(TallMan;26037)
Ah, the thief's "gospel" rears it's head again !Many people are taught to doubt the need for water & Spirit baptisms because of Luke's account of the conversation between Jesus and a crucified thief (Luke 23:40-44)Taken in isolation, one could agree, but of course we mustn't do that, otherwise you can make the bible say anything so it becomes useless !People
assume that "paradise" means heaven, and therefore the thief was sincere in his comments. Matthew and Mark's account of this dialogue both say that
both of the thieves were speaking mockingly to Jesus at that precise time:-“He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” (Matthew 27:43-44)“Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.” (Mark 15:32-33) . . . did they both
miss the point that one thief repented and had a great revelation of Jesus coming with a kingdom? (meanwhile his own disciples were in sorrow and fear, they didn't understand).If the thief was sincere, it would have been a comfort to Jesus at this time, but a true prophecy states

salm 69:20-21: Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for
comforters, but I found NONE. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.So what does Jesus' reply in Luke mean ?The word "paradise" is used figuratively for heaven elsewhere, but literally it means garden, where Jesus was buried; Mary later thought he was the gardener (John 19v41, 20v15). This would mean Jesus was saying that the thief would be buried also in the tombs in the garden. That would explain why Jesu says "Today", he wasn't in heaven that day. One might ask, would a thief be buried in an expensive tomb ?Possibly, Isaiah prophesies:-"And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" (53v9)Maybe he had rich relations ?But whether the thief will or won't be saved makes no difference to the salvation message to people today!
The most important point is,
even if the thief was sincere and will enter heaven, he died before the New Covenant began ! Jesus, the Testator foirst had to die and be received before the altar in Heaven before God could come to dwell in people making them sons of God, saved from the separation Adam & Eve experienced.We are all called to follow Jesus in getting baptised and receive the anointing of His Spirit indwelling, whereupon a voice is heard:-“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4)In verse 33 Peter explained:-“Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear”Then when the crowd asked what they needed to do, Peter certainly
did not tell them to do as the thief did and "call Jesus Lord" in order to be saved, rather he said:-"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:37-39, see also 8:12-18, 10:44-48, 19:1-6; John 3:3-8).To tell people they are "saved" without this, is certainly a thief's gospel !
I used to think like that. I swear, your arguments are carbon copies of mine.. anyways, mine were a little more philosophical perhaps.. Then I learnt better. the Ritual of baptism is not necessary in the way you are interpreting it to be. Kind of like the ritual of marriage is not necessary for a marriage. If you have been locked in a high security prison, where they won't baptize you even after you've found Jesus, what are you to do? Purgatory would be the Catholic response, but I don't think you'd go for that doctrine, now would you? What happens when a friend of yours becomes a Christian, and she begins going to a church upon your suggestion, and they teach her she must be baptized to be saved just as you are teaching, and then, a few days before the ritual in her nice little crazy pentecostal church, she dies in a car accident? They still teach that she can't get to heaven, that she was simply caught in an unfortunate accident. Or worse, that she was actually such a heretic at heart that God saw it fit to kill her off.Do you shrug and say "well, that's just the way God intended it"?Please, open your eyes. :cool: