August 18, 2014

From Gary... into focus


This picture reminds me of something I see multiple times a day- each and every day.  That is, my dogs looking for a snack (or more accurately- as much food as they can get).  No matter what they were doing before they saw the snack, it is immediately forgotten!!!! In other words- they have their eye on the prize!!! They are focused, but what are we concentrating on....
Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB
(1)  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
(2)  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
It is easy to let things get in the way of being a Christian- work, family, civic responsibilities, you name it!!!  But, before we can REALLY focus, we need to eliminate the obstacles that would hinder our attention (Heb. 12:1). Then, we are free to really do what verse 2 tells us to.  Unlike the animal above, our goal is not a treat, but rather a calling.  But, you can learn a lot from a dog!!!

From Gary.... Bible Reading August 18


Bible Reading 
August 18
The World English Bible

 
Aug. 17
Job 5-8
Job 5:1 "Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Job 5:2 For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
Job 5:3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
Job 5:4 His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
Job 5:5 whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.
Job 5:6 For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
Job 5:7 but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 5:8 "But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
Job 5:9 who does great things that can't be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
Job 5:10 who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;
Job 5:11 so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.
Job 5:12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can't perform their enterprise.
Job 5:13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
Job 5:14 They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
Job 5:15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
Job 5:16 So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
Job 5:17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
Job 5:18 For he wounds, and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole.
Job 5:19 He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven there shall no evil touch you.
Job 5:20 In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
Job 5:21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
Job 5:22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
Job 5:23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field. The animals of the field shall be at peace with you.
Job 5:24 You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.
Job 5:25 You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.
Job 5:26 You shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.
Job 5:27 Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good."
Job 6:1 Then Job answered,
Job 6:2 "Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
Job 6:3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore have my words been rash.
Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Job 6:5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?
Job 6:6 Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
Job 6:7 My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.
Job 6:8 "Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,
Job 6:9 even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Job 6:10 Be it still my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
Job 6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?
Job 6:12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?
Job 6:13 Isn't it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me?
Job 6:14 "To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
Job 6:15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;
Job 6:16 Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.
Job 6:17 In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
Job 6:18 The caravans that travel beside them turn aside. They go up into the waste, and perish.
Job 6:19 The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.
Job 6:20 They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded.
Job 6:21 For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.
Job 6:22 Did I say, 'Give to me?' or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'
Job 6:23 or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?' or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'
Job 6:24 "Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
Job 6:25 How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
Job 6:26 Do you intend to reprove words, seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?
Job 6:27 Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.
Job 6:28 Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I shall not lie to your face.
Job 6:29 Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.
Job 6:30 Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things?
Job 7:1 "Isn't a man forced to labor on earth? Aren't his days like the days of a hired hand?
Job 7:2 As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,
Job 7:3 so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.
Job 7:4 When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?' I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
Job 7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
Job 7:7 Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good.
Job 7:8 The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.
Job 7:9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.
Job 7:10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
Job 7:11 "Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job 7:12 Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you put a guard over me?
Job 7:13 When I say, 'My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint;'
Job 7:14 then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions:
Job 7:15 so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
Job 7:16 I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
Job 7:17 What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,
Job 7:18 that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?
Job 7:19 How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
Job 7:20 If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?
Job 7:21 Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be."
Job 8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
Job 8:2 "How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
Job 8:4 If your children have sinned against him, He has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience.
Job 8:5 If you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to the Almighty.
Job 8:6 If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
Job 8:7 Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase.
Job 8:8 "Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.
Job 8:9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)
Job 8:10 Shall they not teach you, tell you, and utter words out of their heart?
Job 8:11 "Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water?
Job 8:12 While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.
Job 8:13 So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,
Job 8:14 Whose confidence shall break apart, Whose trust is a spider's web.
Job 8:15 He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand. He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.
Job 8:16 He is green before the sun. His shoots go forth over his garden.
Job 8:17 His roots are wrapped around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.
Job 8:18 If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.'
Job 8:19 Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.
Job 8:20 "Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.
Job 8:21 He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.
Job 8:22 Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked shall be no more."








Aug. 18
Job 9-12

Job 9:1 Then Job answered,
Job 9:2 "Truly I know that it is so, but how can man be just with God?
Job 9:3 If he is pleased to contend with him, he can't answer him one time in a thousand.
Job 9:4 God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him, and prospered?
Job 9:5 He removes the mountains, and they don't know it, when he overturns them in his anger.
Job 9:6 He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.
Job 9:7 He commands the sun, and it doesn't rise, and seals up the stars.
Job 9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.
Job 9:9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.
Job 9:10 He does great things past finding out; yes, marvelous things without number.
Job 9:11 Behold, he goes by me, and I don't see him. He passes on also, but I don't perceive him.
Job 9:12 Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, 'What are you doing?'
Job 9:13 "God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
Job 9:14 How much less shall I answer him, And choose my words to argue with him?
Job 9:15 Though I were righteous, yet I wouldn't answer him. I would make supplication to my judge.
Job 9:16 If I had called, and he had answered me, yet I wouldn't believe that he listened to my voice.
Job 9:17 For he breaks me with a storm, and multiplies my wounds without cause.
Job 9:18 He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
Job 9:19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, 'Who,' says he, 'will summon me?'
Job 9:20 Though I am righteous, my own mouth shall condemn me. Though I am blameless, it shall prove me perverse.
Job 9:21 I am blameless. I don't regard myself. I despise my life.
Job 9:22 "It is all the same. Therefore I say he destroys the blameless and the wicked.
Job 9:23 If the scourge kills suddenly, he will mock at the trial of the innocent.
Job 9:24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?
Job 9:25 "Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away, they see no good,
Job 9:26 They have passed away as the swift ships, as the eagle that swoops on the prey.
Job 9:27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face, and cheer up;'
Job 9:28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me innocent.
Job 9:29 I shall be condemned. Why then do I labor in vain?
Job 9:30 If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with lye,
Job 9:31 yet you will plunge me in the ditch. My own clothes shall abhor me.
Job 9:32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, that we should come together in judgment.
Job 9:33 There is no umpire between us, that might lay his hand on us both.
Job 9:34 Let him take his rod away from me. Let his terror not make me afraid;
Job 9:35 then I would speak, and not fear him, for I am not so in myself.
Job 10:1 "My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
Job 10:2 I will tell God, 'Do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
Job 10:3 Is it good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?
Job 10:4 Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?
Job 10:5 Are your days as the days of mortals, or your years as man's years,
Job 10:6 that you inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin?
Job 10:7 Although you know that I am not wicked, there is no one who can deliver out of your hand.
Job 10:8 " 'Your hands have framed me and fashioned me altogether, yet you destroy me.
Job 10:9 Remember, I beg you, that you have fashioned me as clay. Will you bring me into dust again?
Job 10:10 Haven't you poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?
Job 10:11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews.
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and loving kindness. Your visitation has preserved my spirit.
Job 10:13 Yet you hid these things in your heart. I know that this is with you:
Job 10:14 if I sin, then you mark me. You will not acquit me from my iniquity.
Job 10:15 If I am wicked, woe to me. If I am righteous, I still shall not lift up my head, being filled with disgrace, and conscious of my affliction.
Job 10:16 If my head is held high, you hunt me like a lion. Again you show yourself powerful to me.
Job 10:17 You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation on me. Changes and warfare are with me.
Job 10:18 " 'Why, then, have you brought me forth out of the womb? I wish I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me.
Job 10:19 I should have been as though I had not been. I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
Job 10:20 Aren't my days few? Cease then. Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort,
Job 10:21 before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
Job 10:22 the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.' "
Job 11:1 Then Zophar, the Naamathite, answered,
Job 11:2 "Shouldn't the multitude of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be justified?
Job 11:3 Should your boastings make men hold their peace? When you mock, shall no man make you ashamed?
Job 11:4 For you say, 'My doctrine is pure. I am clean in your eyes.'
Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against you,
Job 11:6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
Job 11:7 "Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
Job 11:8 They are high as heaven. What can you do? They are deeper than Sheol. What can you know?
Job 11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
Job 11:10 If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?
Job 11:11 For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn't consider it.
Job 11:12 An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt.
Job 11:13 "If you set your heart aright, stretch out your hands toward him.
Job 11:14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away. Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tents.
Job 11:15 Surely then you shall lift up your face without spot; Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear:
Job 11:16 for you shall forget your misery. You shall remember it as waters that are passed away.
Job 11:17 Life shall be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning.
Job 11:18 You shall be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety.
Job 11:19 Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. Yes, many shall court your favor.
Job 11:20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail. They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be the giving up of the spirit."
Job 12:1 Then Job answered,
Job 12:2 "No doubt, but you are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
Job 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn't know such things as these?
Job 12:4 I am like one who is a joke to his neighbor, I, who called on God, and he answered. The just, the blameless man is a joke.
Job 12:5 In the thought of him who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for them whose foot slips.
Job 12:6 The tents of robbers prosper. Those who provoke God are secure, who carry their God in their hands.
Job 12:7 "But ask the animals, now, and they shall teach you; the birds of the sky, and they shall tell you.
Job 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach you. The fish of the sea shall declare to you.
Job 12:9 Who doesn't know that in all these, the hand of Yahweh has done this,
Job 12:10 in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?
Job 12:11 Doesn't the ear try words, even as the palate tastes its food?
Job 12:12 With aged men is wisdom, in length of days understanding.
Job 12:13 "With God is wisdom and might. He has counsel and understanding.
Job 12:14 Behold, he breaks down, and it can't be built again. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
Job 12:15 Behold, he withholds the waters, and they dry up. Again, he sends them out, and they overturn the earth.
Job 12:16 With him is strength and wisdom. The deceived and the deceiver are his.
Job 12:17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
Job 12:18 He loosens the bond of kings. He binds their waist with a belt.
Job 12:19 He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows the mighty.
Job 12:20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
Job 12:21 He pours contempt on princes, and loosens the belt of the strong.
Job 12:22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death.
Job 12:23 He increases the nations, and he destroys them. He enlarges the nations, and he leads them captive.
Job 12:24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
Job 12:25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

From Mark Copeland... The Righteousness Of God Revealed (Ro 3:21-31)

                      "THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS"

             The Righteousness Of God Revealed (Ro 3:21-31)

INTRODUCTION

1. A major theme in the book of Romans is the righteousness of God...
   a. It is mentioned in connection with the gospel of Christ - Ro 1:
      16-17
   b. It is the major subject of discussion in chapters 1-11

2. The phrase "righteousness of God" can be understood in two ways...
   a. God's own personal righteousness (i.e., His justice)
   b. God's system of making man righteous (i.e., forgiving man of sin)
   -- Both concepts are addressed in the book of Romans, but the latter
      in particular

3. In chapters 1-3, Paul describes man's need for righteousness...
   a. How the Gentiles are in need of salvation - Ro 1:18-2:16
   b. How the Jews are in need of salvation - Ro 2:17-3:20
   -- Concluding that all the world is guilty, even Israel who had the
      Law - Ro 3:19-20

[But now in our text (Ro 3:21-31), Paul explains how the righteousness
of God has been revealed.  It was revealed in part even...]

I. BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS

   A. RIGHTEOUSNESS APART FROM LAW...
      1. "A righteousness that does not spring from perfect obedience to
         law " - B. W. Johnson
      2. "In a way different from personal obedience to the law."
         - Barnes
         a. "It does not mean that God abandoned his law; or that Jesus
            Christ did not regard the law, for he came to "magnify" it,
            (Isa 42:21) or that sinners after they are justified have no
            regard to the law;" - Barnes
         b. "But it means simply what the apostle had been endeavoring
            to show, that justification could not be accomplished by
            personal obedience to any law of Jew or Gentile, and that it
            must be accomplished in some other way." - Barnes
      -- I.e., a system of justification that does not depend upon one's
         perfect obedience

   B. WITNESSED BY THE LAW...
      1. How?  Through shadows and figures (e.g., animal sacrifices)
         - He 10:1-4
         a. The need for animal sacrifices showed that man's perfect
            obedience was inadequate
         b. Of course, animal sacrifices themselves were not adequate,
            but a shadow
      2. How?  Through prophetic utterances - Gen 15:6; Isa 53:4-6,
         10-12; Hab 2:4
         a. E.g., that Abraham's faith was reckoned for righteousness
         b. E.g., that suffering Servant would bear our iniquities
         c. E.g., that the just would live by faith
      -- God's ultimate system of justification (making one righteous)
         was attested to throughout the law and the prophets!

[But what was witnessed through figures and prophetic utterances has now
been fully revealed...]

II. BY THE GOSPEL AND THE APOSTLES

   A. DEMANDS FAITH IN JESUS...
      1. God's way of making men righteous requires faith in Jesus
         Christ - Ro 3:22
         a. We must believe in Him, or die in our sins - Jn 8:24
         b. We must believe in Him, if we desire eternal life - Jn 20:
            30-31
      2. A way of salvation available to all who believe in Jesus - Ro 3:22-23
         a. There is no difference (between Jew and Gentile)
         b. For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God
            (chapters 1-3)
      -- It is not just faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ, who
         died for our sins!

   B. INVOLVES JUSTIFICATION BY GOD...
      1. Offered freely by His grace - Ro 3:24-25
         a. Through redemption in Jesus (His blood, the purchase price)
            - Ep 1:6,7; 1Pe 1:18-19
         b. Jesus offered as a propitiation (a sacrifice to appease
            God's wrath) - 1Jn 2:2; 4:10
      2. Demonstrating God's righteousness - Ro 3:25-26
         a. He is just (righteous)
            1) How could God be righteous when He had "passed over" sins
               previously committed (the blood of animals did not truly
               remove sin)?
            2) He knew that Christ would one day bear the sins of the
               world! - cf. He 9:15
         b. He is the justifier (the one who makes others righteous)
            1) His grace makes redemption possible!
            2) His propitiation (Jesus) makes forgiveness possible!
      -- Yet this justification is only for the one who has faith in
         Jesus! - Ro 3:26

   C. ELIMINATES BOASTING BY MAN...
      1. Excluded by the law of faith - Ro 3:27-30
         a. One cannot boast about the works they do - cf. Lk 17:10
         b. That faith is required implies that works cannot save
         c. The "law of faith" (principle of faith) revealed that
            Christ's sacrifice was necessary
      2. Establishing the principle of law - Ro 3:31
         a. Justification by faith does not render obedience obsolete
            - cf. He 5:9
         b. Whether it was the Law of Moses under the Old Covenant, or
            the Will of Christ under the New Covenant, God calls for
            obedience! - cf. Mt 28:20; Tit 2:11-12
         c. "It does not mean that God abandoned his law; or that Jesus
            Christ did not regard the law, for he came to "magnify" it,
            (Isa 42:21) or that sinners after they are justified have
            no regard to the law;" - Barnes
      -- God's way of making man righteous by an obedient faith
         eliminates boasting in one's works, while upholding God's call
         for holy living!

CONCLUSION

1. The mistake made by many Jews...
   a. Believing their obedience and animal sacrifices (i.e., the Law)
      was all they needed
   b. Failing to heed the Law and the Prophets, who bore witness
      regarding God's justification - cf. Ro 10:1-4

2. The mistake many people make today...
   a. Believing that faith only saves, and obedience is not necessary
   b. Failing to heed the gospel and the apostles, that the faith which
      saves is an obedient faith - cf. Ro 1:5; 6:17-18; 16:25-26

When one is careful to note "The Righteousness Of God Revealed", they
learn that God saves those whose faith in Jesus prompt them to obey His
Word. Their obedience does not earn or merit salvation, but receives the
grace of God who has given Jesus as the propitiation for their sins.

Has your faith in Jesus led you to obey His Word? - cf. Mk 16:15-16; Ac
2:38; Re 2:10

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

The Thief on the Cross by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1274


The Thief on the Cross

by  Dave Miller, Ph.D.

Legion are those who dismiss water baptism as prerequisite to salvation on the grounds that “the thief on the cross was not baptized.” The thought is that since the thief was suspended on the cross when Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), he was being pronounced as saved by Christ without being required to be baptized. As one well-known preacher put it, “There was no water within 10 miles of the cross.” Please give consideration to two important observations.
First, the thief may well have been baptized prior to being placed on the cross. Considerable scriptural evidence points to this conclusion (Matthew 3:5-6; Mark 1:4-5; Luke 3:21; 7:29-30). If he was, in fact, baptized, he would have been baptized with the baptism administered by John the baptizer. John’s baptism was temporary (i.e., in force only during his personal ministry, terminating at the death of Christ). However, even John’s baptism was “for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4) and, hence, essential for salvation for those to whom it was addressed. John’s baptism, like the one administered by Jesus while He was on Earth (John 3:22,26; 4:1-2), was unique and temporary. It was addressed only to Jews, and only to the Jews who populated the vicinity of Jerusalem and Judea. It was designed to prepare the Jewish people for the arrival of the Messiah. But John’s baptism must not be confused with New Testament baptism that is addressed to everybody, and that did not take effect until after the cross of Christ. If the thief was a Jew, and if he already had submitted to John’s baptism, there would have been no need for him to be re-baptized. He simply would have needed to repent of his post-baptism thievery and acknowledge his sins—which the text plainly indicates that he did.
Second, and most important, the real issue pertains to an extremely crucial feature of Bible interpretation. This hermeneutical feature is so critical that, if a person does not grasp it, his effort to sort out Bible teaching, in order to arrive at correct conclusions, will be inevitably hampered. This principle was spotlighted by Paul when he wrote to Timothy and told him he must “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). In other words, if one simply takes the entire Bible—all 66 books—and treats them as if everything that is said applies directly and equally to everyone, his effort to be in harmony with God’s Word will be hopeless and futile. For example, if a person turned to Genesis 6 and read where God instructed Noah to build a boat, if he did not study enough to determine whether such instruction applied to himself, he would end up building his own boat—the entire time thinking that God wanted him to do so! The Bible is literally filled with commands, instructions, and requirements that were not intended to be duplicated by people living today. Does God forbid you and me from eating a certain fruit (Genesis 2:17; 3:3)? Are we to refrain from boiling a baby goat in its mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19)? Does God want you and me to offer our son as a burnt offering (Genesis 22:2)? Are we commanded to load up and leave our homeland (Genesis 12:1)? Moving to the New Testament, does God want you to sell everything you have and give it to the poor (Matthew 19:21)? Does God expect you to leave everything, quit your job, and devote yourself full time to spiritual pursuits (Matthew 4:20; 19:27; Mark 10:28; Luke 5:28)? Does God intend for you to “desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1), i.e., seek to possess miraculous abilities? The point is that the entire Bible applies to the entire human race. However, careful and diligent study is necessary to determine how it applies. We must understand the biblical distinction between the application of the principles of the Bible and the specific details.
Here, then, is the central point as it pertains to the relevance of the thief on the cross: Beginning at Creation, all humans were amenable to the laws of God that were given to them at that time. Bible students typically call this period of time the Patriarchal Dispensation. During this period, which lasted from Creation to roughly the time of the cross, non-Jews were subject to a body of legislation passed down by God through the fathers of family clans (cf. Hebrews 11:1). In approximately 1,500 B.C., God removed the genetic descendants of Abraham from Egyptian bondage, took them out into the Sinai desert, and gave them their own law code (the Law of Moses). Jews were subject to that body of legal information from that time until it, too, was terminated at the cross of Christ. The following passages substantiate these assertions: Matthew 27:51; Romans 2:12-16; Galatians 3:7-29; Ephesians 2:11-22; Colossians 2:11-17. The book of Hebrews addresses this subject extensively. To get to the heart of the matter quickly, read especially Hebrews 9:15-17. When one “correctly handles the Word of truth,” one sees that the Bible teaches that when Christ died on the cross, Mosaic law came to an end, and patriarchal law shortly thereafter. At that point, all humans on the planet became amenable to the law of Christ (cf. Galatians 6:2). The law of Christ consists strictly of information that is intended to be in effect after the death of Christ. It includes some of the things that Jesus and His disciples taught while He was still on Earth. But as regards the specifics of salvation, one must go to Acts 2 and the rest of the New Testament (especially the book of Acts) in order to determine what one must do today to be saved. Beginning in Acts 2, the new covenant of Christ took effect, and every single individual who responded correctly to the preaching of the gospel was baptized in water in order to be forgiven of sin by the blood of Christ. Every detail of an individual’s conversion is not always mentioned, but a perusal of the book of Acts demonstrates decisively that water immersion was a prerequisite to forgiveness, along with faith, repentance, and confession of the deity of Christ (Acts 2:38,41; 8:12,13,16,36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15,33; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16).
The thief was not subject to the New Testament command to be baptized into Christ’s death (Romans 6:3-4), just as Moses, Abraham, and David were not amenable to it. They all lived prior to the cross under different law codes. They could not have been baptized into Christ’s death—because He had not yet died! The establishment of the church of Christ and the launching of the Christian religion did not occur until after Christ’s death, on the day of Pentecost in the year A.D. 30 in the city of Jerusalem (Acts 2). An honest and accurate appraisal of the biblical data forces us to conclude that the thief on the cross is not an appropriate example of how people are to be saved this side of the cross.