The Thief on the cross was not baptized, are you saying he wasn't saved?

(Luke 23:42-43)

Some people will say the thief on the cross was saved because he was invited to be with Christ in paradise. However, we have to understand that salvation wasn’t established yet. So we can’t say he was saved in the strictest sense of the word.

The message of salvation and the born again experience, on the day of Pentecost, had not happened because Jesus had not died and risen. We can say he was received into paradise with Jesus because of righteousness. Only God himself can offer anyone eternal life or to be with him in paradise. The thief on the cross was born under the old dispensation, the same as Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets.

Therefore, if they could be set free from the bondage of sin, so could the thief on the cross. Under the old dispensation, only the baptism of John was recognized by the masses. However, John’s baptism was not the baptism that would bring salvation to man. The baptism in Jesus name is the baptism of salvation and it had not been mentioned by Peter at the time (Acts 2:1-42).

Everyone who came after Peter’s sermon would have to be baptized in Jesus name in order to receive remission of sin through the washing of the blood of Christ. In summary, the thief went to paradise under the old dispensation.

This is an excerpt from my book, "Understanding the Trinity, Three Persons vs Three Manifestations. www.google.com "will daniels understanding the trinity". www.understandingthetrinity.blogspot.com