Luke 23:39-43 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
If one ever needed an illustration of the truth that we are saved "by grace ... through faith ... and not a result of works" (Ephesians 2:8-9), this is it! If this criminal's eternal destination was dependent upon piling up enough good deeds to outweigh the bad, he had run out of time! Yet, he did not give up hope. He did the only thing he could do. In faith, he reached out to Jesus. And Jesus responded with the promise of eternal life!
Wow! I am so glad this interaction is included in Luke's gospel. All of the other three gospels mention these two who were crucified with Jesus. Matthew and Mark point out that both of these convicts reviled and blasphemed Jesus. But only Luke contains this plea for forgiveness from the repentant thief (whose heart was changed while hanging on his cross).
Perhaps you look at your life and you see a lot of baggage. You wonder if God could every forgive you for some of the horrible things you have done. Take hope, my friend. If God could forgive a hardened criminal who deserved to die when he reached out in sincere and genuine faith and repentance .... he will certainly forgive you as well! Confess your sin today and ask him for the forgiveness that only Jesus can offer and the new life that only he can give!
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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