Based on Luke 23:26-49 (New King James Version)
“Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?’ There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.’ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.’ And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’ Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ’ Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous Man!’ And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”
There are many that suppose that the best example of grace and salvation from God, and that there is nothing else that needs to be done to obtain that salvation is the story of the repented thief. What is astonishing is how ready many people are to accept that everything is all done, and that they have no more responsibility regarding salvation. In summary, a doctrine that is apt for the lazy and irresponsible has been propagated. Blessed be God that all of those that strived so much and that even gave their lives for the proliferation of the Gospel did not think that way, and far less, teach such aberrations. For starters, if the apostles would have dedicated themselves to just living their lives, to seeking fulfill their own delights and comfort, looking to fix their own problems, and they would not have had any sense of responsibility, nor any kind of urgency for the ministry, none of us today would not even know who Christ is. We would be completely in the dark, without any kind of hope.
There are many that would say, “Looks like you are taking away God’s glory and giving it to man.” And I would have to respond, “I am simply clarifying that everything works together, and especially when there is a true faith, because that is what God is truly after. All glory be to the Lord, but it is by His own design that man come by his own choosing to come to understand what God desires and that they fulfill their reason for existence. God made us so we could fulfill His will. We were created and made for good works, and for it to be our own choice to look to do them, for God’s glory, and also, for our own good and for the good of others. When we let God’s will be accomplished in our lives, the compliment of everything God desires to come to fruition is fulfilled. This is the reason for why we received such grace: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10. So then, we were created for good works, and God gave His Son so that we could return to His original plan, to free us from the power of sin, and like that, to stop serving death, to stop serving Satan and to start serving God under our own free will. God does not force anyone because the basis of our faith is love. True love (not what the world calls love), consists of deciding to follow God and to do as He desires because we love Him, because we have come to understand how much He has loved us. As it is written: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:8-10. Therefore, it can be assumed very easily that a person that does not look to do the will of God, and excuses themselves in things that promote the desires of the flesh, simply does not know God. And if they don’t even know God, how can they then obtain entrance into God’s kingdom? For it is also written: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Matthew 7:21.
Now then, maybe someone may notice, and especially if they follow much of what this ministry presents, “Why preach so much about good works and about responsibility, and that moreover it takes a lot of effort to follow the Lord considering how difficult things are?” And the answer is, “The true Word of God must be preached, the sound doctrine that takes us to eternal life. Everything else only takes a person to perdition, no matter how much they try to make things sound nice or make things seem like the truth. And the grave problem is that our churches in general have become corrupted by carnality and the vanities of this world, and both many of our members and the world is being lost, not because of God’s fault, but rather, because of the sin of those that knowing the truth despise it, and they dedicate themselves to justify the flesh and glorify sin. Decadence is only possible through the voluntary corruption of those that have been exposed to the Truth.
What was the faith of the repented thief? He not only believed in the Lord, but he was faithful until the last moment. He could have given up in his faith by seeing that he was not freed from his condition, and by seeing die the same God in whom he believed. He saw the Lord breathe His last breath. Before dying, he did not see the heavens opened, nor a great heavenly army coming to free him. He saw absolutely nothing from a human standpoint to make him feel better. But rather, the contrary. After the Lord died, they broke his legs so that he could stop living. That man made a public confession of his faith and abided in that faith until the moment he died, and his preaching continues until today. It is said too easily that this man was not able to do much. But if we truly look into what happened, he did much more than the majority of people would do in a lifetime. So then, do you have the faith of this man that did make it into God’s paradise, or something else that will not save you? Lord bless! John