Faith & Works FAQ
Question:
The thief on the cross was saved without baptism.
Answer:
Yes, he was. But we must remember that the thief died BEFORE Jesus inaugurated the Christian era. Baptism identifies a person with Jesus' death, burial and resurrection (see Romans 6:1 ff). How could the thief (or anyone else prior to Jesus' death, burial and resurrection) be expected to take part in baptism and be identified with what had not happened yet? The thief died under the Law of Moses and was subject to it. In Jesus' wonderful grace the Lord chose to directly forgive that man's sins right there and then. Jesus did this at other times as well (see Mark 2:5). This is the Lord's prerogative and He did exercise it from time to time. However, we are now under Christ's Law (which includes baptism, Mark 16:16), and no one is now personally dying on a cross beside Jesus. For all such persons the Lord has given instructions how to be saved. The first time the Gospel was preached those kind of people said "What should we do?" (Acts 2:37) and were told "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins" (Acts 2:38). That is how people like you and me are saved now. The extraordinary case of the thief (or anyone else Jesus directly forgave of sin) proves nothing and is simply not relevant to our situation today.