The Thief on the Cross, I need help understanding this

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The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
 
Linoge1 said:
The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
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Hiyas:)

In the Passion of Christ …remember the Thief acknowledged who Jesus was. Even when Jesus’ followers were…disbelieving and denying.

I hope this helps
 
Linoge1 said:
The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
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God is not bound by the Sacraments. 🤷
 
Can I answer in my simple way of thinking? Because Jesus is God, and frankly, he can do whatever, however, whenever he pleases. 👍

Seriously, I have seen this question numerous times, and been asked it. I don’t think any more complex an answer than what I said above is needed, do you. 🙂
 
That is what I was thinking, that God is not bound by the Sacriments, He is all powerful and he looks upon the heart. 🙂
 
Church teaching is that baptism is necessary in cases where it is available. If someone dies without the opportunity of being baptized, this may result in what is called “baptism of desire,” in which said person would have received the holy sacrament if he or she had had the chance. This person will be saved.

God is merciful indeed. 🙂
 
Could it also be said that this thief died chronologically before the New Testament went into effect? Then later that same day, the thief was welcomed into Paradise just like Adam and all others were, even though they were not baptized.
 
Linoge1 said:
The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
Click to expand...
It’s a special case. He was being put to death in the same way as Christ, and only feet away. He was literally dying with the Son of God.

He also made a unique profession of faith.

Baptism is something the Church carries out in the name of Christ, and by Christ’s command. It gains it’s efficacy only because He commanded it, and the Holy Spirit honours Christ’s command. Therefore when God the Son speaks Himself, His word is binding all by itself.

We have baptism because Christ told us to implement this sacrament. It is a result of His command, and the thief also entered Paradise as the result of His command.

That’s why those who downplay Christ’s words “He who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood has no part in me” are playing a dangerous game.
 
Linoge1 said:
The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
Click to expand...
First, I think this is a pretty good case of “baptism of desire”, when one desires the sacrament but it is not available to the person before they die.

However, it may also be a case of actual baptism. After all, the theif recognizes Christ, knows of His teachings and who He was by sight. This wasn’t the world of the internet and Wikipedia, so it’s reasonable to postulate that this man had seen or at least had some connection with the Christ or His movement prior to the crucifiction. It is entirely possible that the man WAS actually physically baptised.
 
Linoge1 said:
The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s right - Baptism of desire. That’s the mystery of the mercy of God and the redeeming power of the cross. The thief was literally saved by the cross to horn in this point.

Ain’t that the best possible time to die, right after our Baptism? All our sins are wiped clean by this Sacrament.
 
Linoge1 said:
That is what I was thinking, that God is not bound by the Sacriments, He is all powerful and he looks upon the heart. 🙂
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Could be. I’ve also heard that the Church recognizes a baptism of blood. Some martyrs, who were not baptized with water, are still considered saints, I’ve heard.
 
Linoge1 said:
That is what I was thinking, that God is not bound by the Sacriments, He is all powerful and he looks upon the heart. 🙂
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Agreed!
👍

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

(1 Samuel 16:7)
 
Linoge1 said:
The story of the theif on the cross shows God’s mercy and compassion on the lost by forgiving this man of his sins. How can this man go to heaven if he was never baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity?
Click to expand...
In times of emergency, baptism in water can be replaced with baptism by blood or by desire.

Baptism by Blood is martyrdom for Christ.

**Baptism by desire **is the explicit, or at least implicit, desire for baptism, and is associated with perfect contrition based on charity or love of God. The thief probably did not know about the necessity of baptism, but in my opinion he had baptism by *implicit *desire, meaning that if he *did *know, he would desire it (explicit desire), and if he was able to, he would choose to receive it.

Instead of questioning God for showing a fellow sinner His unfathomable Mercy, we should absolutely rejoice that that repentant soul is saved!!

Since he is in heaven, that means he is a saint, and we should maybe ask *him *to pray for us!
 
In addition to the “baptism by desire” theory regarding Dismas, I would say that he was saved by anticipating the death and resurrection of Christ.

This means Dismas was in the same category of all other Old Testament people who were brought to heaven once Jesus opened the gates, despite none of them having been baptized. (I guess we could say that all of them gained baptism by desire though they didn’t know it yet.)
 
spockrates said:
Could be. I’ve also heard that the Church recognizes a baptism of blood. Some martyrs, who were not baptized with water, are still considered saints, I’ve heard.
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Dismas submitted all to Jesus’ mercy. We now know the efficacy of pleading His mercy for ourselves and for others from what is in St. Faustina’s diary. Dismas confessed his sins when he admitted his guilt to Jesus. Jesus, our High Priest, offered him forgiveness. This was an instance of the sacrament of confession. His penance was to offer his crucifixion for his sins, something he admitted he deserved. Dismas threw himself at the feet of Divine Mercy and received mercy and forgiveness, the very thing for which Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Jesus offered Dismas salvation under circumstances which prevented formal Baptism, something He could do sice He could read Dismas’ heart, just as He did the woman who washed His feet with her tears when she crashed the party at the Pharisees house without her uttering a word.
 
IMHO…Outside of the Baptism of Jesus…it is prolly the most important Baptism to take place for Christians. He was Baptized in The Passion of Christ.
 
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