Luke 23:32, 39-43
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him…
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn salvation. The thief on the cross next to Jesus certainly did nothing.
We don’t know how long the man on the cross next to Jesus had been into crime, but it was presumably for a long time. He was living in sin and had not been baptized, and he realized who Jesus was only right before death. Yet he had a humble and repentant heart and confessed that Jesus is Lord. He said the words, “When You enter Your Kingdom, Lord, remember me,” Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise.
That’s how we know that the thief is in heaven. All that is needed for salvation is what Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
God brings us into the fullness of relationship with Him, position in Him and inheritance of all God has given us on “this day” that we accept Christ. We are not waiting to claim these things, we have them already. We are not trying to earn them (just as the thief on the cross did not earn them); we are given of their fullness in a single moment of giving our lives to Christ. It is simply that we have not seen the fulfillment of all of it yet. We have seen the fulfillment of part of it, and we are growing into the fulfillment of another part of it (as we are transformed increasingly to be like Christ), and we will see the complete fulfillment when we enter His presence face to face.
This is why we live by faith. We know this is who we are and what we have, and we are living in terms of it (people of righteousness, children of God with a great and everlasting inheritance), but it will be just a bit longer until we fully experience all of the reality. It’s like being engaged. You are not yet married, but you live in the reality of your marriage. You no longer date others, you no longer invest in your single-person lifestyle, all your thoughts and actions become in line with what your life will be as a married person. Your fiancé belongs to you, and you are living in faith that you will have that wedding. Finally, the wedding day comes, and all the faithfulness, and changes and building on relationship that you did as an engaged person comes to fruit. You are presented as a pure, free and beloved bride.
That’s us! We already have Paradise in our souls. We entered Paradise on the day we received Jesus. Now, let us feel secure in His love and His relationship to us, let us live as faithful fiancés, knowing that the wedding day is almost here!
Anna Sojourning 
Hi Anna,This is a great post to your blog. The quick testimony of this dying criminal has been read and appreciated for its affirmation of the value of faith for centuries. I’m sure thatit has brought great glory to our Lord.
I assume that this message in my email box is not actually a display of your blog. Is that right? It is just your personal message to me with a copy of this post that you have added to your blog. Is that right? Thanks for the personal message. It is always good to hear from you. Please keep in touch. Happy Easter. Bob
From: Sojourner To: bob.sherbondy@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, March 30, 2018 8:33 PM Subject: [New post] “This Day You Will be With Me in Paradise” #yiv5027947203 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv5027947203 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv5027947203 a.yiv5027947203primaryactionlink:link, #yiv5027947203 a.yiv5027947203primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv5027947203 a.yiv5027947203primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv5027947203 a.yiv5027947203primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv5027947203 WordPress.com | Sojourner posted: “Luke 23:32, 39-43Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him…One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear” | |
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