Read Luke 23:42–43

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42–43)

We are not surprised to find a God-ordained and therefore significant reason behind the arrangement of Golgotha’s three crosses. It gave Jesus an opportunity to reach out in hope and compassion to those desperately in need. But make no mistake: He did so while continuing to endure inexpressible pain.

When a man was hanging on a cross, suspended on iron spikes, he wanted one thing and one thing only: death. He thought of one person and one person only: himself. Death couldn’t come fast enough. That’s what makes so incredible the seven statements Christ uttered during the six hours He hung on the cross. Unlike all other victims of crucifixion, He was more concerned about others and their needs than He was about Himself.

The thief on the cross cried out for salvation, and the Lord heard and answered. A petitioner doesn’t have to pray or make a sincere promise, doesn’t have to be baptized, doesn’t have to perform six months of good works to earn heaven, or doesn’t even have to pass through a one-week probation period to prove worthy of eternal life. Grace abounds!

On what basis, then, is a person accepted into God’s kingdom? (Pay close attention, please.) Faith alone in Christ alone—period. That’s all God wants. And that’s all we can offer.

The criminal hanging alongside Jesus was not ushered into paradise because of anything he had done. God’s grace opened the door and invited him in.

We all approach the throne of God as sinners, and we all are saved by His grace alone.

Cry out to God: “I’m a sinner. I’m lost. I’m bound for hell. There’s nothing I can bring You to merit Your favour, but, Father, by faith, I ask Christ to be my Lord and Savior. I believe He died as my substitute and was raised for me. I believe He paid the full payment for my sin. And right now, I offer myself to You by faith.”

Jesus, pitying the sighs
Of the thief who near Thee dies,
Promising him Paradise:
Hear us, holy Jesus.     
May we in our guilt and shame,
Still Thy love and mercy claim,
Calling humbly on Thy Name:
Hear us, holy Jesus.
—T. B. Pollock, 1870

Adapted by Insight for Living staff from The Darkness and the Dawn by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com