Before I gave my life to Christ, I recall a time of personal searching and conviction over my sin. John 6:44 tells us that, "No one can come to me (Jesus) unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." I understand this verse very well, because I felt God drawing me to Himself through my own personal searching and conviction. Before that took place in my life, I understood the difference between right and wrong, but I had never engaged myself to feel or see my sin as God was seeing it. But that evening when I gave my life to Christ, I saw and felt the burden of my sin and I knew without His help and forgiveness, I would be eternally lost and separated from him. I believe that this was the very thing that the thief on the cross felt in his heart as he was rebuking the unremorseful thief on the other side at one point. His words to Jesus though few, were very clear in what he was asking of the Savior.
The record of the Gospels offers little information on this well-known Biblical character. We do not even know his name. Scripture simply tells us that when Christ was led to Golgotha, two “thieves” or “criminals” were crucified with Him. One on the right and one on the left according to Matt. 27:38; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:32-33. When the chief priests, scribes, elders, passersby and soldiers mocked the Lord Jesus in Matt. 27:39-43 and Luke 23:36 these two men insulted Him as well. A closer look at the penitent thief in Luke 23:40, allows us to see God's preparatory grace at work before the conversion of a lost sinner. According to Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32, both men were mocking Jesus. Both were reproaching and reviling him. Both used their remaining, dying energy to hurl repeated verbal insults upon the only One who could save them. However, as the ordeal proceeded, a change occurred in one of the thieves and Luke 23:39-42 records it.
It's pretty clear that at some point this penitent man stopped ridiculing, and instead of reviling the Lord, he began to glorify him and petitioned Jesus as the Savior. And, in spite of His own agony, Jesus graciously responded to the man's change of attitude and behavior. It is here in scripture that we have a perfect example of soul winning by Jesus Himself. It is entirely feasible that this penitent criminal may have absorbed some earlier teaching concerning Jesus as the coming Christ and King. Exactly when he learned these facts is not specified in scripture. But there are two possibilities. Either he considered what he heard about Christ during that six-hour episode on the cross and became convinced of who Jesus was, or else he already knew about the Savior from earlier circumstances and was ready to surrender his heart. Maybe he had been in one of those feeding of the thousands meals, or around the temple or under a tree when Jesus was speaking to Zacchaeus or ministering to the sick. It is very possible that he had been exposed significantly to information about Jesus earlier in his life and later regressed into a life of crime as some do. His statement in Mark 14 is basically an acknowledgement of the truth of Jesus’ claim to who He was and he was confident that Jesus would be able to receive him in his future eternal state.
I tell you, there is a lot to be learned from the testimony of this penitent thief. People can argue up, down and all around the cross on how they believed this man received salvation with or without being dunked in the river or following a set of Bible verses, but friend I say this, in an instant, grace broke through for him and thank God there was no one around to scream, "you are doing it all wrong!". Jesus did not complicate this man's salvation for him. He simply allowed the man to see and know who He was and realize that he alone was responsible for why he was where he was, lost without Christ. He knew he was a sinner, God had already moved on his heart about that. But he also knew that he needed Jesus to get to the other side. What more does a person need to know I ask, than what the scripture proclaims; that man is sinful and needs a Savior. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
God knows the heart of every true seeker and He will not fail to reveal truth to that person if he/she is really seeking Him for salvation. Romans 10:10 says, "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is exactly what the thief that received eternal life on the cross did. He believed in his heart and confessed with his mouth. For God looks upon the heart and maybe it would do us all good to remember that as we are sharing the good news with others.
Hold Fast,
-Bren
The record of the Gospels offers little information on this well-known Biblical character. We do not even know his name. Scripture simply tells us that when Christ was led to Golgotha, two “thieves” or “criminals” were crucified with Him. One on the right and one on the left according to Matt. 27:38; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:32-33. When the chief priests, scribes, elders, passersby and soldiers mocked the Lord Jesus in Matt. 27:39-43 and Luke 23:36 these two men insulted Him as well. A closer look at the penitent thief in Luke 23:40, allows us to see God's preparatory grace at work before the conversion of a lost sinner. According to Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32, both men were mocking Jesus. Both were reproaching and reviling him. Both used their remaining, dying energy to hurl repeated verbal insults upon the only One who could save them. However, as the ordeal proceeded, a change occurred in one of the thieves and Luke 23:39-42 records it.
It's pretty clear that at some point this penitent man stopped ridiculing, and instead of reviling the Lord, he began to glorify him and petitioned Jesus as the Savior. And, in spite of His own agony, Jesus graciously responded to the man's change of attitude and behavior. It is here in scripture that we have a perfect example of soul winning by Jesus Himself. It is entirely feasible that this penitent criminal may have absorbed some earlier teaching concerning Jesus as the coming Christ and King. Exactly when he learned these facts is not specified in scripture. But there are two possibilities. Either he considered what he heard about Christ during that six-hour episode on the cross and became convinced of who Jesus was, or else he already knew about the Savior from earlier circumstances and was ready to surrender his heart. Maybe he had been in one of those feeding of the thousands meals, or around the temple or under a tree when Jesus was speaking to Zacchaeus or ministering to the sick. It is very possible that he had been exposed significantly to information about Jesus earlier in his life and later regressed into a life of crime as some do. His statement in Mark 14 is basically an acknowledgement of the truth of Jesus’ claim to who He was and he was confident that Jesus would be able to receive him in his future eternal state.
I tell you, there is a lot to be learned from the testimony of this penitent thief. People can argue up, down and all around the cross on how they believed this man received salvation with or without being dunked in the river or following a set of Bible verses, but friend I say this, in an instant, grace broke through for him and thank God there was no one around to scream, "you are doing it all wrong!". Jesus did not complicate this man's salvation for him. He simply allowed the man to see and know who He was and realize that he alone was responsible for why he was where he was, lost without Christ. He knew he was a sinner, God had already moved on his heart about that. But he also knew that he needed Jesus to get to the other side. What more does a person need to know I ask, than what the scripture proclaims; that man is sinful and needs a Savior. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
God knows the heart of every true seeker and He will not fail to reveal truth to that person if he/she is really seeking Him for salvation. Romans 10:10 says, "For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is exactly what the thief that received eternal life on the cross did. He believed in his heart and confessed with his mouth. For God looks upon the heart and maybe it would do us all good to remember that as we are sharing the good news with others.
Hold Fast,
-Bren
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