Can a thief enter the kingdom of God?

Paul himself answers the question in the next sentence. After listing those who will not inherit the kingdom, thieves among them, he tells the Corinthians: “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). The list describes people who go on living in those sins, unrepentant. It does not say that someone who once stole can never be forgiven; some of the Corinthian Christians had been just such people.

The man on the cross is an example of 1 Corinthians 6:11. He did not excuse himself: “we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds” (Luke 23:41). He rebuked his companion, feared God, declared Jesus innocent, and called on him as a king: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (23:42). That is repentance and faith, even in the last hours of life. Jesus’ promise of paradise was given to a former criminal who had turned to him, not to a thief who meant to go on stealing. So the two passages agree: the unrepentant wrongdoer is shut out, and the repentant one is forgiven and received.

What kind of criminal

Mark and Matthew call the two men lēstai, a word for robbers or bandits that was also used of violent rebels, while Luke calls them kakourgoi, ‘evildoers’ or criminals. Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 6:10 is kleptai, thieves. Whatever their crime, the penitent man admits that his punishment was just, so the answer does not depend on the exact charge.

A late conversion

Many writers note that the thief was saved without baptism or any opportunity to do good works. John Wesley cited him to show that the fruits of repentance are needed only where there is time and opportunity for them. Others, including some who hold that baptism is needed for salvation, note that he died before Jesus gave the command to baptise (Matthew 28:19).