You Will Be with Me in Paradise Today
(Luke 23:39~43)

When Jesus was on the cross, two criminals hung next to His left and right. One of the criminals gained eternal life by confessing “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” during his short encounter with Jesus. Salvation is received by faith. If we believe in Jesus and confess that faith with our mouth, that confession will determine our fate from now to forever.

1. Jesus who saves a sinner to the end
1) One of the two criminals who were hung next to Jesus hurled insults at Him, saying “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us.” (Luke 23:39)
2) One of the two criminals realized that Jesus had no sin.

2. A confession of the sinner being valued by the Lord
1) One of the two criminals acknowledged his sin and said that he is getting punished justly. In addition, he rebuked the other criminal who hurled insults at Jesus and said, “Don’t you fear God since you are under the same sentence?” (Luke 23:40~41)
2) He expressed love and a heart of respect toward Jesus. Also, he confessed that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is the absolute ruler of the coming kingdom. (Luke 23:42~43)

3. Regeneration process
1) We must confess that we are sinners and that Jesus is the Savior. (Luke 5:8)
2) In order to confess that Jesus is the Lord, we need help of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:3)
3) We live by giving thanks for the grace of God who saved us. (Eph. 2:8)
4) The purpose of life will be different, and we live a God-centered life. (Eph. 5:8~9)
5) The inner person becomes alive. So we realize the spiritual world of the fourth dimension and wage spiritual warfare with the devil.

Conclusion
If our life’s purpose and values become clear after believing in Jesus, our words of mouth will be different. As we live our lives in this world, we incessantly fall and get up by fighting with the devil’s temptation. Despite such fact, we must continue to march forward by embracing the cross of Jesus and praying.