Just like anyone else gets saved. Accept Christ.
Read your Bible. The answer is there.
Considering that asking Jesus to remember us when He comes into His kingdom is the SOLE basis of salvation, it seems to me that the thief had saving faith. It is a good thing that we do not have any elector detectors, giving us the knowledge of who is going to heaven or not. That is not our responsibility. Further, salvation is of FAITH ALONE in CHRIST ALONE, not as a requirement of good deeds, else there would be boasting of who made it and how far.
The thief is in. Jesus said to him, “TODAY you will be with me in Paradise.” That’s as good as it gets!
I hope this question wasn’t posed by a Christian. If so, they’ve completely missed point. None of us lead fully righteous lives. We try, we fail. It really doesn’t matter; all that does is faith - and the thief had faith.
Now I’ll await the bombarding from the “faith alone isn’t enough” crowd.
[He did not show any fruit of repentance.]
He did admit he was guilty of sin and asked the Lord to save him for eternity.
Luke 23:39-43 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was [a]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” 43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
Because it is what Christ does not what we s that accomplishes our salvation
“He did not show any fruit of repentance.”
Who says?
He had a very short life after accepting Christ and showed fruit the whole short period.
Well for one thing, if Jesus himself deems you “saved”, you are.
And two, you don’t lose salvation for living a sinful life. That’s kinda the whole concept of why you need salvation. You try to do right, but that isn’t what saves you.
You might also check out the Prodigal son story.
We can stand in the field and pout all we want...but we are invited in for the party. Read the story of the prodigal son and his brother.
Romans 4:5
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Jesus calls us just as we are.
Accept Him and receive Him and you're saved.
THEN your eyes are opened to sin and unrighteousness.
Doesn’t matter what time you started work in the vineyard. The pay is the same.
(Luke 23:39-43)
"Then one of the criminals who was 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’” (Luke 23:39-43).
The thief went straight to paradise that day — no purgatory. However that does not mean the thief is not judged.
.
There is little to nothing in scripture to indicate what kind of life the thief led, except Yeshua’s words: “This day thou shall be with me in Paradise.”
Those words indicate he must have been obedient to the Father’s commandments, Just as Yeshua’s words to the Christians in Matthew 7:21-23 indicate that they were disobedient.
.
Well, consider this. Recently while I’ve been studying the Bible the Lord has been making me notice that true children of God are people who are “just” in the sense of justice.
The thief mentions justice here:
“Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong,”
(Luke 23:40-41).
Being just certainly goes hand-in-hand with having faith, so much so that they seem to be nearly the same thing. Having faith in God means to trust that all of His decisions, or judgments, are right, and agreeing with Him completely, including on what sin is. Having faith and being a just person also requires humbling oneself before God.
David was a man of great faith, and though he was in essence guilty of murder by bringing about the death of Uriah the Hittite, he was still just and humble before God in that when Nathan the prophet came to him, he didn’t reject him and possibly throw him in prison or kill him. He admitted to Nathan that he’d sinned against God and was willing to accept whatever punishment the Lord meted out.
The believers in the New Testament weren’t without sin, either, but the ones we can see that God was pleased with had faith and were both just and humble before God. Zacchaeus, like the thief, showed that he had turned away from sin and become just.
Here are some New Testament passages about being just:
“THE WISDOM OF THE JUST”: “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17
“JUST PERSONS WHICH NEED NO REPENTANCE”: “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” Luke 15:7
“THE SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT”: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24
Despite all the years that I’ve been reading that passage, I’m still not quite sure what we’re to make exactly of “just persons who need no repentance.” But again, in mind, just people agree with God and will admit their sin. They’re clearly not sinless. Jesus called His own disciples evil, as we’re all naturally evil at heart. And only His sacrifice on the cross for us, and our believing that He is who He said He was and that He died to pay the penalty for our sins, can make “just men perfect.”
Where is Paradise? And how do we reconcile John 20:17 when He talks to Mary on Easter (and therefore two-three days after the conversation with the thief) and tells her He has not yet ascended to His Father? Wouldn’t Paradise include where the Father is?
It was an event that occurred before the Dispensation of Grace.
That Dispensation Of Grace was actual when in Acts, the Jews from many places gathered for the Holiday were pricked in their hearts and then the New Law was written on their hearts. (See Jeremiah 31:33) and compare it with Acts 2:37-38.
Few will, but it is there, and it is not changing.
If you read about it in the Bible, you will find that your statements, therefore the whole premise of your question, are not fully accurate. Might as well ask how Kjng David, who cuckolded the faithful Uriah and had him killed, after screwing his wife, was able to die without sin....