What about the thief on the cross?
Jam 2:26 - For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. One of the common arguments that you will get against the teaching that when a person is redeemed by Christ in salvation, they must bear the fruit of that conversion in their lives going forward as the evidence of their faith, is the example of the thief on the cross in whom Christ redeemed. It is argued that his redemption is proof positive that there is absolutely nothing more required than a mental agreement with and a “trust” in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for salvation. The idea is that since the thief wasn’t required to go and “do some good works” to prove his faith, then that shows that no amount of good fruit (works) would ever be required or necessary from a believer when it comes to eternal salvation. But what that argument fails to understand and appreciate is what happens when a person is truly redeemed, saved and born again. They are changed, transformed and made a new cr...