What Did the Thief on the Cross Know?

“What about the thief on the cross?”

It is a question I have heard throughout my preaching life. It is usually raised by someone arguing that baptism is not necessary for salvation. The reasoning is simple: the thief was never baptized, yet Jesus saved him; therefore, baptism cannot be essential.

While this question has been asked many times, it deserves a thoughtful and biblical response. My friend and preaching colleague, Perry Hall, recently addressed this issue in his column, A Pew Moments with Perry. His insights offer helpful perspectives for anyone encountering this argument or the currently circulating video.

What Did the Thief on the Cross Know?

There is a video circulating about how the thief “made it” to heaven despite what he did not do or know: “He never had been in a Bible study, had never been baptized, and didn’t know a thing about church membership”.

His overall point is righteous: when we go to heaven, if we are asked why we should be let in, and if we answer in the first person – “because I had faith, because I was baptized” – then we are wrong.

I understand the point, but taken too far, one can be saved without faith, even without knowing!

But do we underestimate what the thief knew?

Notice Luke 22:40-42 – But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “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 what we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”

What did the thief know?

1. The thief knew unrepentant sinners needed to be rebuked.
2. The thief knew there was a God who viewed condemnation for crimes as just.
3. The thief knew God should be feared.
4. The thief might have even confessed Jesus’s divinity since he said the two thieves were under the same condemnation.
5. The thief knew Jesus was to be a king.
6. The thief knew Jesus’s kingdom was coming.
7. The thief knew Jesus had the right to grant access into his kingdom.
8. The thief knew Jesus would live even though he would die.

Now, does this sound like the thief had never heard of Jesus before? Most likely, the thief had been a former faithful disciple of either John the Baptist or Jesus. And if he had been, based on everything he knew, can anyone say with certainty, “He never had been in a Bible study, had never been baptized, and didn’t know a thing about (kingdom) membership”?

“What about the thief on the cross?” It is a question that has been asked for generations and will likely continue to be asked. When it is raised sincerely, it deserves a sincere, scriptural answer.

The thief on the cross was saved by the grace and authority of Jesus, but his situation was unique. He lived under the Old Law, before the command to be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins was given. We cannot assume his circumstances are identical to ours.

Furthermore, during Jesus’ ministry, He often forgave people’s sins.

• The paralytic man (Mk. 2:1-12).
• The sinful woman (Lk. 7:36-50).
• The woman caught in adultery (Jn. 8:1-11).
• Zacchaeus (Lk. 19:1-10).

None of these were baptized, but Jesus affirmed His right and power to forgive people’s sins, attesting to His Deity (Mk. 2:10).

It reminds me of a quote attributed to an early 20th-century preacher, Foy E. Wallace, Jr., who quipped, “You may die like the thief on the cross. But you won’t be saved like him. The lesson is not that the thief was saved apart from faith, but that Jesus is the One who saves—and today we must submit to His will.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman