What Shall I Do To Be Saved?

By Rev. Dr. Curian Kaniyamparambil

Question 38. Both the thief who was crucified with Jesus and Zacchaeus were saved. Were they ever baptized?

The thief was not baptized because he was on the cross when he believed. He was in such a position that he could not be baptized. The Lord had the prerogative to give him salvation and to take him to paradise. Though the Lord made an exception in this situation, can someone taking this example generalize, especially after the examples mentioned in question 37.

The incidence of Zacchaeus deserves special study. The often quoted verse is this "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham." (Luke 19:9).

Here also there are two arguments. He was baptized and that he was not.

In the original Syriac version, of the second century, the word used is not Salvation. The word used is Life (in Syriac = haye). So if you believe that the Bible does not say that he was baptized, the Bible also does not say that he was given salvation. [Jesus said to him, Today life has come to this house (Lamasa's Peshitta translation) ]

The Bible does not mention that he believed or that he ever declared that Jesus was the Son of God. The Bible just states that he repented. Here also the Bible does not say that he was offered salvation or that he was saved. Is this an ideal example to prove an important point?

Tradition says that Zacchaeus was baptized later. (Zacchaeus was one of the 70 appointed by the Lord to visit villages before Him and to heal the sick. - Luke 10:1-10) He was also with Jesus Christ and surely would have received baptism along with the 3000 people on the day of Pentecost.

For argument sake, no-where is it mentioned in the Bible that the Apostles, Preachers, or even Stephen was baptized. Does any one dare to say that they were not baptized? Isn't it wrong to assume that they baptized others, without themselves being baptized?

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