[xzins]

Jesus said to the THIEF on the cross..."THIS DAY you will be with me in Paradise."

And that thief did nothing more than believe. He said, "Remember me when you come into Your kingdom."

No baptism, no rosary, no penance, no indulgences....just the Bullet Express to Paradise.

[xzins]

From http://www.mtc.org/cana.html

Rome did not arrive at its dogmatic positions hastily nor lightly. She is the product of many centuries of gradual departure from the true faith of the Church found in the Word of God. For instance:

• Prayers for the dead were introduced in 310
• The lighting of candles in 320
• The worship of saints about 375
• The mass was adopted in 394
• The worship of Mary began to develop about 432
• Priests began to assume distinctive robes in 500
• The doctrine of purgatory was introduced in 593
• Worship in Latin (since repealed) was mandated in 600
• Claims to Papal Supremacy took firm foot in 606
• Feasts in honor of the Virgin Mary began in 650
• The custom of kissing the Pope's foot was introduced in 709
• The worship of images and relics was authorized in 788
• The invention of holy water was about 850
• The canonization of saints was formalized in 993
• Feasts for the dead were introduced 1003
• 'The celibacy of the priesthood was declared 1074
• The dogma of Papal infallibility was announced 1076
• Prayer beads were introduced in 1090
• The doctrine that there are seven sacraments was introduced in 1140
• The sale of indulgences began 1190
• The wafer was substituted for the loaf in 1200
• The dogma of transubstantiation was adopted 1215
• Confession was instituted 1215
• The adoration of the Wafer began 1220
• 'The Ave Maria was introduced 1316
• The cup was taken from the laity in 1415
• Purgatory was officially decreed In 1439
• Roman tradition was placed on the same level as Scripture 1546
• The Apocrypha was received into the Canon 1546
• The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary was announced 1854
• 'The doctrine of the temporal power of the Pope proclaimed 1864
• The personal corporeal presence of the Virgin in heaven 1950

This is Rome. These are the dogmas we associate with Rome. They are unscriptural. All of them are the very antithesis of New Testament doctrine.

[Vicomte13]

"And that thief did nothing more than believe. He said, 'Remember me when you come into Your kingdom.'"

Au contraire: that rebel was hanging there for hours and hours and hours enduring some of the most hideous torture that the human mind has ever devised. Jesus was experiencing it too.
AND he respected Jesus' second commandment, telling his colleague in crime to shut up and leave the poor innocent Jesus alone.
AND he respected Jesus' first commandment, simply, by believing.
So, there was the expression of faith, and of compassion, both of which were redemptive.
The extent to which the man's long suffering on his own cross, to die of broken legs and suffocation, was the purgatorial balloon payment on his sins we won't know until we die and ask the question, if we care at that point.

[pjr12345]

Three things:

1) God can grant any dispensation He wishes;

2) This dispensation to the thief was granted before the institution of the New Covenant (Christ had not yet died for his sins).

3) Jesus was God's own hand-selected passover sacrifice offered in accordance with and fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant. In the OT sense, the thief's faith in that sacrifice was in full compliance with the Law.

For one or both reasons listed above, this case has no bearing on anyone else in conjunction with the requirements of the New Covenant. They remain in full force for the rest of us.