Behold the Thief! Behold the Saviour!

[KenH]

"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." - Luke 23:43

And mark, my soul, how powerful, the grace of the Lord Jesus wrought upon this man. He and his companion both knew that before night they would both be in eternity. The thought affected neither; they joined the rabble in insulting Jesus. "Save thyself and us," was the language of the heart of both, until the grace of Jesus wrought on this man's mind, and changed the reviler into an humble suitor. What could there be in Jesus thus to affect him! Jesus hung upon the cross like a poor Jew. Jesus had been always poor, and never more so than now. And yet, in the midst of all these surrounding circumstances, such a ray of light broke in upon this man's mind, that he saw Jesus in all his glory and power, acknowledged him for a King, when all the disciples had forsook him and fled, and prayed to be remembered by him when he came into his kingdom. Precious Lamb of God! bestow upon me such a portion of thy grace as, under all the unpromising circumstances around, may call forth the like conviction of thy power, and my need. And Oh! that this pattern of mercy might be reviewed by thousands of poor perishing dying sinners! Methinks I would have it proclaimed through all the public places of resort, through all the haunts of licentiousness, among the numberless scenes of hardened sinners who fear that they have sinned beyond the possibility of forgiveness. Oh look at this example of Jesus's love, ye that are going down to the grave full of sin and despair! behold the thief! behold the Saviour! And Oh for a cry of grace like that of the dying malefactor—"Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom;" and Jesus's gracious answer—"To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

- excerpt from Robert Hawker's The Poor Man's Morning and Evening Portions, April 11, Morning

 

[kyredneck]

16 If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request. 1 Jn 5

IMO, the thief on the cross was a child of God that had sinned 'a sin unto death'. Sentence carried out by 'the powers that be', i.e., the Romans.

 

[tyndale1946]

Hebrews 2: 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Brother Glen

 

[KenH]

16 If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request. 1 Jn 5

IMO, the thief on the cross was a child of God that had sinned 'a sin unto death'. Sentence carried out by 'the powers that be', i.e., the Romans.

"that is the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is neither forgiven in this world nor in that to come, and therefore must be unto death; it is a sinning wilfully, not in a practical, but doctrinal way, after a man has received the knowledge of the truth; it is a wilful denial of the truth of the Gospel, particularly that peace, pardon, righteousness, eternal life, and salvation, are by Jesus Christ, contrary to the light of his mind, and this joined with malice and obstinacy; so that there is no more or other sacrifice for such a sin; there is nothing but a fearful looking for of wrath and fury to fall on such opposers of the way of life"

- from John Gill's Bible commentary on 1 John 5:16

 

[kyredneck]

I disagree with my man Gill on this one. I think the ‘sin unto death’ is simply a capital offense answerable to the powers to be in this temporal realm.

 

[Dr. Bob]

I disagree with my man Gill on this one. I think the ‘sin unto death’ is simply a capital offense answerable to the powers to be in this temporal realm.

Would you start a new thread on this subject rather than derail the intent of this one? Thank you - sure many would like to study this important topic and it would be a blessing to have a dedicated thread.

 

[kyredneck]

My apologies @KenH

 

[KenH]

My apologies @KenH

Oh, no problem as far as I am concerned. Threads go off in a plethora of directions on this board all the time, sort of like catch as catch can wrestling.