The thief on the cross was saved by Jesus in person, before Jesus died. At the Decker Prairie church of Christ, we think that single fact answers the question, because the new covenant we live under today, the one that tells us to be baptized, did not begin until Jesus had died and risen. The thief wasn’t living under the same terms we are, so his case doesn’t undo what the New Testament goes on to ask of the rest of us.
We hear this question a lot, and it’s usually asked in good faith. If a dying man went straight to Paradise without baptism, why do we hold that baptism is necessary? That’s fair, and we’d rather give you a careful answer from the text than wave it off.
Jesus Could Forgive Sins in Person While He Walked the Earth
All through His ministry, Jesus pardoned people face to face, on His own authority. He told a paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (), and when that startled the crowd, He explained why He could: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (). He said the same over a woman who came to Him weeping: “Your sins are forgiven” ().
The thief received that very same in-person pardon. Dying beside Him, the man only asked to be remembered, and Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (). That is Jesus, in the flesh, forgiving a man on the spot, just as He had already done more than once.
The New Covenant Began After the Cross
Here is the piece we think is easy to walk right past. The terms God holds us to now came into force through the death of Jesus. Scripture explains it with the picture of a will: “For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive” (). The thief died while Jesus still hung alive on the cross beside him. The new agreement had not yet taken effect.
It was after the resurrection that Jesus gave the command we follow here: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (). And on the day the church began, when convicted people asked what to do, Peter told them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (). Those words are for people living after the cross. The thief never heard them, because they had not yet been given.
We Also Don’t Know the Whole Story
We want to be honest about what the record doesn’t say. Nowhere does the Bible tell us the thief had never been baptized. John the Baptist had been immersing crowds all over that region, and many people responded. We simply aren’t told. So building a whole doctrine on the certainty that he died unbaptized claims more than the account gives us.
Even setting that aside, the main point holds on its own. Whatever the man’s history, Jesus pardoned him in person, under the old arrangement, before the new one began.
What the Thief Really Shows Us
We don’t read the thief on the cross as a back door around baptism. To us he’s a clear picture of how freely Jesus gives mercy to anyone who turns to Him. What he doesn’t do is overturn the plain instructions Jesus gave everyone else afterward. None of us gets to reach back behind the cross for terms that were never offered to us while brushing aside the ones that were.
Here’s how we’d put it: a person can be forgiven a debt in person by the one he owes, and that forgiveness is real. It still doesn’t rewrite the terms set down for everyone who comes later. The most honest thing we can do is take Jesus at His word on both counts, His mercy to the thief and His command to us. And we’ll be straight about the limits of our voice: our congregation answers to no headquarters or governing body, so we can really only speak for Decker Prairie. This is how we read the account here, and while not every church wearing the name will land in exactly the same place, what we can promise you is that this is what we hold to.
Keep Studying
If baptism is the piece that’s snagging you, we’d say slow down over it rather than rush past. Open the Gospels and read the thief’s story yourself, then read the book of Acts and watch what people did the moment they believed. Take your time, bring us every hard question you have, and don’t settle for less than what the Bible actually says.
Come Study the Bible With Us
You were made for a life of real purpose, and at the Decker Prairie church of Christ we would count it a joy to open the Scriptures with you and help you find it, right alongside a church family that’s glad you came. There’s no pressure here, just people happy to study with you.
Plan your visit, and you’ll be right at home.
Want to know what the Bible says about being saved? Start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Worship 10:00 am · Bible Class 5:00 pm
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7:30 pm
