The Bible's Teaching on Salvation -

The following lessons are excerpts from The Grandpa Harp Commentary.  

These lessons are included at the end of each of the four volumes.

What does the Bible teach about salvation? How does someone go about getting saved? I’ve been a church member all my life, so isn’t that enough? I try my best to please God, so won’t He accept me as I am? Why is it all so confusing?

Those are some pretty good, and critically important, questions. Can you answer them with any degree of assurance? As the old question goes, “If you died tonight, do you know with certainty where you would spend eternity?” Do you?

If your answer is based upon anything other than the revealed truth of God, then you are standing on a very shaky foundation indeed. Do you really want to trust something this important on mere feelings, or man-made arguments?

In fact, this is so important that I’ve included this section at the end of each of the four volumes of The Grandpa Harp Commentary. We’ve covered a lot of topics in our studies, but they are nothing more than abstract concepts if you haven’t made application to your own spiritual life. You must take the time, now.

You may already be rolling your eyes because you don’t even believe that the Bible is the revealed words and thoughts of an Almighty God. Guess what? That’s perfectly fine at this point. Stick with me as we explore these topics.

If you’re in that camp, you must honestly ask yourself if you have perfect knowledge regarding the genuineness of the Bible. Can you say with absolute certainty that it’s nothing more than the work of dozens of religious people over thousands of years? If you are honest, you know that you can’t have that level of knowledge. You weren't there. You really don’t know. 

Your stated truths are nothing more than your own faith, perhaps aided by dozens of philosophers who like you, really can’t say for sure either. In reality, no matter how often, or how loudly, you state your position, deep down, you know that you really don’t know. And those philosophers didn’t either.

For now, suspend your imperfect faith, and allow that there may be something more to this. Aren’t you intellectually curious enough to explore and understand it? If the truth actually has eternal consequences, you had better be right.

Others may already understand that the Bible is the revealed word of God, but they are confused by man’s interpretation of it. I’ll try to explain that too.

I’ve asked the skeptics among you to suspend any personal biases against the Bible’s claims about itself. For the time being, you need to allow that it may be the revealed truth of God. I’ve asked those who already believe that, to start with a clean slate. I’m challenging you to investigate its clear claims, to be satisfied to see whatit says about salvation, without all the man-made trappings that have entered into our culture over the years. Is everyone good so far?

I’m not going to go into a detailed discussion about the existence of God. There are hundreds of great books available to you that describe the evidence for God’s creative works. Just search the web for theories on intelligent design, and read them with an open mind. You will, if you are honest, allow that such a God, one who created and designed all things, may exist. 

For the “atheists” in the crowd, I have some startling news. You have a basic problem with your beliefs. The truth is: you cannot know with certainty that you are correct. You are, at best, an agnostic which, by definition, means you aren’t sure. Suspend your disbelief for a while longer. Entertain what might be.

I’m asking you to consider, for the time being, that Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of all created things, exists. It’s logical that if He created mankind in His image (as the Bible says in Genesis 1:26) He would desire to communicate with us in a logical and clear manner. Does that make sense?

Even so, you may have questions about other religious documents, such as the Torah of Judaism, the Quran of Islam, the Gita of Hinduism, the Tripitaka of Buddhism, or the Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism. Could these be from God? 

Perhaps, as they would communicate, there are many paths to God. If that were true, and God had communicated these truths through many documents, there would certainly be consistency among them. Logical and clear.

Instead of undertaking detailed examinations of all of these documents, perhaps a reasonable approach would be to begin with the Bible. If God had communicated many ways to find Him, He would have certainly included the Bible as one of those options. Can we agree?

In our next lesson, we’ll start out by looking at what the Bible teaches about God, and God’s nature. I think you’ll find the lessons quite helpful. 

Assuming that the Bible is at least one of the religious documents that reveals the true nature of God, we’re going to start our examination by studying quotations about His nature, from the Bible. We’ll consider the topic of consistency with other religious documents later.

God is Holy - Of all of the attributes of God theologians discuss, His holiness is always primary. Holiness is a big concept, right? It means that everything about God is perfect. He defines perfection. He defines goodness by His very nature. There is nothing about Him that is deficient or sinful.

“This is what the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says... ‘I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King’” (Isaiah 43:14-15)

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” (Leviticus 19:2)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” (Revelation 4:8)

God is Just - We all understand justice and fairness. In His holiness, God is also perfectly just. Like a perfect judge, He views the actions of mankind, then administers perfect justice. Notice in the Leviticus passage above that He demands holiness and perfection from man. If man is not perfectly holy, then God must administer perfect justice. That is His nature.

“Your throne, God, is forever and ever; the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;”   (Psalm 45:6-7)

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before You.” (Psalm 89:14)

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18)

“For I, the Lord, love justice,” (Isaiah 61:8)

God is Love - As in His perfect holiness, and His perfect justice, God’s love is perfect in every way. It is God’s love that literally defines love.

“For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” (Psalm 33:4-5)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.”   (1 John 4:7-9)

We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

The gods created in the imaginations of pagan worshippers generally had human attributes, but were also subject to human failures. They were “good”, but never perfectly holy. They were “just”, but could be subject to favoritism or error, and they were “loving”, but never selfless in their love. They were best kept at “arm’s length” because their character made them a bit unpredictable. 

We have come to understand in our limited way, that God as revealed in the Bible is perfectly holy, perfectly just, and perfectly loving. Those are fixed attributes of His nature, and cannot be changed. We would never want them to be changed. We want to be near Him, and in fellowship with Him, in perfect confidence.

So, what’s to prevent you, or me, or anyone else who truly desires to know God, or be close to God, to actually fulfill that desire? Which of the attributes discussed above is going to cause us the greatest problem?

If you said, “God is Holy, and I’m not”, you are quite correct. The holy presence of God cannot be contaminated with the sinful presence of His created beings. They are incompatible. 

We’ll spend some more time tomorrow considering God’s holiness, our sin, and how far away from the standards of holiness we are.

In the previous lesson, I noted that the standard reason given for sinful mankind to be excluded from God’s presence is that He is holy.

In the Bible’s revelations, God communicated principles that defined the holiness of men and women. You probably already know them as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). If you’re really sharp, you might be able to recite more than half of them. Maybe all of them? 

Here they are in summary: 

[1] No other gods are to be worshipped, and [2] no idols are to replace God. [3] His name is to be considered holy, and [4] the sabbath is to be holy. [5] Honor father and mother, [6] don’t murder, [7] don’t commit adultery, [8] don’t steal, [9] don’t lie, and [10] don’t covet other people’s things, including their wives.

Those simple standards of behavior provide an overview of God’s standards of holiness. They don’t apply to actions only, but to the thoughts and desires of the heart. No mere human has kept all of those commandments without fail.

The prophet Isaiah recognized both the problem, and the consequences of it. Around 700 BC, Isaiah wrote, “We continued in our sins for a long time; yet shall we be saved? For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” (Isaiah 64:5-6)

The problem runs deeper than not keeping all the commandments. In fact, none of us have been able to keep any of them. Even our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags. And before you think you’ve gotten a passing grade on a couple of them, go back and review Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5.

And any discussion about how good you are relative to anyone else is a waste of time, because your standard is faulty. The standard of holiness isn’t anyone else, it’s God. He set the principles, and none of us have lived up to any of them.

Once you get the perfect standards right, and once you decide to look at your life in an honest way, you will be convinced that you are guilty of lying, idol worshipping, dishonoring your parents and others, etc., etc. And because of that condition, you have a huge problem in your relationship with holy God.

As Isaiah asked, “Yet shall we be saved?” How are we to be kept from God’s justice, and allowed to be in His presence? Honestly consider these things.

You’re probably thinking by now that I could have gotten to an answer much more quickly. Perhaps so. But I want you to know enough of the details to be satisfied in the answer. After all, these are eternal issues. We had better understand them as best as we can.

We have determined that God, as revealed in the Bible, is holy, just, and loving.

We have also determined that we are creatures of sin. Theologians will go on and on about how our sin was inherited from Adam, but let’s be honest. You and I know full well that we are sinners, even by the relatively simple standards laid out by God in the Ten Commandments. We have a problem which prevents us from being in fellowship with, or even in the presence of Holy God.

Our sin is incompatible with God’s holiness. And that is a big problem !

There’s one very simple solution. God could have simply decided to keep all of us at a distance. Problem solved, right? Oh, but what about those other two attributes we discussed?

Let’s consider justice. Because God is perfectly just, He cannot by His nature turn a blind eye to our sin. His perfect justice demands punishment. This is the basis for our legal system. You do the crime - you do the time. Makes sense.

And then there’s this issue of God’s perfect love. You know that when you truly love someone, you want to be with them as much as possible. Time away from them seems like it lasts forever, and time with them is never long enough. Now if you can, imagine a love that is infinite in nature. God’s love. And imagine the desire to spend an infinite amount of time with those He loves.

Holiness, justice, and love. Perfect attributes of God. But because of man’s sin, there is a tension among these three natures of God. His holiness demands separation. His justice requires punishment. His love desires fellowship. How can all three be satisfied, while still maintaining the integrity of His being?

How would you solve the problem? The religions of the world have provided plenty of solutions, but upon further inspection, none of them solve all three issues at once. Most are based on working your way into God’s favor, appealing to His love, while ignoring the need for holiness and judgment. Hmmmm.

Let’s begin with an important reminder. This discussion about the need to reconcile the tension of God’s holiness, justice, and love, is much more than an academic exercise. It involves you, me, and every human being ever to live, because the tension is created by our common sin. And for the discussion at hand, it involves you. Your problem with God’s holiness, justice, and love, is you.

And so any solution that you come up with, or subscribe to through your studies of world religions, are going to fall short. They can’t reconcile even three attributes of God, much less the hundreds of others the Bible speaks of.

In biblical terms, you are lost, or doomed. Like a drowning person in the middle of the ocean, or someone trapped in a burning building, you have no hope of saving yourself. You need a solution that is outside yourself. Do you see that?

There’s another thing you know for sure because you have seen it happen over and over to others. One day, specifically unknown to you, you will die. Your physical body will stop functioning. You’ll draw your final breath. And then...?

Maybe you don’t believe in a life after death. You’ve determined that this is just a myth. I’ll remind you that you have no proof, and so you are depending on nothing more than the speculations of man. Remember though, you agreed to suspend your disbelief of the Bible for a while. If you do that, you must accept the revealed truths within it. All mankind, including you, has an eternal soul. 

I’ll give you the detailed scripture references later, but the Bible teaches what we all know deep, down inside. There’s more to “us” than our physical existence. The physical body will die, but the spiritual part of us will continue on.

The Bible speaks nothing of reincarnations, becoming little gods, multiple lives, or karma. According to Hebrews 9:27, “... it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment”. That’s pretty plain. And pretty scary, right?

You already know that God is holy and a perfect judge. When you stand before the Judge’s bench, He will look at you and see everything you have ever done. He’ll see your many sins, those known to others, and those known only to you.

What excuses will you offer God? What negotiation will you undertake to convince Him that you’re worthy of His forgiveness and eternal fellowship?

There’s an old saying about someone who goes into a courtroom as his own attorney. One simple version, “The man who represents himself, has a fool for a client”.

Picture yourself, representing your innocence to holy God. Even if you could find the words to speak, there will be one verdict. You are a guilty fool.

What do you suppose the sentence will be for a guilty and sinful soul?

We’ve already touched on it. God’s holiness and your sin are incompatible. So wherever God will exist throughout eternity, one thing is certain, you will not be there. You will spend eternity separated from God. His judgment is perfect. Your sentence is sure. The decision has eternal consequences. Eternal.

As I noted earlier, you need a solution that is outside yourself.

You need a remedy for your sin. But you’re still floating in the ocean. You’re still trapped in the burning building. You’re helpless and hopeless. Eternally so.

Only a holy God can provide a way out, because only a holy God can cure your sin problem. But why would He do that? Which attribute would drive that action?

God’s perfect love. You see, God’s attributes are perfectly compatible. He is holy, and the perfect judge, and yet He is loving. He has provided a solution.

The perfect Judge requires full payment for the crimes committed in order to be satisfied that all has been made right. Theologians have terms for these ideas. The full payment is known as an atonement, while the full satisfaction is known as the propitiation. You may never have heard these words before, but you can certainly understand the ideas. That’s all you need to know for now.

Somehow, there has to be a full payment made that fully satisfies the Judge. That payment can’t come from you alone. Your works are nothing but filthy rags. You don’t have enough good works to make the payment, and even if you had an infinite number of them, they are filthy. They would never satisfy Him.

Someone else must step in and provide an adequate and satisfying payment. Someone who has infinite goodness, and whose obedience to God is perfect. Then, out of love for you, God could demand a payment from that person on your behalf. But where would God find such a person? You already know, don’t you?

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the only one who can provide both the adequate payment (atonement) that fully satisfies (propitiates) the requirements of a holy and just Judge. And now, does John 3:16 make more sense to you? It was all driven by perfect love. Holiness, justice, and love in perfect harmony.

When Jesus willingly went to the cross, he did so as a perfect man, and with the holiness of God. He was punished for the sins of all of those who trust in Him. His punishment was sufficient and satisfactory. Considering the depth of your sins, and of mine, and of millions of others, that was an extraordinary sacrifice.

This may be news to you. It’s actually known as the Gospel, the Good News. I would go far as to call it the Best News. I think you can see why.

To some, this may be Old News. You’ve heard it since you were a kid in Sunday School. Perhaps one day many years ago, you “invited Jesus into your heart”, or publicly proclaimed that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. Let me say in lovingkindness, if that’s all you’ve done, with no more understanding than of many professing Christians, you may not be truly saved. 

Have you seriously considered the depth of your sins before Holy God, and what was required to atone for it? Have you trusted Him alone to save you? Have you turned away from your former life, in joyous celebration of the gift of God’s grace? Have you proclaimed to God and those around you, that you trust the atonement of Jesus to fully satisfy God’s justice on your behalf?

If so, your debt of sin is cancelled, and you’ll never foolishly stand before God without counsel. Your attorney will be the One who paid the debt for you. This is the only way to have the assured a verdict of “Innocent”. 

If you’ve never responded to this Great News, this is your opportunity. God has extended His grace to you. You do not need to be a Bible scholar. It’s all about accepting His grace, in faith that Jesus’ death was sufficient to cover your sins. 

You turn from (repent of) your life of trying to earn God’s approval. You place your full trust in the finished work of Jesus, the holy Son of God. Out of gratitude, you live your life from this point forward by striving to be more like Jesus, bringing glory to God for what He has done for you. You are truly, irrevocably, and eternally saved.

To those who are sensing the calling of God’s Spirit for the first time, there may still be some confusion about what you actually need to do. It’s like, “Hey Grandpa, you said to ‘Call on Him’, but just exactly what does that mean?” Here is a wonderful quote from A Call To Prayer, by Pastor J. C. Ryle. It offers the perfect answer to your question.

“Tell Him that you have heard that he receives sinners, and has said, ‘Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out’. Tell Him that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you have come to Him on the faith of His own invitation. Tell Him you put yourself wholly and entirely in His hands; that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in yourself; and that except He saves you, you have no hope of being saved at all. Beseech Him to deliver you from the guilt, the power, and the consequences of sin. Beseech Him to pardon you, and wash you in His own blood. Beseech Him to bring you a new heart, and plant the Holy Spirit in your soul. Beseech Him to give you grace and faith and will power to be His disciple and servant from this day for ever. Oh, reader, go this very day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you really are in earnest about your soul.

Tell Him in your own way, and your own words. If a doctor came to see you when sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If your soul feels its disease indeed, you can surely find something to tell Christ.

Doubt not His willingness to save you, because you are a sinner. It is Christ’s office to save sinners. He says Himself, ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’. (Luke 5:32) Wait not because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing. Wait for nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ. The worse you are, the more need you have to apply to Him. You will never mend yourself by staying away.

Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Savior understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan.

Oh, reader, if you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I have given you this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.” 

It should be clear to you by now that there is no formula or specific words that magically or mysteriously bring about God’s salvation. The quotation from J. C. Ryle in yesterday’s lesson was a wonderful example, because it expresses the call to Jesus from a humble heart. It’s not the words that you utter with your lips, but the humble attitude that flows from your heart.

Why do you suppose I’ve continually emphasized the attitude of humility? In my mind, humility demonstrates a true understanding of your condition as a sinner before a holy God.  

Do you understand the holiness, justice, and love of God? Do you recognize that your sins have separated you from His eternal presence? And do you further realize that there’s nothing you can do on your own power to cancel those sins, and make yourself presentable to Him? That should humble you.

Only then can you call out to Him in a worthy manner. If you have done that, you can have the assurance of His love and forgiveness. Your existence from this point forward will be drastically different. The Bible says you are literally a new creation. Now and for all eternity.

What do new creations do next?

For starters, you will want to do the things that glorify God. That is your new and ultimate purpose. Instructions for doing so are found in what He has revealed through His Word, the Bible. Begin to spend time there. Dig into the truths there to learn how to please Him. 

You’ll soon want to be obedient by publicly proclaiming Jesus as your Savior through baptism. You’ll want to align yourself with a local church so that you can encourage them, and they can encourage and mentor you in your journey. And certainly, as you grow spiritually, you will give up those things that were previously substitutes for God. You will grow in love and contentment in Him.

There will be those who hear the Gospel and reject it. They may not accept the premises of God’s holiness, justice, and love. They are content in believing that they are good enough to satisfy God. Paul described them as perishing fools. Please consider the consequence of your stubbornness and pride. It’s eternal.

Let’s tie up some loose ends from previous lessons. And I quote,

“Even so, you may have questions about other religious documents, such as the Torah of Judaism, the Quran of Islam, the Gita of Hinduism, the Tripitaka of Buddhism, or the Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism. Could these be from God?

Perhaps, as they would communicate, there are many paths to God. If that were true, and God had communicated these truths through many documents, there would certainly be consistency among them. Logical and clear.”

The challenge that I made above was this - logically, if God had communicated that there were many paths to please and reach Him, there would be some consistency among them. In other words, they would be more inclusive, and less exclusive. Does Christianity meet that test? The simple answer is “No”.

In fact, it’s the exclusivity of Christianity that stands out among the world religions. Those who oppose Christianity will point to this attitude as being too restrictive, even to the point of being discriminatory, or hateful of others.

It’s a kind of silly argument really. If there was a single, clear way to satisfy and find God, why wouldn’t He make it as crystal clear as possible? Why wouldn’t He state, right up front, that this was the only way to satisfy Him? Seems to me, He would. Did He? He certainly did. 

Here are three of my favorite examples - 

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

“He (Jesus Christ) is the stone, which was rejected by you the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

Tomorrow, we’ll explore one final argument that the Bible is the only reliable revelation of God. It’s the event that settles the matter once and for all time.

I made a pretty bold statement at the end of the previous lesson, “... we’ll explore one final argument that the Bible is the only reliable revelation of God. It’s the event that settles the matter once and for all time.”

You might have thought that the issue was already settled by the quotations we reviewed from Jesus, Peter, and Paul. After all, didn’t they clearly state that Jesus Christ is the only way to receive total forgiveness of sins, and a perfect and eternal relationship with God? (John 14:6, Acts 4:11-12, and 1 Timothy 2:5-6)

The skeptics make a valid argument. They ask, “Why should we believe what three dead guys had to say about something so important? You’re simply using their unprovable statements as proofs for something that can’t be proven. What makes their opinions more valid than Muhammed, Confucius, or Brahma?” Great question. What proof do we have, without just taking their word for it?

To get to the point quickly, the foundational proof of the gospel is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If His resurrection from the dead is true, then the rest of His teachings, and more importantly, His sacrifice for you, is true. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, there’s no reason whatsoever to trust in anything else that the Bible teaches. Do you see how foundational this is?

Everything about the God of the Bible, even down to the basic understanding of God’s attributes of holiness, justice, and love, is worthless. If God did not, or could not, raise Jesus from the dead, then He is a liar. A weak one at that.

Furthermore, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, just as He said He would, then He is a liar. If that is the case, then there is no reason to believe anything else that He ever said. Do you get it? 

To repeat. If He did not rise from the dead, He’s nothing more than a dead philosopher who went too far in trying to spread his religious views to the world. 

Let’s start with His own claims. Jesus explained, before the crucifixion occurred, what was to happen. “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.” (Luke 9:22) That is about as basic as it can be, isn’t it?

Tomorrow, we’ll review how that came to pass, and why we can be assured of it.

Yesterday, I laid out the most basic statement about whether or not you can trust the claims of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. Simply put - If Jesus was not raised from the dead after His crucifixion, then we cannot believe anything else He said, because He said it was going to happen, beforehand.

Furthermore, He used the resurrection as proof of His claims. Let’s look at one of those instances in Luke 24:44-47, “Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’”

Do you see how Jesus tied the forgiveness of sins to the crucifixion, and to the resurrection? They cannot be separated. They are two sides of the same coin.

The more skeptical among you will protest here. “Grandpa, you still haven’t proven that the resurrection really occurred. So far, all you’ve done is tell me how important it is. Let’s get to your so-called proofs.”

Not so fast. I want you to see another important side of this. I’ve told you that if Jesus was wrong about the resurrection, and if it never really happened, that we couldn’t believe anything else that He ever said.

But there’s another way to look at those claims. I believe it’s equally true, that if someone predicted the resurrection beforehand, and then actually rose from the dead, then you had better believe everything else He said. I mean, that was a pretty bold prediction. What religious founder has ever made such a bold claim, and then saw it come to pass? None that I am aware of.

I’m trying to ensure that you see, up front, how significant the resurrection of Jesus Christ is. The entire body of God’s revealed word, from Genesis to Revelation literally hinges on the resurrection. If it never happened, then the Bible is one of the most unreliable documents ever created. If it did happen, the Bible must be understood to be the only true and reliable revelation of God to mankind, and we had better seek to know, and trust, everything within it.

I made some bold statements in yesterday’s lesson regarding the importance of the resurrection, and how it applies to the validity and reliability of the Bible. Can all of the Bible and Christianity literally rest on the resurrection of Jesus?

One of my favorite passages on the topic is from the apostle Paul. Clearly, he thought that the resurrection was critically important. “Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:1-3)

For more detail on Paul’s views, read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 15.

How about the apostle Peter? I wonder what he thought on this subject. Did he see the 

truth of the resurrection as a foundation of faith?

I’ll let you decide for yourself, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Peter couldn’t go on much longer without bringing up the topic again, “... knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:18-21)

Besides proclaiming what would happen, and then proclaiming that it had happened, did Jesus attach importance to belief in the resurrection? Certainly. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (John 11:25-26) 

So, let me ask, “Do you believe this?”

Eventually, we had to reach this point. The Christian wants to be here because they want to have the facts on their side, helping allay any doubts.

The skeptic wants to be here because they want to challenge the facts and satisfy themselves that this really is just a well-orchestrated Christian myth. They want to be assured that there’s no basis in truth, and really nothing to worry about. No sin, no Judge, no verdict, no atonement, no hell.

So where’s the proof? In his book, The Case For Easter, Lee Strobel describes his journey as a skeptical investigative reporter. I recommend the book highly. You can read it in about an hour, and it has eternal consequences.

Strobel asked three questions regarding the resurrection of a crucified Jesus:

[1] Did Jesus physically die, or just somehow manage to leave the cross alive,

[2] Was there really an empty tomb, and

[3] Were there really eyewitnesses who saw Him after the resurrection?

Before I give you a summary of his findings on these topics, we need to get something out of the way. There is no proof. That’s right, there is no proof.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. How could we, roughly two thousand years after the fact, prove that the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection occurred? If I asked you, to prove to me what you had for lunch yesterday, could you do it? Maybe if you had known that I was going to ask, you would have made a video. Even then, there would be some missing details, or questions about the validity of the clip.

Perhaps you would find someone who had eaten lunch with you. They could testify as to what you ate, how much you ate, etc. But the point is, you could never actually prove something as simple as your menu from yesterday.

At best, you could provide some evidence. Using common sense, those facts could be considered by others to see if they supported or refuted your claims. A probable menu could be determined. As in our U.S. legal system, we could find, within a reasonable doubt, what you had for lunch.

And so it is with the case at hand. We’ll look at some evidence tomorrow.

We’re working our way towards a verdict on the resurrection Jesus Christ because we’ve determined that it’s foundational to whether or not the Bible is true, and whether or not what the Bible says about sin and salvation are true.

I’ll only summarize what Strobel detailed in The Case For Easter. It should be enough to encourage the Christian, and prompt the unbeliever, to dig deeper. Don’t dismiss my summaries here as too simplistic, and therefore unimportant. The topic is eternally important. Get hold of his book, and read some of the other authors that he cites for even deeper insights.

[1] Did Jesus physically die, or just somehow manage to leave the cross alive?

The historical evidence for Roman floggings and crucifixions, combined with medical opinions about what occurs to the victim, align with the gospel accounts. Given the beatings of Jesus, it was remarkable that He survived the journey to the cross. The Roman soldiers were skilled at executions and were personally responsible to ensure that the victims were dead. The spear in Jesus’ side, the blood and water, and the pronouncement of His death provide clear evidence. 

[2] Was there really an empty tomb?

Skeptics point to the various accounts of Easter morning, yet the core facts of the case point to one conclusion. People arrived at the tomb they knew to be Jesus’ burial site, the stone was rolled away, and the tomb was empty. All were shocked, and no disciple would have dared steal the body. There would have been no reason to do so, and they were all hiding in fear of the Romans. The testimony of the first witnesses, all women, would have been unheard of, and never inserted into the stories, unless it was true. But does an empty tomb prove a resurrection?

[3] Were there really eyewitnesses who saw Him after the resurrection?

Probably the most compelling evidence comes from Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. Thought to have been written within a few years of the resurrection, Paul states that the disciples, Paul himself, and hundreds of others had seen Jesus. 

The specific passages in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 are from an early church creed. Paul offered a challenge to the skeptics; just go ask any of those hundreds of people, many of whom were still alive.

Lee Strobel, in The Case For Easter, touched on one other topic as he reported on his interview with Dr. Gary Habermas of Liberty University.

I had the privilege of attending a two-week class at Liberty in the 1980’s. The class was on Christian Apologetics, the study of showing evidence of the faith. Dr. Habermas spoke extensively from the evidence of the resurrection.

I also had the privilege to attend a luncheon with Mr. Charles (Chuck) Colson, famous for his involvement and imprisonment after the Watergate break-in during the Nixon administration. Mr. Colson founded Prison Fellowship.

Dr. Habermas and Mr. Colson cited similar evidence of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s something that’s always stuck with me.

In short, the greatest evidence of the resurrection is the changed lives of eleven former cowards to eleven bold and fearless evangelists. Matthew wrote of Jesus’ arrest in the garden, “Then all the disciples left Him and fled.”

By the time we get to early church history in Acts, we find Peter and John fearlessly preaching in public, defying the threats of the Sanhedrin Council, spending time in jail cells, and celebrating their floggings for the sake of Jesus.

The first martyr, Stephen, joyfully gave his life, even seeking forgiveness for his murderers. Saul, a hater of the Way, stood by and watched with approval. Saul would soon be converted on the road to Damascus, and spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel, despite countless dangers, stonings, shipwrecks, and jail. Paul also claimed to have seen the risen Jesus. (1 Corinthians 15:8)

Could they have all been lying? Colson remarked that he and his fellow Watergate conspirators thought they could avoid prosecution if they could all agree to a joint lie. But one by one, the lies began to break down as each of them faced jail time. He remarked that men have been known to die for what they knew to be true, but they will seldom face punishment, and never death, for what they know to be a lie.

All you need to do is consider what you know to be true of human nature, and you’ll recognize that something extraordinary happened to these men, all of whom gave their lives, based upon the truth of the resurrection.

We’ve spent some well-deserved time considering the evidence of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. These topics are critical to the validity of the Bible’s teaching on salvation. Logic tells us that if the resurrection did not occur as Jesus predicted, then none of His claims could be trusted. 

We've considered four topics and the evidence for each: did Jesus really die, was the tomb really empty, were there really eyewitnesses to His resurrection, and how would we explain the dramatic life changes of the disciples?

We’ve considered the decision that every person must make for themselves with regard to the claims of Jesus. There are only two possible responses. One must accept the claim that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to atone for their sins before God, or to conclude that other valid paths to God exist. It is one, or the other, but it cannot be both. A decision of eternal consequence.

We’ve looked at three attributes of God as revealed in the Bible: His holiness, His justice, and His love. We considered how these three attributes were perfectly coordinated in the way He deals with the sinfulness of mankind. His holiness demands perfection. His justice demands punishment for infractions against His commands. His love provides a means for forgiveness.

All of this came full circle when we examined these claims and found that the truths of the Bible rested squarely on the promised resurrection of God’s perfect sacrifice, His only Son, Jesus Christ. If the resurrection never happened, then nothing else in God’s revelation could be trusted.

The world is full of philosophies for finding, and/or satisfying, God. There are many ignorant ideas regarding the claims of the Bible, especially those events surrounding the resurrection. After all, if Satan can confuse the investigator with theories of a swooning, stolen bodies, mistaken tomb locations, or mass hallucinations, they’ll never take the time for serious thought.

But serious thought is precisely what’s required of you. Will you trust the foolish philosophies of the dead from centuries past, or rest on the verifiable claims of the living, and eternally existent Son of God?

Review John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Timothy 2:5, and 1 John 5:20. There is salvation in no one but Jesus Christ. Call on Him today. Acts 10:43, and Romans 10:8-13.

A typical way to present the Gospel is to walk someone through the Bible passages that systematically communicate God’s revealed truths on the subject. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that method. I just chose to take a different approach. I’ve presented the Good News to you in a more conversational way.

But you should never take my word for it. The consequences are far too great.

I’ve assembled a few pages of Scripture references that will help shed light on the plan of salvation. These would be a great place to begin your discovery of the foundational truths of the Bible. May God bless your studies, and may the Holy Spirit enlighten you in your journeys. 

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)

God is Holy

“This is what the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says... ‘I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King’” (Isaiah 43:14-15)

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” (Leviticus 19:2)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” (Revelation 4:8)

God is Just

“Your throne, God, is forever and ever; the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;”   (Psalm 45:6-7)

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before You.” (Psalm 89:14)

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18)

“For I, the Lord, love justice,” (Isaiah 61:8)

God is Love

“For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” (Psalm 33:4-5)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.”   (1 John 4:7-9)

We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Your Sinfulness

“... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

“... as it is written: There is no righteous person, not even one; there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks out God; they have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

“You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in our sins for a long time; Yet shall we be saved?  For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, and our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us and have surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.”  (Isaiah 64:5-7)

The Results of Sin

“And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)

“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Atonement and Propitiation

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    (Romans 5:6-8)

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”  (1 John 4:10)

Jesus Christ is the Only Way to Salvation

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

“He (Jesus Christ) is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone.  And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12)

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

“This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)

The Resurrection

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”    (Luke 9:22) 

“Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, ‘So it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’” (Luke 24:44-47)

“Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”  (1 Corinthians 15:1-3)

“... knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:18-21)

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?”  (1 Corinthians 9:1)

The Resurrection

“When they had carried out everything that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses” (Acts 13:29-31)

“Now on the next day, that is, the day which is after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and they said, ‘Sir, we remember that when that deceiver was still alive, He said, ‘After three days I am rising.’  Therefore, give orders for the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.’ And they went and made the tomb secure with the guard, sealing the stone. (Matt 27:62-66)

“For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared o Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”  (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

“Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. So because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. It is this Jesus whom God raised up, a fact to which we are all witnesses. Therefore, since He has been exalted at the right hand of God, and has received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.” (Acts 2:29-33)

The Resurrection

“... but put to death the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:15)

“... let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other nameunder heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12) 

“The Resurrection Chapter” is 1 Corinthians 15. It’s a wonderful presentation.

Calling Upon and Trusting Jesus for Salvation

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12)

“Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)

Calling Upon and Trusting Jesus for Salvation

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.’  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (Romans 10:8-13)

“Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4)

Eternal Life in Christ

“The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:35-36)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one 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.” (John 5:24)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life.” (John 6:47)

For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:40)

Living for Christ

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.”           (Romans 6:1-4)

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6)

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

May God bless you in your walk with Him. And may you glorify Him by your life.