When discussing doctrine or salvation this is one of the first questions people often ask. In order to understand why the thief on the cross did not need to be baptized one must first begin to understand that there are two covenants with the Lord. The Lord made the first or old covenant with Abraham and his natural family. The second or new covenant was made to the church.
First of all let's begin with the old covenant. Turn to Genesis 17:9-14, 10 "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised." 12 "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed." 14 "And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." This is the beginning of the old covenant between God and Abraham. First thing to understand is who did God make this covenant with? God plainly let Abraham know that this covenant was between God and Abraham and Abraham's seed or generations to come. The next thing to understand is what elements had to take place for the covenant to be effective to Abraham and his descendants. This would be that every man child had to be circumcised when it was eight days old. This was only the beginning of the old covenant; there were more requirements later given to the Lord's people. For example, the Law was given to Moses and there were other things the people were supposed to do. They had to be circumcised first before they could even enter the Lord's kingdom. This was the beginning of the Lord's natural kingdom here on the earth.
The old covenant was made to the Lord's natural kingdom on earth. It began with Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob and from Jacob to his 12 sons. As we know from the Bible that Jacob's name was changed to Israel so his sons became known as the 12 tribes of Israel. This was the Lord's chosen people and the ones that this covenant was made to. Since this kingdom was a natural kingdom, the Lord had to communicate with his people in natural ways. For example the Lord spoke to Moses aloud from a burning bush. He also parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel and he performed many other miracles under the old covenant to let his people know that he was the Lord. As time went on the children of Israel began to disobey God and not keep his covenant that he made with their fathers. So the Lord had to change his covenant because the natural man could not keep his commandments. The main reason man could not keep his commandments was because they did not have the spirit of God in their hearts. The Holy Ghost was not given to the people under the old covenant. The Lord wanted to make a way that man could keep his commandments, so he decided that he would change his covenant.
At this time let's read some of the prophets as they wrote about this new covenant. Turn to Jeremiah 31:31-37, 33 "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah is prophesying about what was to come. He was letting the people know that the Lord will put his law in their hearts and cause them to keep his commandments. Now let's continue and turn to Ezekiel 11:17-21, 19 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:" Here Ezekiel is prophesying about the Holy Ghost which the Lord was going to give to his people under this new covenant. Look now at verse 20 "That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God." Ezekiel is again backing up what Jeremiah said, that the Lord was going to make a way that man could keep his commandments.
It is time for a little review. The Lord first made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Abraham's descendants were not able to please the Lord because they had to try to keep the law on their own, without the spiritual guidance of the Lord. So the Lord decided to make a new covenant and a new way so man could get the Lord's spirit and keep his commandments.
At this time we need to look in the scriptures and find out when this new covenant would be put into effect. The prophets have prophesied about its coming, but when did the new covenant begin? Please turn to Hebrews 9:12-22, notice here speaking about Jesus Christ here in verse 15 "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Now pay very close attention to the next two verses 16 "For where a testament is of force there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." Here we need to understand that the new covenant could not begin until after the death of the testator. The testator was Jesus Christ. Notice verse 22 "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." This is letting us know that without Jesus Christ's blood we could not have remission of our sins.
It is important now to realize that this new covenant could not begin until after Jesus' death. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and St. John were all written about Jesus' life here on earth. Jesus had not died so the old covenant was still in effect. Let's read some more scriptures turn to St. John 7:37-39, 39 "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified,)" Do you remember why the people under the old covenant could not keep the law or obey the Lord? They could not keep the law because they did not have the Holy Ghost to guide them. Now we have St. John telling us that the Holy Ghost was not yet given until Jesus was glorified. Jesus was not glorified here on earth; he was glorified after his death and resurrection.
The next place in scriptures is Matthew 24:9-14, 14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached unto all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then the end shall come" Many people think this scripture is talking about the end of time, but in reality it is talking about the end of the old covenant. Here we see that the gospel had to be preached unto the entire world before the end of the old covenant. Now turn to Acts 2 and read about the day of Pentecost and notice verse 5 "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." This is exactly how the scriptures said it would be, also realize that the testator which is Jesus had already died and resurrected. So everything is in place for the old covenant to end and the new covenant to begin. Read Acts 2:37-41, 38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Now it was time to get the Holy Ghost because Jesus had been glorified. Remember the people under the old covenant did not have the Holy Ghost so they could not keep the law. So here is how we can get the Holy Ghost today and the Lord will cause us to keep his commandments. He changes our hearts and minds so it now pleases us to please the Lord.
At this point on the day of Pentecost Jesus ended the old covenant and began the new. He ended his natural kingdom on earth and began a new spiritual kingdom called the church. He now communicates to us in two ways, through his spirit and his word. That is how we must worship Jesus today in spirit and in truth. His spirit will guide you and his word is the truth. These two work hand in hand together to communicate to his spiritual kingdom.
Finally I will answer the question in which I started this study with. The thief on the cross was still living under the old covenant. Notice speaking about Jesus here in St. John 1:11 & 12 "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." 12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his Name." Again remember the old covenant was to Abraham and his descendants, and these people were the Lord's natural kingdom on earth or his chosen people. The Lord Jesus was born out of the tribe of Judah which was one of the children of Israel. So he came unto his kingdom that was already here on earth and as many of these people that would receive him he would give them power to become the sons of God. While Jesus was on earth the old covenant was still in effect so only the descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel could be saved. All of these people that were of the 12 tribes of Israel that would receive Jesus could be saved. Here we have it, the thief on the cross was part of the Lord's natural kingdom on earth. So while Jesus was here on earth all he had to do was receive Jesus. Since Jesus was not yet dead the old covenant was still in place. This is why all the thief on the cross had to do was receive the Lord.
Now today we live under the new covenant and we need remission of our sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost so we can keep the commandments of the Lord like he intends us to do. The only way to get our sins remitted and the gift of the Holy Ghost is to repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
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