Some might still say  ‘He was saved without baptism’.  Yes he was saved; but how?

 “One of the criminals who was 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 being 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 in your kingdom.’  Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise.’”  (Luke 23:39-43)

 

This passage is one of the most abused and misquoted pieces of Scripture in the Bible!  Over the past two thousand years, this poor criminal on a cross has been used as an excuse for everything that people don’t want to do. 

 

The truth is that when this event took place, old covenant law was still in effect.  This criminal was a Jew, who lived and died under the old covenant.  So what took place in this passage of Scripture, was exactly what God promised Moses on Mt Sinai; “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Ex. 33:19).  It really is that simple!

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The ministry of the Lord Jesus was to Jews, who were still under the old covenant at that time, and His message was a very specific one. 

This is what we are told clearly; "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." (Matthew 15:24)  The Lord Jesus did not preach the new covenant!  He came to prepare Israel for the change of covenant, then He established the new covenant with His death and resurrection.  The message He preached to the Jews at that time was simple: "From that time on, Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matthew 4:17).

 

Likewise, when the Lord sent the apostles out to preach before the crucifixion, they were only allowed to preach the same, specific message to Jews.  "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: 'Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.  Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.  As you go, proclaim this message: the kingdom of heaven has come near.'" (Matthew 10:5-7) 

 

This was the message that the criminal believed.  The message preached exclusively to the Jews.  He made it clear when He called out to the Lord, "Remember me when you come in your kingdom."

 

Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ was not preached until seven weeks after this event took place.  This is when the apostles had been fully prepared by the Lord, after His resurrection, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  And at this time - when the new covenant had been established through His death and resurrection, the message they preached was entirely different.  It is a message that is based on faith in Him, and salvation through baptism into His death and resurrection:  

 

"We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles​." (1 Cor. 1:23)

"If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." (1 Cor. 15:4)  

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When we are baptised, we unite with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection, through which we are saved - this was obviously not possible before His death and resurrection took place. 

No-one could be “baptised into his death” (Rom. 6:3) or “buried with him through baptism” (Rom. 6:4) before Christ himself was put to death and buried.  We could not be “united with him in his resurrection” (Rom. 6:5), before the resurrection took place.  This is why Christ did not tell His apostles to preach baptism until after the resurrection, when the new covenant came into effect.

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The criminal was repentant and God chose to have mercy on him.   The same can be said about a beggar named Lazarus, or anyone else who was saved under old covenant law;  “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.” (Luke 16:19-23)  It is understood from this passage, that Lazarus went to paradise and so did Abraham.  Neither of them were baptised into the Lord Jesus Christ because it wasn't heard of at that time.  The new covenant, which includes baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, had not been established or preached!

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This is consistent throughout the Lord Jesus' ministry to the lost sheep of Israel:  "But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.'  Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.'" (Luke 19:8-10). 

Zacchaeus was saved because he was a son of Abraham, and God chose to have mercy on him.

 

We are called to believe a different message - the message that was preached by the Lord's chosen apostles after His death and resurrection.  This change was made clear by the Lord Jesus Himself, during His prayer, in John 17.  He dedicated much of His prayer to His apostles, but then He said, "My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will come to believe in me through their message." (John 17:20)

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So if you're one of those people who are using the criminal on the cross as an excuse to deny the teaching of the apostles; then have another look at the question asked by the criminal:  "Don't you fear God, since we are under the same sentence?  We are being punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve." 

The only question to answer is; do we want salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus, and the message He sent His apostles to preach, or do we want what our deeds deserve?