Three Men All Died Differently On Three Crosses

Luke 23:39-43, “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” 1st Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

The Holy Bible teaches that there were two other men who were crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the men berated the Lord, challenging His deity. The man sarcastically said to Jesus, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” (Luke 23:39). But the other man on the cross defended the Lord's honor, saying that whereas they both deserved to die for their crimes, Jesus was an innocent man Who did nothing wrong. 

So we see that there were three different men, who all died in different ways:

1. Jesus died FOR SIN
2. The repentant thief died TO SIN
3. The unrepentant man died IN SIN

Every born-again believer DIES IN THE LORD. Revelation 14:13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Every Christ-rejecter dies IN THEIR SIN. John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Which are you dear reader? I became a born-again Christian at age 13. The moment I was saved I died to sin. That simply means that sin no longer had any power to condemn me, because I was under God's saving GRACE instead of the LAW. The unsaved man is still under the curse of God's law. 

Getting saved is like taking the stinger our of a bee. Once a bee stings, it cannot sting twice and it dies. Likewise, Christ died once on the cross for all mankind. Jesus took the sting out of death, for those who believe in Him as their personal Savior. This is justification. 1st Corinthians 15:56, “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” It is similar in our American court system. Once a person has been judged in court, that person cannot ever be tried again for the same crime. Once we get saved, we are declared justified freely forever. Nothing more is required.

All these false teachers today, like Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University) and Dr. John MacArthur (pastor of Grace To You ministry), who teach that faith alone is not enough to be saved, are perverting the grace of God. The Apostle Paul said he worried that the Galatian churches had been deceived from the 'SIMPLICTY THAT IS IN CHRIST,' which is the Gospel (Romans 1:16). The Gospel means GOOD NEWS! It is the Good News that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, and that He was buried, and three days later He bodily resurrected from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). 

Any admitted guilty sinner who believes this Good News is immediately, irrevocably and permanently saved. Even a small child can believe the Gospel and be saved. Salvation is a free gift from God, which does NOT require giving up pet sins, turning over a new leaf, reforming one's life of sin, water baptism, good works, nor anything else. We are saved by faith alone. Anything else is a counterfeit gospel, and cannot produce the new birth, without which no one can enter into God's Kingdom Jesus said (John 3:3-7).

Three men died on a cross. One died FOR SIN, another died TO SIN, and the last man unfortunately died IN SIN. Which are you dear friend? The choice is yours alone to make.