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Hi, Henrik —
Thank you for your question.
Notice who tells the thief, he will
be in Paradise.
Well, Jesus told His Church to preach
the Gospel and baptize others.
We
also know from other places in Scripture
that through the waters of Baptism
we die with Christ and will be raised
with Him if we persevere. In other
words, we are born again. So the
Church knows that by administering
Baptism, we are assured that a person
receives the Holy Spirit and sanctifying
grace. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean Jesus, in saving us, is limited to Baptism,
just because we are.
The thief on the Cross is an exception
and not the rule. We don't make the
exception, the rule.
We assume that,
if a person has expressed a desire
for Baptism and for some reason the
person dies before being baptized,
that person was baptized by desire.
There is also the hope that we hold
that God wants all men to be saved,
therefore those who die in His friendship,
not knowing the Gospel or the necessity
of Baptism, can also be saved by
God in ways known only to Him.
What doesn't ever change, is that
every man who is saved, is saved
because of the shed blood of Jesus
Christ.
We are saved by Christ alone and
Grace alone — through faith
apart from works of the Law,
not by faith alone as Luther
taught.
We rely on the Grace, Mercy,
and the Love of the Lord in all instances
when it comes to salvation.
John
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