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<...Go back

How about the thief and baptism?


Introduction. The full question is: "Since you teach water baptism is necessary to salvation, how about the thief and baptism?" Beloved, water baptism is for the remission of sin, the putting off the old man and putting on the new man, and to put one into Christ where salvation is enjoyed (Acts 2: 38; Rom. 6: 4-23; Gal. 3: 27; 2 Tim. 2: 10).

Jesus and the robber. The event to which allusion is made is found in Matthew 27: 38, 44 and Luke 23: 32, 39-43. The robber (from the Greek, lestes, a person who stole by violence, not the Greek term "kleptes" or a thief who stole by stealth) to whom Jesus said, "...Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23: 43) was not just a common criminal. The man had honesty and courage as seen in his rebuke of the other robber, he appeared to fear God, acknowledged his guilt, accepted his deserved punishment, showed respect for Jesus, defended Jesus' innocence, and had some knowledge of Jesus' kingdom (Luke 23: 40-42). This man was certainly not an impenitent sinner expecting death bed salvation, as he is sometimes portrayed!

Forgiveness of the robber is a special case. While living on the earth, Jesus had the authority to forgive people's sins directly.  This is evident in the case of the paralyzed man (Matt. 9:2-8), the adulterous woman (John 8:11), and the robber.  Also, their forgiveness was not conditioned on them believing God raised Jesus from the dead, a requirement for forgiveness for everyone beginning in Acts 2 (Acts 2: 29-36; Acts 10:38-43; Rom. 10:9).

Baptism is a command found in the Great Commission. Jesus' teaching regarding the universal necessity of baptism for the salvation of the alien sinner was not given until Jesus gave His Great Commission (Matt. 28: 18-20; Mk. 16: 15-16; Luke 24: 46-49). This robber lived and died before the commission: hence, baptism, as such, had no applicability.

Conclusion. Many times our question is asked, not always, by people attempting to evade the teaching of the New Testament regarding baptism. The robber and all other inapplicable arguments do not erase the essential nature of baptism. The penitent sinner needs to be baptized today just as immediately and for the same reasons as those people did in the Book of Acts (cf. 16: 30-34, 2: 38, 41).
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