The Orthodox Church teaches that after the Fall, man could no longer go to heaven. Only as a result of the redemptive feat of Jesus Christ on the cross, after death, people were again given the opportunity to be in paradise.
Holy Scripture tells of the crucifixion of Christ. This is one of the central moments of all New Testament history. It is clear from the gospel that two robbers were crucified along with Christ. One to the right of Him, the other to the left. It was the person who was to the right of Christ on the cross, according to the tradition of the Church, who was the first to go to heaven. The prudent robber, as they call the crucified, who was rewarded with the Kingdom of Heaven, sincerely repented of his atrocities on the cross. The Evangelist Luke tells about this.
Crucifixion was considered the most shameful and terrible execution in the Roman Empire. Only the most brutal criminals could be punished like this. It can be assumed that the robbers, crucified next to Christ, were engaged in robbery, robbery and killed people. The crucified one to the left of Christ blasphemed the Lord, insulted him and demanded that Jesus manifest his divine power and come down from the cross. The second robber openly came out in defense of the Savior, saying that Christ has no guilt. Then the prudent robber turned to the Savior with a request: "Lord remember me when you reign" (this is how the words of the robber from the Gospel of Luke can be translated from Church Slavonic). The robber's heart was imbued with a repentant feeling, he saw the cry of many women at the cross, perhaps he heard about the great miracles of Christ. Also, the robber could be struck by the feeling of Christ's love for people, because Jesus prayed from the cross for his crucifixes. Perhaps this predetermined the feeling of faith in Christ as the Messiah and caused repentance. To the words of the prudent thief, Christ replied: "Today you will be with Me in Paradise."
It turns out that the first to receive the promise of the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven was the robber who repented on the cross. In this the Orthodox Church sees the great love of God even for the most wicked people. Christianity teaches that there is no unforgiven sin, except unrepentant sin. Each person has been given the opportunity to repentance and reconciliation with God. Regardless of the severity of sins, with sincere repentance, the Lord can forgive. However, this does not mean that any punishment for a person should not take place in the case of repentance. Thus, the Church does not reject the possibility of imprisonment for sins. In this context, we are talking about the forgiveness of a person by God and the opportunity to go to heaven for anyone who has sincerely repented and decided to change his life for the better.
