The Thief on the Cross

by Mike Johnson

The Bible teaches that baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), washes away sins (Acts 22:16), saves (1 Peter 3:21; Mark 16:16), and puts people into Christ (Romans 6:3; Galatians 3:27). After listening to this teaching, some may ask, “What about the thief on the cross?” Just before His death, Jesus did tell the thief, “. . . Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). They might further contend that since the thief was not baptized, baptism is not essential today.

We must keep in mind that the Bible does not contradict itself. A person making this assertion would need to explain the various passages listed above, which describe baptism’s purpose. Putting one passage against another, without an explanation, makes it appear that the Bible contradicts itself.

 We do not know whether the thief was baptized or not. John baptized a large number of people in the area of Jerusalem (Mark 1:1-4), and the disciples of Jesus baptized many (John 4:1-3). The possibility exists that the thief was among some of those baptized earlier. Also, the thief did have some knowledge of the kingdom (Luke 23:39-42), possibly indicating that he had been a disciple at some previous point. Someone who uses the thief argument against the Bible’s teaching on baptism should at least prove that the thief was never baptized. In reality, however, it is not essential to ascertain whether the thief received baptism or not, as we will see. 

In reality, the salvation of the thief has nothing to do with our salvation today. His case is not an applicable example because he lived under a different law than us. He lived under the Law of Moses — we live under Christ’s law. One only needs to read the Law of Moses in the Old Testament, which requires animal sacrifices and incense burning, to see that the requirements were different from today. The old law was in effect until Christ died (Hebrews 9:16-17; Colossians 2:14-17). The baptism spoken of in the Great Commission (Mark 16:16, Matthew 28:18-20) and preached to the early church is for us today. We are under the Law of Christ, the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25) and not the Law of Moses. One might argue that Moses or Abraham was saved without baptism as to claim it of the thief.

Consider the following illustration. Today, there are many laws in our country that did not apply to our ancestors. Many did not pay income taxes due to the income tax amendment not being passed until 1913. Can we say that citizens do not need to pay their taxes because some of our ancestors did not? Indeed, we cannot as we live under a different law than them. However, such is the kind of reasoning used with the thief. We must hear God’s Word (Romans 10:17), believe (Hebrews 11:6), repent (Acts 2:38), confess Christ (Romans 10:10), and be baptized (Mark 16:16) to be saved.