And (Jesus) said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) 

In this account in the Bible, we can read about three men who were crucified. Two criminals were being punished for their own crimes and the Lord Jesus was being punished for the sins of mankind (He Himself was actually innocent.)

The second thief was in awe of Christ – an innocent Man who willingly allowed the soldiers to crucify Him, and did so without a single word of hate against them or the thief who blasphemed Him. What kind of person can do that?

In fairness to this thief, he is very honest and frank about his own situation. He basically says, “Look at how much an innocent man from Heaven is suffering – how much more is God going to punish me, since I am actually guilty of crimes and actually deserve punishment!”

The thief was clearly in fear of God and was in complete agreement with God that he was guilty of sin and therefore deserving of death. It is unlikely that the thief knew the ins and outs of salvation and how Christ’s death is the key to providing it, but he was at least willing to tell Christ what he did know to be true: “I am guilty of sin and I place You (Christ) in charge of my soul when we reach eternity, because You are a righteous Man.”

The Lord Jesus’ wonderful reply was as simple as it was true – “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

God saves anyone who reaches out to Him in honesty and in faith.