A common Protestant argument in favor of sola fide, or salvation by faith alone, appeals to the salvation of the good thief who was crucified next to Jesus.
For example, I recently shared on social media a quote from St. Augustine in which he sternly warns against “the false assurance that faith alone is sufficient for salvation or that [one] need not perform good works in order to be saved” (On Faith and Works, 21). One commenter replied, “So how many works did the thief on the cross next to Jesus perform after his confession of faith?”
This is a fair question, and the answer is simple.
The works expected of each of us are proportionate to the talents we have received. These talents themselves are given gratuitously (by grace), not earned by any works (which is precisely St. Augustine’s point–and St. Paul’s).
Jesus is very clear about this, particularly in his parable of the talents (Mt. 25). Various servants received five talents, two talents, and one talent, “each according to his ability” (v. 15).
The servant who received five talents returned five more. The one who received two returned two more, and was not penalized for not returning five like the other one. They both went to heaven, and received the exact same response from their master: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master” (v. 21, 23).
The servant who received one talent, but returned the same one, was sent to Hell (v. 26-30).
So what “talents” did the thief on the cross receive? Not many. He was on the brink of death. He had very little time. He was a condemned man.
But in the bit of time he was given (his “talents”), what did he do? He acknowledged Christ for who he was. He asked him to save him. He accepted responsibility for his sins and expressed sorrow for them, even willingly accepting his own death on a cross as punishment for them. He defended Christ against the jeers of the criminal on the other cross. And finally, he asked Christ to receive him into his kingdom.
So the thief on the cross most certainly received a modest number of “talents,” and with the limited number he received, he produced a return for his Master.
Hence, he is a saint in heaven today, interceding for us: St. Dismas.