THEOLOGICAL ISSUES #8 - ARE THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS TRUE?

Statement: Biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate. This event actually occurred. 

45% of respondents strongly agreed. 35% disagreed or were not sure. 20% somewhat agreed. But, if you look at the age group of 18-24, the percentage that strongly agreed dropped to 34% and the number of those who disagreed or were not sure jumped to 48%. 

We agree with and accept the statement that the Bible is the highest authority for what we believe. 

We also believe the words of 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man or God may be complete, equipped for every good work”. 

So, what does the Bible say? 

All four of the gospel narratives relate the events of Jesus’ resurrection. The New Testament Passages on the Resurrection of Jesus are: Matthew 28:1–20; Mark 16:1–20; Luke 24:1–53; and John 20–21.

Matthew

Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” came to the tomb after the Sabbath and encountered an angel who told them Jesus was risen as he said he would be. (Matthew 28:6) This other Mary is likely the mother of James the Younger (James the Less), one of the Twelve, and Joseph (Joses in the older translations). She was the wife of Alphaeus, also known as Cleopas. She was also present at the crucifixion of Jesus. (John 19:25).

The angel showed them the empty tomb. Then, Jesus appeared to the them and they worshiped him. Notice that the women took hold of Jesus’ feet. (28:9) That shows us that Jesus rose bodily. He was not a spirit or a ghost or an apparition. 

The women went and told the disciples. Matthew was one of the disciples, so he heard their account straight from them and immediately after the event.

Mark

Mark identified “the other Mary” as Mary the mother of James, meaning James the Younger (or “the Less”). Mark also adds that Salome was there. She was the wife of Zebedee and mother of the apostles James and John.

Luke

Luke identified some of the other women who came to the tomb as Joanna and “the other women with them”. (Luke 24:10).

Luke’s account adds that Peter, upon hearing the report of the women, ran to the tomb and found it empty other than the linen cloths that had wrapped Jesus’s body. (Luke 24:12) 

John

John adds that, not only Peter, but another disciple ran to the tomb and saw it empty. We assume that disciple is John himself. (John 20:3-7) John actually went into the tomb and saw the linen cloths and the face cloth lying separately and “believed”. (John 20:8) 

So, we have eyewitness accounts of the empty tomb here. We have several women, named and unnamed, and the apostles Peter and John. Matthew certainly heard the accounts of the women first hand, along with Peter and John and the other disciples. 

Post Resurrection Appearances

In addition to the eyewitness accounts of the empty tomb, there are accounts of those who saw Jesus alive after his death and resurrection.

First, of course, are Mary Magdalene and the other women who saw Jesus at the tomb. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus appeared to these women first rather than the disciples? 

Then, Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples in Galilee. (Matthew 28:16) This is the Twelve minus Judas, who had betrayed Jesus and then killed himself.

Jesus also appeared to two disciples on the road to the village of Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-34) They reported this to the 11 apostles. (33-34) During the report, Jesus appeared to all of them. He had them touch him and ate a piece of fish, both to show them that he was not a spirit, but bodily resurrected. (36-43) 

John also recorded Jesus appearing specifically to Thomas the apostle who was doubting the resurrection. Thomas felt Jesus’ wounds and believed. (John 20:26-28) This was eight days after the resurrection. 

John recorded another appearance to the apostles Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two other disciples by the Sea of Tiberious. (John 21) John, in relating the appearances to the other disciples, is a witness. This is a firsthand account. 

Stephen

Stephen, while being stoned to death, saw the resurrected Jesus in heaven at the right hand of God. Luke recorded this in Acts 7:44. Since Luke traveled with Paul, it is likely he got the account from Paul, who was holding the garments of those who stoned Stephen. (Acts 7:54-58)

Paul

Paul, then, had his own encounter with the risen Lord. On his way to persecute Syrian Christian Jews, he was struck to the ground by a light from heaven. Then Jesus spoke to him and identified himself to him. (Acts 9:1-9) 

Paul recited this event twice in his ministry. First, he addressed a crowd in the temple courtyard in Jerusalem after he was arrested by the Romans. (Acts 22:3-16) Second, he related the story to King Agrippa and Festus. (Acts 26) 

Paul also wrote that Jesus appeared to more than 500 brothers at the same time, many of whom were still alive at the time Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 15:6) That means Paul offered up witnesses that could be interviewed and questioned about their encounter with the risen Christ.

James

Paul also wrote that Jesus appeared to his half brother, James, who would become the leader of the church in Jerusalem. (1 Corinthians 15:7) 

Believing, as we do, that the Bible is our authority and is true, we must believe in the resurrection of Jesus. The Bible leaves no room for questioning the issue. You cannot believe the Bible and not believe in the resurrection. 

Why is the resurrection important theologically? 

Paul wrote that it was of first importance that Jesus was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”. (1 Corinthians 15:4)

The resurrection was proof that Jesus is the Son of God. “…Christ Jesus…was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:1-4)

It is our hope for resurrection of our bodies when Christ returns. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22) 

It is our hope for again seeing those brothers and sisters we have lost to death. “For, since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

The resurrection is God’s acceptance of Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for our sins. “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and your are still in your sins”. (1 Corinthians 15:17) Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”. (Romans 4:25) 

THEOLOGICAL ISSUES - HOW ARE JUSTIFIED? BY FAITH OR BY WORKS?

 THEOLOGICAL ISSUES #7

Statement: God counts a person as righteous, not because of one’s works, but only because of one’s faith in Jesus Christ.

Only 34% of respondents strongly agreed with this statement. 44% either disagreed or were unsure. 

This is the doctrine of justification. We know this because of the language “God counts a person as righteous”. That language comes from Genesis 15:6, which says “And he (Abraham) believed the LORD (Yahweh) and he counted it as righteousness”. 

Introduction - What Is Justification

Justification is a principal benefit of our salvation. In justification, God declares sinners to be righteous in his sight. When God saves, he forgives the sins of his people and imputes Christ’s righteousness to them. He puts it on their accounts before him because of Jesus’ sinless life, atoning death, and resurrection. 

Justification was central to the Protestant Reformers as they refuted the theology of Roman Catholicism. It is also central to the theology of Paul. He discusses it primarily in Romans and Galatians. 

The Need for Justification

We all need justification because of sin. First, we have the sin we inherited from Adam and the sins we have committed. Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…”. 

Again, in Romans 3:23, Paul writes “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. And in Romans 6:23, he says “…the wages of sin is death…”. 

When the day of judgment comes, all human beings will stand before the throne to be judged. No one will be able to stand before God on his or her own merit. The Psalmist wrote “there is none who does good”. (Psalm 14:1) Again, he stated “They have all tuned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3) 

Paul quotes the verses in Romans 3 to make this point. 

Jesus describes the human condition bluntly when he writes “whoever does not believe is condemned already”. (John 3:18) No one has been able to meet God’s standards. “By works of the law no human being will be justified” (Rom. 3:20) This is the picture of a courtroom in a criminal case. And non-believers will hear the Lord, as judge, pronounce them guilty and sentence to death. 

The Nature of Justification

In contrast to non-believers, God will recognize believers as not guilty. On judgment day, believers will be vindicated before men and angels because God has declared them righteous. 

God justifies, declares righteous, the sinner when he or she comes to Christ in faith.  Being declared righteous, we are no longer subject to condemnation. Romans 8:33–34 says “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” 

God does this because, when we are united with Christ, God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us. He credits it to our account. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might come the righteousness of God.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Old Testament example that Paul argues from is Abraham. He wrote: “Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well. (Romans 4:11-12)

We used to sing a children’s song called Father Abraham. It has only one stanza sung repeatedly:

Father Abraham had many sons

Many sons had Father Abraham

I am one of them and so are you

So let's just praise the Lord!

That song was meant to teach the truths of Romans 4:11-12. 

Why do we need justification, to be justified? 

We need more than forgiveness for breaking God’s law in the past. We also need to have perfectly obeyed God’s law. It’s one thing to have our guilt removed, but we also need to be credited with perfect righteousness. Perfect righteousness comes from perfect, complete, obedience. 

Only Jesus has been perfectly obedient. (Hebrews 4:15) So, we need, and receive, God’s imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us. Romans 5:19 says “For as by one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the one man’s (Christ) obedience the many will be made righteous. 

Christ’s obedience was both active and passive.  

Jesus’ active obedience is His perfect obedience to God’s law and commands. Jesus was sinless. Although he was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) Jesus lived on earth in perfect obedience to the Father. 

Jesus’ passive obedience is His paying the penalty for our failure to obey God’s law. Philippians 2:8 says “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

God’s law makes demands of us and if we fail to meet those demands, then the law prescribes a penalty in keeping with the severity of those offenses, which is death. (Romans 6:23) 

That is what God told Adam. He said “You may surely eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day the you eat of it you shall surely die”. (Genesis 2:16)

It’s that double demand of God’s law that makes Christ’s active and passive obedience necessary. He both fulfills the law’s demands and pays its penalty. He perfectly obeyed His Father’s law as our previous representative, Adam, failed to do, and as our new representative, the last Adam, He suffered the penalty prescribed by God’s law for our disobedience. “he was wounded for our transgressions and he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:8) 

The Means of Justification: Faith Alone (Sola Fide)

God justifies those who have faith in Jesus, who believe the gospel. Romans 4:23 says “But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his (Abraham’s) alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification’”. 

“The righteous shall I’ve by faith”. (Romans 1:17)

Galatians 2:15-16 says:

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified”. 

The Blessings Of Justification

Forgiveness - Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity…” (Psalm 32:1-2)

Peace with God - “Therefore, since we have b been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

“ When I see Christ on the cross, Christ in the tomb, Christ risen from the dead, Christ at the right hand of God, I understand that he took away my sin. He died; he was buried; he came forth from the grave, having destroyed my sin, and put it away; and he has gone into the heavens as my Representative, to take possession of the right hand of God for me, that I in him and with him may sit there for ever and ever. To me, Christ’s sacrifice is a business transaction as clear and straight as mathematics could make it. I care not that men decry what they call ‘the mercantile theory of the atonement.’ I hold no ‘theory’ of the atonement; I believe that the substitution of Christ for his people is the atonement for their sins; and that there is no other atonement, but that all else is theory.”

C. H. Spurgeon 

THEOLOGICAL ISSUES #6 - IS GOD UNCHANGING?

 Statement: God is unchanging.

52% of evangelicals strongly agreed with this statement. That means 48% did not strongly agree.

What does the Bible say?

Remember that we look to the Bible as our authority and our instructor as 2 Timothy 3:16 says: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”.

The Bible is clear in both the old and new testaments that God does not change. 

“For I the Lord do not change…”(Mal. 3:6;) 

The context of that verse is God calling Israel to repentance because they were not obeying God’s law. He said they had not been consumed because he does not change. He would return to them if they would return to him. So, his not changing was a good thing for them. 

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James1:17)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

God is eternal and eternally unchanging. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. He has the same attributes.

God’s very name implies his unchanging nature. When God, at the burning bush, commissioned Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked for God’s name. God said “I AM WHO I AM” and he told Moses to tell Israel “I AM has sent me to you”. (Exodus 3:14) God said he is who he is and will be, not changing. 

In Isaiah, God repeatedly affirms to Israel that “I am he”, meaning he is the one who is and will always be the same, unchanged. For example, in Isaiah 41:4, he says “Who has performed an done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first and with the last; I am he”. 

In 43:10, he says “…that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he”. In 46:4, he says “even to your old age I am he…”, a comfort for us as we age. In 48:12, he declares “…I am he; I am the first, and I am the last”. 

The Westminster Shorter Catechism captures this doctrine, saying: 

“God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” 

(Westminster Shorter Catechism 4)

This is the theological doctrine of Divine immutability.  It flows from the doctrine of Aseity. Aseity means God is independent of everything outside of himself; he is sufficient in himself. He needs nothing, he depends on no one. It is we who depend on him, not he who depends on us.

It also means he has the fullness of being, containing all perfections. He is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) There is nothing lacking in him. Thus, there would be no need for God to change.

Therefore, there can be no change in God because any change in God would imply a change for the worse, which would make him less than what he is, less than perfect. He cannot change for the better because there is no better than perfect.

Augustine said “If God were not immutable, he would not be God”. (Augustine, “On Grace and Free Will”)

There are philosophies and theologies that attempt to contradict this doctrine, however. 

A philosophy that developed a theology that wrongly contradicts this is process theology. It holds that God learns and changes as he adapts to what he has learned. It denies God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and immutability. This idea is in opposition to the teaching of the Bible and classic Christianity. 

God knows all things (omniscience), so he has no need to learn. (1 John 3:20) He also has no need to adapt to changing circumstances because his will was established before the creation of the world. (Ephesians 1:8) He is omnipresent (present at all times, not bound by space or time). His plans are eternal and unchanging. (Isaiah 46:10; Psalm 33:11) He is the eternal and sovereign king of the universe. 

If God learns, his knowledge is dependent. If God adapts to different circumstances, his being is dependent on those circumstances. Ultimately, to say that God learns and that God adapts to different circumstances is to say that God is a dependent being, and a God who is dependent isn’t God.

Open theism holds that God's knowledge of the future is not exhaustive, because the future is not yet fixed. It is not fixed because the free will of humans may change it. It denies God’s omniscience. It requires that God be ignorant of some things in the future. 

If this were true, God could not say, as he does:

 “I am God…declaring the end from the  beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying ‘My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose…I have spoken and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed and I will do it”. (Isaiah 46:10-11)

God said he knows what will happen all the way to the end. This is omniscience. He knows it because he wills it in his sovereignty. 

Here is an example. In Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent: 

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heal”. 

We know that God was speaking of the coming of Jesus Christ who would conquer Satan, the serpent. Clearly, God knew what would happen because he ordained it to happen around 4,000 years before it happened. 

Open Theism also denies God’s immutability, holding that God’s knowledge grows in response to what humans do and he changes as he grows. This also denies God’s sovereignty. 

I call this “Dune Theology”. The Dune Trilogy written by Frank Herbert features a messiah like character who sees many possible futures and narrows the field as time goes on until he has a good idea of what will actually happen. That is not how God is. 

As the Puritan Stephen Charnock states: 

“He who hath not being from another, cannot but be always what he

is: God is the first Being, an independent Being; he was not

produced of himself, or of any other, but by nature always

hath been, and, therefore, cannot by himself, or by any other,

be changed from what he is in his own nature.”

Stephen Charnock, ”The Existence and Attributes of God."

Ramifications

God’s immutability is a source of comfort and assurance to Christians 

because we can count on God to be who he says he is and to do what he says he will do. 

God’s immutability is one of the attributes that make him different, and better than, than human beings.That leads us to worship.

Since a vast majority of Evangelicals said the Bible was their authority, why did not a greater number affirm this doctrine? It means they do not know their Bibles. In some cases, it may mean they actually do not accept the Bible’s authority. Don’t be like those people. 

If we define God as other than he reveals himself, we worship an idol. 

Carnal men love the god they make, but not the God that made them.

Charles Spurgeon.