The Penitent Criminal

Four Indispensable Gospel Truths:

1)Salvation is from sin.

2)Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus.

Real faith in Jesus manifests itself in 2 important ways:

a)changed behavior (it bears the fruit of repentance)
b)the unshakable expectation that Jesus will deliver His believers even from death.

3)Salvation is granted to the believer instantaneously.

4)The outcome of physical death for the believer in Jesus is Heaven.

Application - Questions for further contemplation:

1) Given the record of the many amazing miracles of Jesus, do you find it surprising that relatively few people ultimately believed in Him?

What reasons do people give today for refusing to believe after hearing the gospel?

2)Many people possess accurate knowledge about who Jesus is, and maybe even what the cross was about, and yet they do not believe in Him in a saving way. How does non-saving knowledge of Jesus differ from authentic saving faith?

What came first – saving faith in Jesus, or conviction for sins and consciousness of guilt?

3)What is repentance?

Was repentance evident in the life of the criminal who believed? How?


Select helpful resources:
Bock, Darrel L. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, Luke 9:51 – 24:53. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.
MacArthur, John F. Luke 18-24. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1985
Morris, Leon. Tyndale New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.