Many of those who preach and teach the Bible will say most anything to twist scriptures to match their notions of the Bible message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Having heard hundreds and perhaps thousands of false statements over the years by those who take scriptures from the context in an attempt to prove their brand of theology, a jaw dropper of utterances pertaining to the criminal on the cross were made on the Francis and Friends TV Show. The issue revolves around the fact that the criminal wasn’t baptized and went to heaven upon death. But on that TV show a false statement never before heard was uttered by one of the people on the show. The statement was to the affect that the criminal didn’t live under the law, but the new covenant since Christ was now in the world. It is false, but to say that the thief didn’t live under the Jewish law is beyond description since the law had not yet been taken away and additionally, it is not known whether he was a Jew or a Gentile. To further compound the problem of untruth is their teaching that the criminal immediately went to heaven at death. The falsehoods and contradictions will be explained as the series unfolds.

 Paul, writing to the Galatians 4:1-6, explained the relationship of the law, the elements of the world and the reason for Jesus to be in the world. In verses 4 and 5 he wrote But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. The purpose was to redeem those living under the Old Testament Laws of God. The truth is that the criminal was living during the time of those laws. Was he a Jew or Gentile? The scriptures do not reveal his physical identification, but if a Jew, he was under the Law. If a Gentile, he was not bound to the Laws of Moses. Yet, he was under the laws of the Roman Empire and was bound to follow those laws or bear the penalty for offending those laws.

Those who teach that the criminal went to heaven at death have a problem with the harmony of the scriptures. When the criminal confessed Jesus by his statement Luke 23:42, Jesus answered him Luke 23:43 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. It is apparent that the criminal knew the identity of Jesus and Jesus rewarded him with his words. Did Jesus indicate that they both would be in Paradise that day? (The word paradise, paradeisos-pronounced par-ad'-i-sos has the literal meanings of park, Eden, a place of future happiness, euphemistically called heaven, see II Corinthians 12:4 and Revelation 2:7 ).

What Jesus said to the criminal needs to be studied in the light of the entire Bible. He said Verily I say unto thee To day, meaning he is telling the criminal that he need not worry, that he will be saved on that day when Jesus returns to resurrect the dead. That isn’t very popular because it destroys the doctrine of souls going to heaven at death. The problem is the comma placement. Greek of that day did not use commas, periods, question marks or paragraphs; the original Greek writings had no spaces between words and all the words in some manuscripts were written in capital letters. There is much evidence that by the time translations were made that the doctrine of soul flight was well established and thus the misapplied comma in that verse perpetuates the doctrine. (It is suggested to those who wish to pursue the truth, research the comma placement and then make up your own mind on the matter. However, the Bible itself lends evidence to the misplaced comma as will be presented, although the misplaced comma isn’t the main subject of the lesson, it has a bearing on it.)

The next lesson will deal with problem presented by the flight to Paradise by Jesus, versus Jesus going to preach to the saints in prison of I Peter 3:18-20. There are more contradictions that will be shown with the doctrine surrounding the criminal on the cross.

©01-27-2012 DEC

                     Next lesson The Criminal on the Cross Part II