“He who hopes to be saved on any other footing than the thief on the cross, or who hopes to stand on more honourable terms with his Maker than he, must be saved by another kind of grace, so by another God, a God who delights in such a character as is highly esteemed among men, and who has no grace to bestow but to such a character.
To show what a vast difference there is betwixt the Divine character, and what is worshiped by the popular preachers, I would have it observed, that such mercy as was shown to the thief on the cross, is characteristic of the true God, and is made use of to exhibit to us the grandest view of the Divine majesty and glory” (Sandeman).
Some links about those whose doctrinal views concerning the thief on the cross blaspheme the Divine character:
http://www.outsidethecamp.org/letters72(1).htm
https://agrammatos.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/the-evil-of-gordon-clark-1/
Agrammatos 