Question:

“if we must be baptized to be saved... how is it that the criminal next to Christ on the cross was saved? if a person is terminal and accepts Christ... and does not get baptized... how is he saved?”

How about I direct you to a number of thoughts, as well as passages to consider and you can read them as well?

        We know from Isaiah 59:1-2 that sin separates man from God, and Romans 3:9, 23 reveals that all are under sin and Romans 1:16-17 indicates that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.Therefore, without the gospel there is no salvation: This principle is seen in the statements of Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, 17 (note the term “if” in the text, i.e., “if ye hold fast,” and “if Christ hath not been raised.”) The scriptures are explicit that (though we are not saved by works of the Law) man must do the will of the Father, in order to be pleasing unto Him, Matthew7:21-23.

        Two examples that bear consideration: In2 Kings 5:1-14, there was a captain of the Syrian army named Naaman, and he was a leper. As you read this event, note the command of the prophet: what Naaman was required to do, and his immediate response. You will note that Naaman had already envisioned how he was going to be cleansed. When he heard the words ofthe prophet, he was angry. It was at the encouragement of his servant that Naaman saw the error of his thinking, and the simplicity of God’s command.“After” doing what the Lord required, he received his cleansing. In Numbers21:4-9, the children of Israel spake against God. God sent fiery serpents among the people as a result of their sins. In response to Israel’s repentance God commanded Moses to make a brass serpent, set it upon a standard,“and it came to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live” … “if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.” “After” the bitten had looked unto the serpent, they were healed. In regard to your question: What if Naaman had refused to dip in the Jordan? What if he was too weak and sickly to complete the command? What if the bitten one was too weak to leave his tent: “terminal”, yet accepted the fact that looking unto the serpent would heal? Man is separated from God because of his actions, and reconciliation requires action. If “faith only” (accepting Christ) is all there is, why did John the Baptist: Mark 1:4 (Baptist was his occupation, not his religious preference); the Lord: Luke 24:47; Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; the apostles:Acts 2:37-38; 10:48; and men (commanded to instruct others as to what they needed to do): Acts 8:26-39; 22:16; and every example of obedience to the gospel, emphasize baptism “unto remission of sins”?

        We readily understand that the convicted man does not get to set the terms of his reconciliation into society: The laws regulate the terms associated with the particular transgression, in some cases--it is death. The lawgiver did not commit the crime; the lawgiver does not owe the debt, the convicted does.

        Consider this analogy: Three men have Malaria: the only cure or treatment is Quinine. One man couldn’t get it, one man didn’t like the taste and wouldn’t take it, one man didn’t know it existed:all three men died. What did the men die from? -- Malaria or the lack of Quinine?

        As for the thief on the cross: There are two aspects to consider: 1. The events took place before the enactment of the ratification of the covenant of Christ.In Luke 5:17-26, we understand that Christ had the authority, and thereby the right to establish the terms to forgive sins (we do not have that authority). In the 32^nd Psalm, David said:

 ¹ “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

    Whose sin is covered.

²   Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity,

    And in whose spirit there is no guile.

³   When I kept silence, my bones wasted away

    Through my groaning all the day long.

⁴   For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:

    My moisture was changed as withthe drought of summer.

Selah

⁵   I acknowledged my sin unto thee,

    And mine iniquity did I not hide:

    Isaid, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah;

          And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.”

        This forgiveness was accomplished through faith in God’s plan that would be accomplished through Christ.

Galatians4:4, says:

“God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born underthe law, ⁵that he might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

The blood of Christ covered both sides of the cross. When Jesus said, to the thief on the cross, “To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise,” He did so under the Mosaic Dispensation.

2. It is said of John the Baptist: “⁴Now John himself had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan; ⁶andthey were baptized of him in the river Jordan,confessing their sins.” And of Jesus, in John 3:22-23: “²²After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. ²³And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.” And in John 4:1-2, “¹When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John ²(although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples), ³he left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.” So, who is to say that the thief was not indeed one of those who had been baptized by John and/or Jesus?

Now, if a person wants to be saved like the thief on the cross, then by all means wait until you’re on your death bed and pray that the Lord will hear your request…oh, I almost forgot: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination” (Proverbs 28:9).

        As for the person that is “terminal”:The brethren in the first century had a common salvation, i.e., they obtain edit in the same manner. Paul said, as he was led by the Holy Spirit, “There is one body, and one Spirit,even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵one Lord,one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all,and through all, and in all.” Just as sure as there is “one God” there is one system of faith. God does not have two law sin effect at the same time for the same thing, for different people. There are 14 things referred to in the scriptures that save us from sin…not a one of them is “faith only” or “just accepting Jesus in your heart.” Though a person will never be the sole effectual cause of their salvation, they must act for themselves, based upon Bible teaching.

        It is not within our purview to determine how an individual is reconciled to God:That belongs to God. The Bible reveals 9 ways man is to respond to God, each one specified as effectual in salvation: None of which is “faith only” or “just accepting Jesus in your heart.” Proverbs 1:20-33, says:

“²⁰Wisdomcrieth aloud in the street;

    She uttereth her voice in the broad places;

²¹  She crieth in the chief place of concourse;

    At the entrance of the gates,

    In the city, she uttereth her words:

²²  How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?

    And scoffers delight them in scoffing,

    And fools hate knowledge?

²³  Turn you at my reproof:

    Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you;

    I will make known my words unto you.

²⁴  Because I have called, and ye have refused;

    I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;

²⁵  But ye have set at nought all my counsel,

    And would none of my reproof:

²⁶  I also will laugh in the day of your calamity;

    I will mock when your fear cometh;

²⁷  When your fear cometh as a storm,

    And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind;

    When distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸  Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer;

    They will seek me diligently, but they shallnot find me:

²⁹  For that they hated knowledge,

    And did not choose the fear of Jehovah:

³⁰  They would none of my counsel;

    They despised all my reproof.

³¹  Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,

    And be filled with their own devices.

³²  For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them,

    And the careless ease of fools shall destroy them.

³³  But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely,

          And shall be quiet without fear of evil.”

Isaiah55:6-7, says:

“⁶Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near: ⁷letthe wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”Question: “while he may be found”?

God is not hid behind a cloud. He has made himself known in every society: Romans 1:18-20,i.e., “that they may be without excuse.” God has placed eternity in the heart of man, Eccl. 3:11, and has so organized the universe, and all that in it is,so that man “should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him”Acts 17:24-31 (be sure to read the passages). There is not a man alive, of accountable age and ability, that has not asked the questions, “where did I come from, how did I get here, why am I here, where am I going and what happens after death”? The Lord declared, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life” Galatians 6:7-8. Man cannot go through life snubbing his nose at God, and expect to reap something other than what he sowed. Peter looked back at the salvation of Noah and his family, and said,“¹⁸Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; ¹⁹in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, ²⁰that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few,that is, eight souls, were saved through water: ²¹which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ; ²²who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him”(1 Peter 3:18-22.  On the day of Pentecost, concerning those responsible for putting Jesus to death, the scriptures say, “³⁷Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren,what shall we do? ³⁸And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, andbe baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2). This would have been a perfect time for Peter to say, “just receive Jesus into your heart,” … don’t you think?

Man doesn’t get the option to design God’s plan of salvation to suit perceived difficulties. In Luke 16 the rich man had a pretty good idea, don’t you think?, i.e., “I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house; ²⁸for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” However, he was told…no! ²⁹But Abraham saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. ³⁰And he said, Nay,father Abraham: but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent. ³¹Andhe said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.”

If an individual wants to sacrifice their own salvation because they can’t get someone else into heaven, then so be it. I,for one, intend to do what the Lord says, and do it for the reasons the Lord said to do it. If we throw out baptism, because it doesn’t fit with our way of thinking, then you may as well throw out repentance, confession…and even  belief. Baptism is mentioned in “every” case of conversion, and is expressly stated that “in it” sins are washed away, Acts 22:16.