Are All Examples Equal?

Luke 23:43
    The past couple of weeks I have been writing about various examples of salvation found in the book of Acts and the lessons we can learn from those examples. Undoubtable when I use these examples as a study of salvation with someone baptism comes up, as it has the past two weeks. Once encountered with the idea that baptism is necessary for salvation, many refer back to the example of the “Thief on the Cross,” which is better stated as “One of the thieves on the crosses.” I am going to make the statement that using the “thief on the cross” as an acceptable form of salvation is not correct. One, the thief in question was pardoned by Jesus Christ face to face while he was living. While Jesus was living, he had the authority to pardon someone of their sin, please see John 8:1; Matt. 9:1-8; Mark 2:8-11; Matt. 28:18-20. “…the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” This changed once he died. Even after the cross Saul had a direct intervention by the Lord and it did not save him, Acts 9:1-18. Saul was told by the Lord, “get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” (Acts 9:6) When Paul was recounting this story in Acts 22 he records that in verse 16 Ananias told him, “Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.”
    Second, after Jesus died His will took into affect (Rom. 7:1-6). He’s covenant or testament (the new testament), came only into affect after he died (Heb. 9:15-18). So the thief was saved under a different covenant than we are. It is literally like comparing apples and oranges. When Jesus died he nailed the old law to the cross with himself (Col. 2:12-14) and enacted a new and better covenant by which all men can be saved (Heb. 8:6-7; Gal. 3:23-29). So, is using the example of the thief on the cross as salvation in 2018 correct? No. Not all examples in the Bible hold equal weight when concerning salvation. Using the thief on the cross as an example is the same as using King David, Nehemiah, or any other Old Testament figure. I love you all!
In His service,
Steven Hugley