Who is The Only Man Who Received the

Unconditional Promise of Salvation

Sad to say, but there is probably a larger contingency of souls who oppose your
acquisition of salvation than of those who promote it. You may find a surprising ally in
technology. I downloaded the free Esword Bible program including the free module of the
volumes of the Ante Nicene Fathers. The following clip will give you an enhanced view of
the arrest and trial of Jesus and the two thieves:
Volume 8 of the Ante Nicene Fathers:
Narrative of Joseph of Arimathæa, That Begged the Lord’s Body; in Which also He
Brings in the Cases of the Two Robbers.

Chap. 1. - I am Joseph of Arimathæa, who begged from Pilate the body of the Lord
Jesus for burial, and who for this cause was kept close in prison by the murderous and
God-fighting Jews, who also, keeping to the law, have by Moses himself become
partakers in tribulation and having provoked their Law giver to anger, and not knowing
that He was God, crucified Him and made Him manifest to those that knew God.

Inbefore
those days in which they condemned the Son of God to be crucified, seven days
Christ suffered, two condemned robbers were sent from Jericho to the
procurator Pilate; and their case was as follows: The first, his name Gestas, put
travelers to death, murdering them with the sword, and others he exposed naked. And
he hung up women by the heels, head down, and cut off their breasts, and drank the
blood of infants limbs, never having known God, not obeying the laws, being violent
from the beginning, and doing such deeds.

And the case of the other was as follows: He was called Demas, and was by birth a
Galilæan, and kept an inn. He made attacks upon the rich, but was good to the poor -
a thief like Tobit, for he buried the bodies of the poor. (Tobit1:17, 18) And he set his hand
to robbing the multitude of the Jews, and stole the law itself in Jerusalem, and stripped
naked the daughter of Caiaphas, who was priestess of the sanctuary, and took away
from its place the mysterious deposit itself placed there by Solomon. Such were his
doings. And Jesus also was taken on the third day before the passover, in the evening.

And to Caiaphas and the multitude of the Jews it was not a passover, but it was a
great mourning to them, on account of the plundering of the sanctuary by the robber.
And they summoned Judas Iscariot, and spoke to him, for he was son of the brother of
Caiaphas the priest. He was not a disciple before the face of Jesus; but all the multitude
of the Jews craftily supported him, that he might follow Jesus, not that he might be
obedient to the miracles done by Him, nor that he might confess Him, but that he might
betray Him to them, wishing to catch up some lying word of Him, giving him gifts for
such brave, honest conduct to the amount of a half shekel, of gold each day. And he did
this for two years with Jesus, as says one of His disciples called John. And on the third
day, before Jesus was laid hold of, Judas says to the Jews: Come, let us hold a council;
for perhaps it was not the robber that stole the law, but Jesus himself,and I accuse him.
And when these words had been spoken, Nicodemus, who kept the keys of the
sanctuary, came in to us, and said to all: Do not do such a deed. For Nicodemus was
true, more than all the multitude of the Jews. And the daughter of Caiaphas, Sarah by
name, cried out, and said: He himself said before all against this holy place, I am able to
destroy this temple, and in three days to raise it. The Jews say to her: Thou hast credit
with all of us. For they regarded her as a prophetess. And assuredly, after the council
had been held, Jesus was laid hold of. In addition to the additional information on the
two thieves, Demas and Gestas, notice what is also said about Judas. Notice that he is
said to be the nephew of Caiaphas and the implication that he is an agent of the Priest
posing as a disciple of Jesus.

The story that he was needed by the Sanhedrin to identify Jesus never made much
sense because Jesus was a very well known public figure. The fact is that he was
altogether too well known around the Temple. Also Caiaphas’ daughter Sarah was the
Priestess on whose watch the two theives robbed the Temple. Here we have a motive
for Caiaphas’ diligence to prosecute Jesus as a scapegoat for the robbery that occurred
on Sarah’s watch, and a devious nephew to identify Jesus as the mastermind of the
whole scheme. And now we have Jesus executed along with the two criminals.

Inwitha world filled with charlatans and greedy collection plates we need a credible witness
first hand knowledge of the process. How about the Gospel writer Luke? He writes
of ths man, Demas, who died on a cross right beside Jesus. This man was a thief who
readily admits to guilt for the crime of which he is accused. Here is a clip of their
conversation.
Luke 23:39-43 New King James Version

39
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the
40
Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you
41
not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed

justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing
42
wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your
43
kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me

in Paradise.”
Myexamine
claim of an unconditional guarantee is somewhat disingenuous here. Let’s
some conditions. First of all the two men are still alive, albeit barely.
Second this man sincerely believes in Jesus as telling the truth and being who He
claims to be. Verse 42 assures this. Please also note that Jesus did not use the word
heaven, closing rather to assure the man they would be together in Paradise.

The Bible actually doesn’t say much about Paradise, but look what Revelations has to
offer.
Revelation 2:7 New King James Version
7
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of
God.”

Forworld.
a dying man, it doesn’t get any better than this assurance from the creator of the
Not long before this awful event occurred Jesus had another encounter with
death when His friend Lazarus passed away. I suppose it was still a hot topic of
conversation around Jerusalem and Judea as a whole that Jesus had raised Lazarus
from death four days after he had been put into a tomb. Just before this miracle He had
a conversation with Martha, the sister of Lazarus:

John 11:25-26 New King James Version

25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though
26
he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you
believe this?”

The living thief professed his faith and belief in Jesus, so it is my very sincere belief
that even when his body shortly thereafter succumbed to death, his living spirit flew
away to Paradise. This important statement by Jesus is a commitment to all of us. f we
satisfy the two conditions, that we live and believe in Jesus, we will never die. So then
the the thief who repented on the cross might be said to be the only specific man who
was guaranteed the tree of life in words from Jesus. This scripture needs to become as
much a part of you as your own name.

One final thing. If you would like to see what I consider to be mathematical proof that
these scriptures are correct, follow this link.