While considering your original post I missed something very important.
Jesus recognized that the two thieves were very different. One thief hurled insults at him; he blasphemed. Blasphemy is an unforgiveable sin. The other thief repented and received forgiveness from the Lord.
Now the very, very hard part. They both suffered the exact same penalty! This must shake our faith to its foundations.
This is a hard lesson, but it is also repeated many times in the First Testament. David lost four sons for his sin with Bathsheba, even after YHWH’s forgiveness. God forgives our spiritual debts when we trust in him, but the earthly consequences of our actions remain. There remains a physical debt that we still have to pay, even after spiritual redemption.
There is no escape; but there may be hope. The Bible says YHWH desires a “broken and contrite heart” more than any sacrifice. We may yet have the opportunity to mitigate, but not eliminate, our deserved punishment. We can make restitution to those we have harmed. We can seek earthly forgiveness from others through acknowledgement and repentance. We can work to relieve the suffering of others, not as a bargaining chip, but as an act of true sorrow and atonement. We and others will still suffer earthly punishment for our deeds.
Our merciful creator with his all-encompassing grace, may yet deal with us in justice and righteousness, even here on earth.
