic prophecy:  "Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the GLORY, and shall SIT and rule upon his THRONE; and he shall be a priest upon his THRONE: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."

 The prophecy of Christ was also made in Daniel 7:13-14. "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and GLORY, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his KINGDOM that which shall not be destroyed."

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