Gods Grace to the Thief on the Cross Luke 23:39-43 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. The first criminal wanted only to escape the consequences of his sin without acknowledging his guilt. The second acknowledged his guilt and affirmed Gods judicial nature in the punishment of sin. But his request which showed his faith in Jesus was a plead for grace in the afterlife. And grace was granted. Dr. Charles R. Erdman comments on this event saying: (Sacrementalism was refuted, for the thief was saved without recourse to baptism, the Lord’s Supper, church, ceremony, or good works. The dogma of purgatory was refuted, for this vile sinner was instantly transformed into a saint and made fit for paradise apart from his personal expiation of a single sin. The teaching of universalism was refuted, for only one was saved of all who might have been saved. The notion of soul-sleep was refuted, for the clear implication of the entire incident is that the redeemed thief would be in conscious fellowship with his Savior in paradise even while his body disintegrated in some grave. it is doubtful whether any other gospel incident presents the plan of salvation more clearly or simply)
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 22:50:42 +0000
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