Originally posted by sillyme:
The rebuke of the thief contained key points.
- He feared God's judgement
- He believed that Jesus is innocent
- The consequence of sin is death
- Instead of asking to be saved from death, he asked Jesus to
remember in His kingdom. He recognised Jesus as the Saviour.
That was the faith that saved him.
If the thief was saved by his faith Jesus would have said so
explicitly as he has done in other parts of the bible
only in
conjunction with the working of miracles. i.e he
would have said your great faith has granted you salvation.
Matthew 15:28 NIV
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your
request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that
very hour.
Matthew 8:8-10 NIV
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come
under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be
healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under
me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and
he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those
following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
Israel with such great faith.
