The Thief on the Cross

If I gathered a room full of Christians and asked “what must I do to be saved?”, I think most responses would fall within the spectrum of something like “trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior”. This very question was asked by the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:30). While I don’t think being saved from eternal damnation was his immediate concern, Paul answered “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”. In doing so, the jailer and his family would be delivered from certain death (a consequence of the prisoners escaping on his watch) while also laying hold of eternal life.

While it might seem that our room full of Christians are in general agreement by their response, years of careful listening have taught me that we’re often not speaking the same language at all. Instead, we’ve created a “churchy” vernacular that sounds the same outwardly but is colored by nuance and dialect that is not immediately obvious. Let me explain.

Instead of letting the simple proposition for eternal life rest at face value (where “believing on the Lord Jesus” results in eternal life) there is a tendency to expand the definition of “belief, faith, trust” beyond it’s plain meaning into something which accommodates our own presuppositions about the gospel. This inflationary process takes many forms but it often sounds something like this:

“True faith does…”
“Genuine faith results in…”
“You must believe it in your heart not just in your head…”
“If you truly believe you will…”

These definitions of “biblical faith” are just a sample of what I’ve encountered over the years. But what if God provided a definition of faith for us? Should that not settle the issue? It turns out He did.

In verse one of Hebrews chapter 11, God defines faith. There the scripture says:

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” (NET).

I’ve cited the NET translation but others convey the same sentiment. Faith is being convinced of that which you do not see. The rest of Hebrews chapter 11 goes on to illustrate what our lives look like when we live out that faith. So far, I dare to say that the hypothetical group of Christians we’ve rounded up are all still in general agreement… but…

What about the believer who does not live out their faith? What if a believer’s life is not characterized by the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5:22) does that mean that they don’t truly believe? I believe it is this question, and this question alone, that throws Christians off course. Sadly, I believe that the reply from most is “no” and James 2:14-26 is the go-to passage for reinforcing that answer. Dealing with that passage is well beyond the scope of this post (I usually spend several hours teaching through it) but suffice it to say that I believe it is the most widely misunderstood text in all of scripture. Instead, I want to look at an often overlooked text.

2 Peter 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

From this passage, there are 3 observations worth noting…

• The believers that Peter is writing to had faith. Nevertheless, they were being called to diligently add to it.
• The things that they were told to pursue, are in fact, the fruit of the Spirit (cf Gal 5:22).
• The person who does not do this is shortsighted, blind, and has forgotten he was cleansed of his sin (verse 9).

Does verse 9 remind you of something you read elsewhere? It should. In fact James 1:22-24 says something remarkably similar:

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

At this point your thinking, what does this have to do with the “thief on the cross”? Excellent question!

Jesus makes it clear that even the smallest portion of scripture is significant (Matt 5:18). But despite this fact, many would choose to disregard the salvation experience of the thief on the cross as special circumstance. I think that to do so is both unjustified and wrong. There was nothing inherently good about the thief on the cross. He deserved the punishment he recieved at the hands of the Romans (Luke 23:41). There was no moral victory for him to live out… no good deeds left for him to do. The only “work” (John 6:28-29) he was able to accomplish was to trust that the God-Man being crucified next to him was able to save him (Luke 23:42-43).

So what is the significance of the thief on the cross? I contend that the thief on the cross was not a special case of God pardoning a sinner. After all, God is not partial when it comes to the gospel (Romans 2:11). Instead, I believe the Holy Spirit included this example for us to observe the simple faith transaction by which one is saved. The thief on the cross illustrates exactly what Paul told the Philippian jailer… “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”