What must I do to be saved?

The resurrection of Christ is the foundation stone of Christianity; if that event did not occur, then both our preaching and faith is vain (I Cor. 15:14). If any fact of antiquity is provable, surely the resurrection of Jesus is. The great classical scholar, Thomas Arnold, who served as Professor of Modern History at Oxford in the 1800s (GWB), once called the Lord’s resurrection the “best-attested fact in human history.” There is a good possibility that archaeology has further strengthened the already unassailable case for the resurrection event.

In 1930 historian Michel Rostovtzeff discovered the “Nazareth Decree.” This stone slab, containing some twenty lines of Greek, was set up in the city of Nazareth by Claudius Caesar, in all probability sometime shortly before 50 A.D. The inscription states anyone apprehended transferring corpses to other places or displacing “the sealing or other stones” is to be put on trial; if found guilty the person is to be executed. How does this relate to the Lord’s resurrection?

Archaeologist E. M. Blaiklock pieces it together this way. The early Christians must have been preaching in Rome by the early forties of the 1^st century. Naturally, the resurrection would be central to their message. Jewish enemies of Christianity would counter with the story that Christ’s disciples stole the body (Mt. 28:13). Possibly irritated by this controversy, Claudius “commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome” (Acts 18:2). After further investigation of the matter, during which he learned that Christ (called “Chrestos” by the Roman historian Suetonius) was a native of Nazareth (Mt. 2:23), it is likely that the emperor authorized a decree to be erected (for emphasis in Jesus’ hometown) making body-stealing a capital crime and thus hoping to prevent other religions from arising upon the basis of such stories. If this line of reasoning is correct, and it is highly probable, we have here the first secular testimony to the resurrection of Christ.

Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier vol. 12 No. 4 August 1976

Three Crosses

There were three men who died on the hill of Calvery (place of the skull), the day Jesus died. Jesus died for sin so that all people can be saved. The two thieves were insulting Jesus (Matthew 27:44), but one repented (Luke 23:39-43), thus, he died to sin, meaning he wasn’t going to live a life of sin any longer. The third man did not repent and thus died in sin, and thus was going to be lost eternally.

Everyone today falls into one of the two categories of the thieves – each person has either died to sin, giving his life to Jesus and no longer living a life of sin or one is still living in sin which will ultimately cause Christ to say in the day of judgment, “depart from me…these will go away into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:41, 46).

Christ died for sin for all, but He lets each decide his relationship to sin. Have you died to sin or are you still living in sin?

Wayne Burger

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the final step in God’s payment for the sins of mankind. Speaking of our salvation Romans 4:25 summed it up with these words, “Who (Christ) was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (KJV). With His resurrection Christ “was declared the Son of God with power” (Romans 1:4). He now had the power over death which was foretold when God placed the curse on the serpent. “I (God, the Father) will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed (Christ); He (Christ) shall bruise your (Satan) on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis 3:15). Satan was going to bruise Christ’s heel by causing Him to die, but Christ bruised Satan’s head when Christ came forth from the grave. Until Christ arose from the dead, Satan had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14), but when Christ came forth from the grave, He struck a death blow to Satan’s power.

Other Old Testament Prophecies

of Christ’s Resurrection

    “I (God the Father) will surely tell of the decree of the LORD; He said to Me, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten You” (Psalm 2:7). Paul quotes this passage and said it was fulfilled when Christ was resurrected (Acts 13:32-33). Another psalm of David foretold Christ’s resurrection in these words, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” (16:10). Peter quoted this passage proving that David was not speaking of himself, but of Christ and that Christ had been raised to sit at the right hand of God, the Father (Acts 2:25-35). Probably the greatest, most complete prophecy about Christ is Isaiah 53. In this passage, like the psalms quoted above, Christ’s resurrection was foretold. “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a quilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand” (v. 10). Even though Christ was to be crushed, Christ would come back to life and see His offspring – faithful Christians.

The Importance of Christ’s Resurrection

    First, Christ’s resurrection was necessary so that people could be saved. As was noted above, “Who (Christ) was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25 KJV). This is why Peter connected our salvation with Christ’s resurrection when he wrote, “baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 3:21). This is what make baptism so beautiful. We re-enact what happened to Christ. He died, was buried, and arose to walk a new life. When one is baptized according to the Bible, one dies to his or her sins, is buried in water to reach the blood of Christ, and then arises to walk a new life (Romans 6:3-4).

    Second, Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of the church. When Jesus asked His disciples who He was, Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus’ response was, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). When Jesus died His soul went into the hadean realm (Acts 2:27, 31) but He came forth from that realm and because of that, was able to establish His church.

    Third, Christ’s resurrection is proof that wrongs will be punished. Paul proclaimed that truth to those in Athens in these words, “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Sometimes, life seems so unfair. It seems that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. It seems that the wicked get away with everything. Paul promises that the wicked will suffer the wrath of God (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10) but we are “to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come” (I Thessalonians 1:10).

    Fourth, Christ’s resurrection is proof that we will have immortal bodies in the next life. As Paul described the hope the resurrection of Christ gives us, he said that “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep…Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming” (I Corinthians 15:20, 23). Our bodies are so weak and frail. They are not meant to live eternally. But God has prepared a special body for our next life. Paul described it this way. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (I Corinthians 15:42-44).

Our bodies will be like Christ’s resurrected body. It looked like His physical body (John 20:27-28), but was not limited by time, space, or what is material. He could go instantly from one place to another (Luke 24:31). He could appear in a room when the doors were shut (John 20:19).

By looking at these and many other facts, it’s no wonder that the resurrection of Christ was the greatest miracle! It’s no wonder that since we are given the promise of our resurrection that Christ’s resurrection gives us the greatest hope.

Today Christ is our Savior. On the last day He will be our judge. Is your spiritual life ready to stand before Christ? “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Wayne Burger

We have written a few times recently about the subject of a good “reputation” or a “good name” as the Bible sometimes words it.

While it would be challenging to highlight one virtue of Christ over another relative to our reputation, I wish to focus on the idea of “faithfulness.” The Pharisees had neglected faithfulness according to Jesus in Matthew 23:23. It is one of the fruit enhanced by the Spirit dwelling in the Christian, according to Paul in Galatians 5:22.

Faithfulness is dedication to God’s nature and His word. It is commitment to Who He is, what He does, and what He says. It also portrays the idea of dependability. In spiritual terms, it means that God can trust us to fulfill His expectations to the best of our ability.

Jesus stated a number of times, especially in the Gospel of John, that He did nothing on His own initiative. He would judge just as He heard from the Father (John 5:30). If I can’t give biblical reference for what I preach or practice, I should ask myself if I am being faithful.

Jesus said that He speaks the things as the Father has taught Him so that He does nothing on His own initiative (John 8:28). The one thing that Jesus did on His own initiative was to offer His life (John 10:18). The Father did not force Jesus to sacrifice Himself; Jesus willingly submitted. But He knew it was consistent with God’s plans for saving man.

Again, in John 12:49, Jesus says that He did not speak on His own initiative, but the Father gave Him a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. So, Jesus did that. Again, Jesus emphasizes this in John 14:10 and John 16:13.

So what is our reputation? Do the people around us know that we are faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ? Can they depend on us to give them a biblical response (yes, book, chapter, and verse) for a biblical question? If so, then we have a reputation for faithfulness.

That reputation will be challenged from time to time. Jesus said, “whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26). That individual, who will not teach the “whole counsel of God” for fear he will lose popularity, is not being faithful to the Gospel.

Paul Holland

In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus presented Himself to His hometown in Nazareth. He read from Isaiah 61:1-2 and then stated, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” As far as the text is concerned, Jesus did not elaborate on that text any further, but He did expect His audience to understand the text, its context, and its application to Jesus. He gave them something to anticipate as they saw and listened to His ministry unfold.

When the wise men came to Jerusalem to seek the King of the Jews, the priests and scribes correctly identified and applied the prophecy from Micah 5:2 to the Messiah. There was not hesitation in assuming the text could be understood and fulfilled.

Jesus denounces the religious leaders, specifically the Pharisees, for their hypocritical traditions in Matthew 15:4-6. What they were obviously doing was invalidating the commandment to “honor father and mother” and Jesus expected them to see their obvious distortion. And He expected them to change their distortion!

In the heart of His ministry, Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders for not allowing the Scriptures to lead them to Him: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). Of course, the weakness was in the will not the ability or inability to understand the Scriptures.

In Acts 2, Peter and the other apostles preached the first gospel sermon after the ascension of Jesus Christ. They applied Joel 2 to the day’s events as well as explained the application of Psalm 16. Three thousand Jews understood that message, grasped the application of the Old Testament texts, and responded with repentance and baptism.

In Acts 8, we have a treasurer coming from Ethiopia to Jerusalem who was reading Isaiah 53. He needed to be taught that Isaiah was not talking about himself but about the Messiah. When Philip explained to him that Isaiah was predicting the vicarious sacrifice of the Messiah, the treasure understood the message with faith, confession, and baptism.

In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, Paul commends the Christians for understanding what he wrote in 1 Corinthians and for obeying what he wrote at that time! He did not allow them to continue believing and practicing error!

Lots of passages in God’s word give principles that are specific and their meaning is obvious: Ephesians 4:28 & Galatians 5:19.

What are we trying to say? As if you could not draw the proper conclusion: the meaning of God’s word is often very obvious and we should seek to understand the clear truth that the Holy Spirit is teaching us and sometimes a deeper analysis is not necessary.

Paul Holland

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who lived in the late ninetieth century. He is associated with a statement that he made a few times in his books: “God is Dead.” He made the statement three times in the book The Gay Science and once in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Because of the Enlightenment period and the teaching of evolution that made the “God-hypothesis” unnecessary, Nietzsche said that “belief in the Christian God has become unbelievable.” And, everything built on that faith, propped up by it and grown into it was bound to collapse, including the whole European morality.

When the Bible teaches that God is “immortal,” it means that He is Life. Everything that God created has life by His grace, but God is inherently life.

GOD IS IMMORTAL:

Paul writes a word of praise to God: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim. 1:17). Later in the same letter, he writes: God “alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen” (6:16).

GOD IS THE GIVER OF IMMORTALITY:

In John 5:24, Jesus states: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” “Eternal life” here is set in contrast to “death.” God gives eternal life. If someone does not have that eternal life which only God can give, then he or she will experience eternal death, eternal separation from the One who gives immortality.

WE MUST SEEK IMMORTALITY:

In Romans, Paul writes: “In the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, He will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation” (Rom.  2:5–8.

So here we see that we need to seek for: glory, honor, and immortality and life as if it is important to us. And God will give us eternal life. Notice also that this “seeking” is set in contrast with “not obeying the truth.” So “seeking immorality” is another way of saying “obeying the truth.” When we do that, God will give us immortality.

WE SHOULD PRAISE GOD FOR HIS IMMORTALITY:

As in all His attributes, we ought to praise God that He is “undying.” He is “immortal.” He is “incorruptible.” As Paul told the people in Athens, Greece, “in Him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:28) and as he wrote in Colossians 1:17: “in Him all things hold together.” And we praise God because He will give us an incorruptible body one day: Phil. 3:20-21:

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;  who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

Let’s live God’s incorruptible message so that He will give us an incorruptible body as a part of our incorruptible inheritance.

Paul Holland

In my lifetime there have been several “misfits” of society who have killed or tried to kill important people. John Hinckley, Lee Harvy Oswald, and recently Thomas Crooks, have tried to assassinate a president, with Oswald being successful. Add to this list Mr. Mark Chapman who killed John Lennon.

Oswald was expelled from Russia, estranged from his wife, and lived alone in Ft. Worth. Hinckley was from wealthy Dallas parents but drifted from city to city, taking a Greyhound bus from LA to DC to shoot the President. Chapman was from a broken home and traveled from place in stalking Jodie Foster. Twenty-year-old Crooks was described as a “loner” by his school mates.  Friendless, he still lived with his parents.

It is easy to see many common traits of these men, most notably the lack of a fellowship group, no close friendships and severed family ties. All were best described as “loners.” Do not follow their example.  Meet with God’s people to worship. Stay for those fellowship meals. Attend family activities. Develop close friendships. There are many good reasons why we are admonished to “stimulate one another,” in “not forsaking our own assembling together,” and to “encourage one another” (Heb. 10:24-25). Don’t be a loner!

-Dennis Doughty

First, the Bible: “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:6). There is no better place to practice speaking with grace than in the home and with your children.

There might be times when your child deserves a tongue lashing. There might be times when your child deserves an “I told you so.” There might be times when the child deserves to experience the consequences of his or her behavior. But a parent needs to be gracious at all times.

If a parent consistently yells at a child who makes a mistakes or makes a foolish choice or otherwise comes across harshly and demanding, it can steal a child’s willingness to experiment with new things. If a parent is harsh when a child makes a foolish choice, it can rob a child of the willingness to risk making a mistake.

Parents need to be wise in handling these situations. “Grace” means that the child does not deserve a soft answer or a second chance or… but Mom and Dad give it any way. I was blessed with parents who never launched into angry tirades when we kids made mistakes. Did they allow us to experience the consequences of our choices? Yes. But they also encouraged us to learn from our mistakes and do things differently and they did so with kindness and gentleness.

There were times when I was working, mowing 25 yards every two weeks, that I would get behind. I went to 7 4-H camps plus Bible camp one year; when I came home, sometimes it was raining and I could not mow grass. Then I had to leave again. My dad would mow the yards for me and, other than having to spend money on gas, he gave me the money from the work. One might say that Dad should have kept it and taught me a lesson, but apparently he believed that me going to these camps was a better learning experience than me losing the income from that work. And I don’t believe his gracious behavior encouraged a bad work ethic in me or my siblings.

Sometimes we parents get harsh with our kids, particularly when they misbehave in public, more in order to defend our own ego or reputation than to train our children. Correction needs to be thoughtful, sometimes done quietly. But we always need to remember the long-term goal is to train responsibility and perseverance and Christlike-ness. And Christlike-ness is certainly gracious.

Paul Holland

Glenn Gregory must have had slender fingers.  The wedding ring his wife Barbara slipped on his finger was lost just two months later while he was setting a foundation for their new mobile home.  A second wedding ring was lost some time later.  The third wedding ring was stored away by Barbara; she wasn’t going to take a chance on him losing another!

Glenn died just a few months ago.  His wife hired a man to set a monument to mark his grave at their Henry County, Kentucky farm.  As the worker was digging, he spotted something shiny in the soil; it turned out to be the first wedding ring Glenn lost – 63 years earlier.

This story about the Gregory’s should remind us of an important principle.  Marriages are not held together by wedding rings or by any other external objects.  Marriages are made durable when we safeguard in our hearts the vows we make on the wedding day.  The first wedding ring was kept safe in the ground, but the love that prompted the ring was kept safe in the hearts of Glenn and Barbara.

In Malachi 2:14, God rebuked His people for marital sins.  “Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant.”  “By covenant” points back to the vows that were made in forming that marriage.  For some reason, the vows were forgotten and the marriages were discarded.  The wife, by reason of the divorce, was treated treacherously.

Jesus was asked His opinion about breaking a wedding vow.  “Is it lawful … for just any reason?” the Pharisees asked Him (Matthew 19:3).  Jesus first pointed them to the origin of marriage: “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4,5).  He was referring to the first marriage, the joining of Adam and Eve by God’s own design (Genesis 2:21-25).

That design of marriage has not changed through the ages.  When Jesus pointed to the Garden of Eden and the first marriage, He was saying, in effect, “This is still the standard.”  He went on to clearly answer the Pharisee’s question: “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6).

Some condense the principle into this simple statement: “One man and one woman for life.”  That seems an accurate assessment of what the Son of God taught on the subject.

My wife and I are in our 49th year of marriage.  I happen to still have on my left ring finger the gold band she placed on my finger on our wedding day.  But if I should lose the ring, the important thing is that I still carry the vow – and the love which prompted the vow – deep in my heart.  And I know she feels the same as I do.  Our love is safeguarded where it counts the most – in our hearts.

Come to the light God offers!  Study His word, the Bible.  Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright, 2024, Timothy D. Hall

There must be some kind of world-wide contest underway to see which country can inflict the most harm on its own citizens or its neighbors- Gaza, Israel, West Bank, Syria, Ukraine, North Korea, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan… ad infinitum.

I recently saw a picture of a young boy who looked to be about twelve years old, who lived in one of the Middle Eastern war-torn countries.  The news blurb revealed that his parents had recently been killed.  The expression on his face was riveting.  It revealed a level of anger and hatred that would be shocking on the face of a 40 year-old, but it was even more shocking on a child’s face.  And I thought, “We know how this is going to end.  I just wonder how many he will manage to kill before he’s killed?”

I’m really sick-at-heart of war news, aren’t you?  Why must so many people die over a piece of land or an oilfield or ethnic pride or because one group wants to control another group?  Hatred is self-perpetuating.

I’m reminded of how incredibly blessed I am to be a Christian.  I am so happy to be part of a spiritual family that loves and cares for each other.  I’m happy to be part of a church where there is peace and unity.  I don’t take it for granted.

Yes, I know… it’s not perfect.  And there are two reasons why it’s not.  One of them is because I’m part of this family; the other is because you are.

Peace and security and encouragement are rare commodities these days.  Let’s all treasure it and pray that it continues and grows.

     “The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide, A shelter in the time of storm….”

Ken Stegall

There have been famous cases of children suing their parents, like Gary Coleman of Different Strokes fame due to misappropriation of his earnings. Parents have sued their children, as rapper Eminem’s mom did for damages after he referenced her substance abuse in songs. Money is often a motive, but sometimes such court cases revolve around retribution for abuse or perceived neglect.

The book of Isaiah begins with the perfect Father, Jehovah, bringing a case against His spiritual children. As such, He leads out, “Sons I have reared and brought up,  But they have revolted against Me” (2). He labels them, “Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly” (4). He calls heaven and earth as witnesses (2). Certainly, there are other ways the nation of Judah is described here, but that the Lord is making the case against them for their sin and apostasy. What are the charges?

Rebellious Conduct (2-9). Daily life for Judah was characterized by iniquity and corruption (4), which God equates to despising and rejecting Him. He depicts their immorality as leprosy-like spiritual illness. Is there a more graphic depiction than, “The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil” (5-6)? He diagnoses them as a rebirth of Sodom and Gomorrah (9-10), whom He destroyed for their many and gross immoralities. These are the people of God, given His written Word and handed stalwart leaders. They had every advantage and were profusely blessed. Despite this, they rejected Him to serve their own passions and pleasures. They’ve collected so many sins that they are burdened with the weight of them (cf. Heb. 12:1). The people have no case, so they have no choice but to plead guilty to this first charge.

Unacceptable Worship (10-20). Their first crime led to this charge. Because of their daily, rebellious living, God rejected their worship. The problem was not that they withheld sacrifice from Him. They “multiplied” them (11). They gave them in abundance. They brought the right gifts. They came at the right times (13-14). But, when they prayed, He hid and ignored them (15). Why? Their hands were covered with blood (15). They were guilty of evil deeds (16). They were trying to substitute one day of worship for six days of wickedness. They lived like the world, then came to worship and pretended to be righteous before an omniscient and omnipresent God.

General Apostasy (21-31).  Apostasy “is the turning away from God in rebellion or apathy” (Jones, Lexham Theological. Wdbk.). Notice its description. Once a faithful city, they are now a harlot (21). Once full of righteousness and justice, they are now murderers (21). Isaiah describes what made this so: bribery (23), materialism (23), and oppression of the helpless (23). Because of this, they made their Father their adversary! He pledges to use His divine resources against them (24-25).

There is something Judah needed to know about these proceedings. Even though God had abundant evidence against them and they had no case, He wanted to find them “not guilty.” He does not want them to continue in this condition and pleads for them to change (5). He had already shown mercy (9). He pleads with them to turn away from their sins. Notice how He phrases it: “wash” (16), “remove” (16), “learn, seek, reprove, defend, plead” (17), “reason” (18), “consent and obey” (19). When has a plaintiff been so merciful and forgiving as God is with His people here?

But, make no mistake about it, as they are living at the time when Isaiah writes, they are His adversaries and foes (24). He was sentencing them (25). Yet, on the other side of that, He pledges to restore and redeem them (26-27). The impenitent will be crushed (28), but with the intent to make them ashamed and resolved to change (29-31). This judgment theme will recur throughout Isaiah’s prophecy, directed not only at His chosen but also their enemies. Notice also the parallel between chapter one and chapter 66, where these many themes are mirrored again in the closing words of this book. That shows that these themes are important to the overall message of the book. The bottom line is that we cannot go to court against God on the basis of our deeds. We will eternally lose under such conditions. We must throw ourselves on the mercy of the heavenly court, ready to confess and change.

Neal Pollard