The story of the penitent thief has sometimes been considered the most surprising, the most suggestive, the most instructive incident in all Gospel narrative .... In the salvation of one of the thieves, theology finds one of its finest demonstrations. Sacramentalism was refuted, for the thief was saved without recourse to baptism, the Lord's Supper, church, ceremony, or good works. The dogma of purgatory was refuted, for this vile sinner was instantly transformed into a saint and made fit for paradise apart from his personal expiation of a single sin. The teaching of universalism was refuted, for only one was saved of all who might have been saved. Jesus did not say, “Today ye shall be with me in paradise,” but “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The notion of soul-sleep was refuted, for the clear implication of the entire incident is that the redeemed thief would be in conscious fellowship with his Saviour in paradise even while his body disintegrated in some grave. Too, it is doubtful whether any other gospel incident presents the plan of salvation more clearly or simply. -Dr. Charles Erdman
