Luke calls him an “evildoer” at the time of his execution (Luke 23:32) and the man himself admitts his guilt. (Luke 23:41)
Had he been born again and repented, etc., he wqould not have asked what he did, would he? His future resurrection would be sure and certain to him.
“He had not been born again. He had not repented.”
Ah, an interesting point...Jesus was placed between the two thieves for a special reason. Here both had the opportunity to repent (to be born again, as it were).
“And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
(Luke 23:39-42)
The one thief railed on Him (Jesus), the other rebuked him (the first thief)...and it is clear to me that the second thief to speak repented...he recognized that this man next to him, Jesus, was who He said He was.
I believe that whereever the ‘comma’ is or is not to be, this thief was with Jesus, however ‘briefly’, when that day was done.
Of course, that opens another question...where is ‘Paradise’? I believe that ‘Paradise’ was a place where the Old Testiment saints, the ‘righteous’, were until this time. It would seem that this was a place where those in ‘Paradise’ and those in ‘the place of torment’ were not far apart (the rich man and Lazurus). I also believe, or would suggest that those in ‘Paradise’ were moved to a better place during those three days, and ‘Paradise’ ceased to exist.
All this could also get into a discussion about ‘Purgatory’...but I think I will leave that for another time...enough already :)
John Milton, of course, gave us ‘great insight’ into ‘Paradise’...”Paradise Lost”, and “Paradise Regained”. But we do not have to rely on Milton...God’s Word is sufficient for me. If there is anything surprising about John Milton, it is that he, a man of letters, authored this stuff while a civil servant for the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell, a man, in my not so humble opinion, who will never know anything about ‘Paradise’, or what might have come after.