Chapter 8 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good Monday morning to this week 8 of 2022
This post was on various platforms this week and was reposted quite quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow does the thief on the cross fit into your theology? No baptism, no communion, no confirmation, no speaking in tongues, no mission trip, no volunteerism, and no church clothes. He couldn\u2019t even bend his knees to pray. He didn\u2019t say the sinner’s prayer and among other things, he was a thief. Jesus didn\u2019t take away his pain, heal his body, or smite the scoffers. Yet it was a thief who walked into heaven the same hour as Jesus simply by believing. He had nothing more to offer other than his belief that Jesus was who he said he was. No spin from brilliant theologians. No ego or arrogance. No Shiny lights, skinny jeans, or crafty words. No haze machine, donuts, or coffee in the entrance. Just a naked dying man on a cross unable to even fold his hands to pray.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
The thief on the cross presents us with a basic but powerful systematic theology. His words give us a synopsis of essential gospel truth. The first essential truth the repentant thief understood was that God should be feared.
The words of the thief stand in stark contrast to the blasphemous utterances coming from everyone else around him. The unrepentant thief, the Jewish rulers, and the Roman soldiers were all scornful and irreverent in their mockery of Christ. Their behavior showed no fear of God whatsoever\u2014if anything, they were gleefully venting their unbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a situation where all the visible power on display belonged to those on the ground religious leaders, political rulers, and Roman soldiers, the thief made his appeal to the Man hanging beside him. \u201cJesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!\u201d Surrounded by sneering human authorities, the thief recognized who was really in charge and cried out to the King of God\u2019s kingdom, without demands or ultimatums. Wishing God’s grace to your life this week! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Philemon <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chapter 8 Good Monday morning to this week 8 of 2022 This post was on various platforms this week and was reposted quite quickly. \u201cHow does the thief on the cross fit into your theology? No baptism, no communion, no confirmation, no speaking in tongues, no mission trip, no volunteerism, and no church clothes. He … <\/p>\n
The thief on the cross remains a theological edge case. Even dispensing (pun intended) a problem remains of covenant history. That is, his situation is so extreme and unusual that it probably should not be used to evaluate a general principle. In fact, treating the thief on the cross as a soteriological (study of salvation) role model would prove too much. Even if we ignore covenant history and make the thief a standard-setting example, why not others? While Jesus walked the Earth, he forgave the sins of many people in a wide variety of non-standard-setting circumstances. If unique situations like the thief on the cross show that faith alone is normatively sufficient for salvation, then what do those who require personal faith for salvation make of Jesus forgiving a man based on his\u00a0friends\u2019<\/em>\u00a0faith?
If we ignore covenant history and make the thief on the cross (alone) a standard-setting example, he was not actually without good works. The thief exhibited all the faith and works that he could, given his situation! (good point here). The fact that his physical limitations made it impossible for him to do anything more than speak was certainly not lost on God!
Interesting just how much the thief seemed to know about Jesus that he did not learn from Jesus on the cross: e.g., that Jesus had done\u00a0nothing<\/em>\u00a0wrong, that Jesus was\u00a0Lord<\/em>\u00a0 and that he was going to his kingdom\u00a0after<\/em>\u00a0he died\u00a0. Note that this last truth was something Jesus taught only to his\u00a0disciples<\/em>. If he was a fallan away disciple, it is likely that he too would have been baptized! (Interesting point given)
Amidst all the assumptions made in this short story, one that seems safe is that had baptism or anything else been asked of the thief for salvation, he would have done it if he could. God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.\u00a0<\/em>
On an forum I read a nice entry to this point:
I think of it this way: the sacraments are God’s tools, not His shackles. The sacraments are for us, not for God. They are how we know with 100% certainty that God’s grace and mercies have entered our lives.\u00a0By his grace, God can save through\u00a0faith alone!
Then the thief said, \u201cJesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n