238822738 apologetics-arguments

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Dear Brother,
I have gone through the article. I don’t know who has written this, but after reading the
lines, it was very clear that the person has a very shallow understanding of Bible and its
Theology. Lines could give me an impression about the person as follows:-
1. He might have gone through several failures in his personal life, which might
have made him sick towards Theism (God)
2. He don’t have a proper study about Bible, but just got some garbage from the
internet sites to glare on to the Biblical truths.
3. He is a person, who is searching the treasure in the darkness without the torch.
4. He is not a constructive critic but a destructive critic because he could not
maintain the ethics of criticism.
5. His attempt is not to understand the truth of Jesus Christ but it is just to beat
around the bushes for entertainment, and so in actual he don’t deserve an answer
to his foolish arguments, but then its my ultimate responsibility to put the truth in
front of him, expecting a repentance in his life, so that he may also come into the
saving grace of Lord Jesus Christ.
6. Still God loves him…. And expecting a comeback to God’s Kingdom
Now the precise answers of the arguments:-
1. Bible alone is truth:-

Yes, Christianity is the one true religion. That may sound awfully dogmatic and narrow-minded, but the
simple truth is that Christianity is the only true religion. Jesus said that He alone was the way to the Father
(John 14:6), that He alone revealed the Father (Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22). Christians do not go around
saying Christianity is the only way because they are arrogant, narrow-minded, stupid, and judgmental.
They do so because they believe what Jesus said. They believe in Jesus, who claimed to be God (John
8:58; Exodus 3:14), who forgave sins (Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20; 7:48), and who rose from the dead (Luke
24:24-29; John 2:19f). Jesus said that He was the only way. Jesus is unique. He was either telling the
truth, He was crazy, or He was a liar. But since everyone agrees that Jesus was a good man, how then
could He be both good and crazy, or good and a liar? He had to be telling the truth. He is the only way.
Christianity is not just a religion; it is a relationship with God. It is a trusting in Jesus and what He did on
the cross (1 Cor. 15:1-4), not on what you can do for yourself (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Buddha didn't rise from the dead, nor did Confucius or Zoroaster. Muhammad didn't fulfill detailed
prophecy. Alexander the Great didn't raise the dead or heal the sick. And though there is far less reliable
information written about them, people believed in them.
The scripture is right when it says in 1 Pet. 2:7-8, "This precious value, then, is for you who believe. But
for those who disbelieve, 'The stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone,' and, 'A
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense'; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to
this doom they were also appointed." (NASB).
The Mathematical Odds of Jesus Fulfilling Prophecy
"The following probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press, 1963) to show
that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Stoner says that by using the modern science of
probability in reference to eight prophecies, ‘we find that the chance that any man might have lived down
to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 1017
." That would be 1 in
100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it
by supposing that "we take 1017
silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the
state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the
state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver
dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same
chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in
any one man."
Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "We find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies
to be 1 in 10157
, or 1 in 10,00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 000,000,000." 1
The estimated number of electrons in the universe is around 1079
. It should be quite evident that Jesus did
not fulfill the prophecies by accident. He was who He said He was: the only way (John 14:6).
Origin of the Bible - The Truth About Translations
To many, the origin of the Bible can be summed-up as follows: "A mere translation of a translation
of an interpretation of an oral tradition" - and therefore, a book with no credibility or connection to
the original texts. Actually, the foregoing statement is a common misunderstanding of both
Christians and non-christians alike. Translations such as the King James Version are derived
from existing copies of ancient manuscripts such as the Hebrew Masoretic Text (Old Testament)
and the Greek Textus Receptus (New Testament), and are not translations of texts translated
from other interpretations. The primary differences between today's Bible translations are merely
related to how translators interpret a word or sentence from the original language of the text
source (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).
Origin of the Bible - The Reliability of Ancient Manuscripts
Another challenge against the origin of the Bible is the reliability of the manuscripts from which
today's Bibles are translated. Remarkably, there is widespread evidence for absolute reliability.
There are more than 14,000 existing Old Testament manuscripts and fragments copied
throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean and European regions that agree dramatically with
each other. In addition, these texts agree with the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which
was translated from Hebrew to Greek some time during the 3rd century BC. The Dead Sea
Scrolls, discovered in Israel in the 1940's and 50's, also provide phenomenal evidence for the
reliability of the ancient transmission of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) before the arrival
of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew scribes who copied the Jewish Scriptures dedicated their lives to
preserving the accuracy of the holy books. These scribes went to phenomenal lengths to insure
manuscript reliability. They were highly trained and meticulously observed, counting every letter,
word and paragraph against master scrolls. A single error would require the immediate
destruction of the entire text.
The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is also dramatic, with over 5,300 known copies
and fragments in the original Greek, nearly 800 of which were copied before 1000 AD. Some
manuscript texts date to the early second and third centuries, with the time between the original
autographs and our earliest existing copies being a remarkably short 60 years. Interestingly, this
manuscript evidence far surpasses the manuscript reliability of other ancient writings that we trust
as authentic every day. Look at these comparisons: Julius Caesar's "The Gallic Wars" (10
manuscripts remain, with the earliest one dating to 1,000 years after the original autograph); Pliny
the Younger's "History" (7 manuscripts; 750 years elapsed); Thucydides' "History" (8 manuscripts;
1,300 years elapsed); Herodotus' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Sophocles (193
manuscripts; 1,400 years); Euripides (9 manuscripts; 1,500 years); and Aristotle (49 manuscripts;
1,400 years).
Homer's "Iliad", the most renowned book of ancient Greece, has 643 copies of manuscript
support. In those copies, there are 764 disputed lines of text, as compared to 40 lines in all the
New Testament manuscripts (Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to
the Bible, Moody, Chicago, Revised and Expanded 1986, p. 367). In fact, many people are
unaware that each of William Shakespeare's 37 plays (written in the 1600's) have gaps in the
surviving manuscripts, forcing scholars to "fill in the blanks." This pales in textual comparison with
the over 5,300 copies and fragments of the New Testament that, together, assure us that

nothing's been lost. In fact, all of the New Testament except eleven verses can be reconstructed
from the writings of the early church fathers in the second and third centuries. (A General
Introduction to the Bible, Ch. 24.)
Origin of the Bible - The Power of Prophecy
The origin of the Bible is God. It is a historical book that is backed by archeology, and a prophetic
book that has lived up to all of its claims thus far. The Bible is God's letter to humanity collected
into 66 books written by 40 divinely inspired writers over a period of over 1,600 years. The claim
of divine inspiration may seem dramatic (or unrealistic to some), but a careful and honest study of
the biblical scriptures will show them to be true. Powerfully, the Bible validates its divine
authorship through fulfilled prophecies. An astonishing 668 prophecies have been fulfilled and
none have ever been proven false (three are unconfirmed). God decided to use prophecy as His
primary test of divine authorship, and an honest study of biblical prophecy will compellingly show
the supernatural origin of the Bible. Skeptics must ask themselves, "Would the gambling industry
even exist if people could really tell the future?" Again, no other holy book comes even close to
the Bible in the amount of evidence supporting its credibility, authenticity and divine authorship.
IS THE BIBLE AUTHENTIC?
Why should we believe that the Bible is God's Word and not something concocted by
humans?
Below is a table containing information on some important volumes of historical literature:

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
How do we gauge the authenticity of an historical document?
• Firstly, we need to find out the time span elapsed from when it happened/ when it
was written, to when the first copy was found. Obviously, the shorter the time
span, the less room for error and corruption of the original story by folklore or by
fraudulent/ falsified copies.
• Secondly, we need to find out how many original manuscripts there were. The
more manuscripts there are concerning the same story, especially when written at
the same time, but in different geographic locations, obviously adds to the
integrity/ authenticity of the document.
This is briefly how historians and scientists evaluate a document's authenticity.
• From the table above, we see that the earliest existing documents concerning Roman
history were found 900 years (almost 1 whole millennium!!) after the events happened,
and that only 20 original copies exist. Yet, how is it that we all believe
without question that Roman Historical literature (Julius Caesar etc)
IS the factual Truth?
• Consider then that the Bible manuscripts date from only 30 -150 years after they
happened, and that more than 30 000 original manuscripts exist!! By comparison then,
Roman History becomes a mere 'fairy tale' when compared to the Bible for authenticity,
accuracy and integrity.
The late Professor FF Bruce was one of the world’s foremost Textual History critics (and a
non-Christian) at the time that he said:

“The interval then between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence
becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, especially when compared to the dates of
academically accepted Historical documents such as those detailing Roman History. The last
foundation for any doubt that the scripts of the Old and New Testaments have come down
to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and
the general integrity of these works may now be finally established and proved, probably
to be the most authentic historical documents known to man.” !!
One therefore has to go beyond mere skepticism about the authenticity of these Books – in fact,
anyone who denies that these books are factual and genuine, must therefore doubt all historical
literature written in the last 3 millennia, because there is not a single historical document that
has anywhere near the scientific credentials that the Bible has as being authentic.
Having established therefore, according to irrefutable scientific and academic evidence that the
Bible is, as far as we can possibly prove, authentic, we need to examine its contents.
• On an academic footing then, we have to accept (regardless of how skeptical we as
humans are by nature) the fact that what it says, really happened, based on its
authenticity, and verified by scholars as factual history.
What the Bible actually says (to cut a long story short!) is that it’s contents are the Word of
God, that God created man and a son called Jesus who was God incarnate, who walked on
water, who parted the seas, who made men who were born without eyes see, who turned water
to wine, who fed thousands with 5 fish, who raised the dead, who performed so many incredible
miracles that really only a God could perform and who selflessly died for man’s fallen nature.
Many of these facts are verified by other historical documents of the same period, including much
Hebraic literature and even the Qu’ran.
PROPHECY
• About 30% of the Bible's contents concern prophecy - foretelling the future.
o There are 371 predictions/prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah
– all written at least 600-800 years before Jesus lived and most of which were
fulfilled by Jesus! How is this possible without God’s intervention?
o We have to admit to ourselves too, that if Jesus was real, if He was who He
claimed to be, then we have to pretty darn stupid not to believe in Him and
accept His promised gift of everlasting life through Him dying on the cross for us.
It sounds all hocus-pocus, airy-fairy stuff, but this God of ours is Sovereign, all-
powerful, all capable and all consuming. How can we, as mere mortals, even
begin to understand and grasp the enormity of GOD? Yet, He has provided for
us a way, within our mortal scope of intelligence and understanding, that we can
understand and believe – His Living Word.
o He has warned us personally throughout His Word of the consequences of our
pride and skepticism: if we reject His awesome promise of salvation through
His Son, if we reject His love, grace and power, we will burn in Hell forever, with
much “wailing and gnashing of teeth, eternal suffering, travail and torment” – this
is the Bible’s description of hell. (Being a dentist, the gnashing of teeth didn’t
sound too appealing!)
Matthew 13: 37
He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of
Man. 38
The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the
kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39
and the enemy who sows
them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are
angels. 40
"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the
end of the age. 41
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed
out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42
They will
throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and

gnashing of teeth. 43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of
their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
If you cannot believe these much evidences, you are lost….very pitty on you sir…..
2. ORIGIN SIN
Original Sin: Why Creation and Evolution Cannot Coexist in Christianity
“Original Sin” is one of the core theological reasons that a Christian cannot embrace the theory of
evolution. Regardless of the scientific issues that now plague the evolutionary belief system, the
whole message of Christianity starts with mankind’s fall from paradise into death through Adam’s
sin. With evolution, we envision millions and millions of years of death, decay and disease before
Adam even came on the scene. However, this picture is not consistent with the “very good” earth
created by God. More importantly, as one can thoroughly investigate, death before sin is
theologically inconsistent with the rest of Christian doctrine.
Original Sin: An Atheist Evolutionist Got it Right
“Original Sin” and its relation to evolutionary theory was discussed by an outspoken evolutionist,
Richard Bozarth, in the American Atheist magazine. The following excerpts come from “The
Meaning of Evolution” (September 1979, p. 30):
"Christianity is - must be! - totally committed to the special creation as described in
Genesis, and Christianity must fight with its full might against the theory of evolution. And
here is why.
In Romans 5:12, we read that “sin entered the world through one man, and through sin -
death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has
sinned.”
The whole justification of Jesus' life and death is predicated on the existence of Adam
and the forbidden fruit he and Eve ate. Without the original sin, who needs to be
redeemed? Without Adam's fall into a life of constant sin terminated by death, what
purpose is there to Christianity? None.
Even a high school student knows enough about evolution to know that nowhere in the
evolutionary description of our origins does there appear an Adam or an Eve or an Eden
or a forbidden fruit. Evolution means a development from one form to the next to meet
the ever-changing challenges from an ever-changing nature. There is no fall from a
previous state of sublime perfection.
Without Adam, without the original sin, Jesus Christ is reduced to a man with a mission
on a wrong planet!"
Original Sin: A Genetic Defect we all Share
Original Sin is the genetic defect we all inherited from Adam and Eve. Through this genetic defect
we all inherited death -- both physical and spiritual – and were separated from God. Through
Jesus Christ, we all have the ability to conquer this genetic defect – sin and death – and be
reconnected to God eternally. Paradise was the original state of Adam’s garden on God’s “very

good” earth, not millions and millions of years of death, decay, disease, and naturalistic trial and
error. Jesus Christ picked the right planet – and thank God for that!
3. REDEMPTION & SALVATION
Before we can understand the Biblical concept of Redemption as it applies to Jesus Christ
and His work on the cross, we must understand the basic meaning that the word brought
to the mind of most ancient people. Like a lot of words within today’s Church,
Redemption has come to be used as a specifically religious term, but in ancient times it
was primarily secular - a word that was in everyday usage - and, then, secondarily, it was
used to describe God’s dealings with mankind, whether we think of ‘God’ as the Person
revealed to us in the Bible or of other belief systems.
Although the use of the word has largely gone out of fashion in common everyday
language, the concepts are still very much with us, but the word doesn’t conjure up any
complete understanding of the concepts behind the word.
Redemption, then, had four basic characteristics
a. Bondage
Something or someone was in bondage.
The freedom that was once available to them was non-existent or, at least, extremely
restricted, so that a return to the original state of affairs was required for them to
experience ‘freedom’, even though that ‘free’ state may still have had limitations
imposed that had previously existed before the bondage came about. That is to say,
redemption does not win absolute freedom but is specific in its work.
There have been many religions through the ages who’ve seen their earthly circumstances
as being restrictions upon the freedom of expressing themselves, of demonstrating the
‘real’ them. Some have even gone so far as to end this life suddenly in order that they
might have, what they suppose to be, a freer life elsewhere.
But, when you think about it, all men and women have some form of restriction placed
upon them whether self-made (fidelity to the marriage vow, only having the time
available to do one thing and not another) or obligatory (we can’t live forever or fly to the
moon).
Death brings no real solution if, when you enter it, you find yourself subjected to
restrictions imposed upon you by the One who created all things. Far better that, in this
life, we restrict ourselves to be pleasing to Him and then find release and freedom for
eternity when we die.
In secular usage of the term bondage, though, we’re primarily thinking about the bondage

that’s a restriction placed upon an individual’s freedom in this life, usually by other men
and women, but which also contains the possibility that the bondage may be removed by
a completed work of redemption.
b. Redeemer
One who would get involved in the liberation of what was in bondage.
The redeemer could even be the one that was in bondage, as we shall see, but usually it
was another, independent person. The redeemer is, in more common terms a ‘buyer’ or a
‘purchaser’ who must pay a price (the ransom - see the next point) to secure the release of
an object or person. But we shouldn’t think that, for instance, the purchasing of an item in
a department store or corner shop is a demonstration of redemption for there’s no
freedom that the item is being brought into that existed before it was offered for sale.
The price paid by the redeemer secures a freedom that was in existence before the
bondage was imposed upon it - this can’t be said of articles for sale.
c. Ransom
A price paid by the redeemer to cancel the bondage that existed.
It was usually a ‘monetary’ payment but it could be material objects (such as quantities of
certain crops or land - the type of monetary system that we now have rarely existed in
those days) or even, on rare occasions, a person’s life.
In ancient times, human sacrifice played a major part of the religion of cultures who had
a distorted concept of the character of God and who used to offer sacrifice as the ultimate
price to secure favours from their gods, more especially when the harvest or crops failed
and when it was understood to be a sign that the gods were displeased with their
worshippers.
In that way, so it was thought, the blood sacrifice (the ransom) bought for them a release
from the anger of the god and a freedom that had previously been experienced.
d. Freedom
What had been a bondage was removed and the individual person or object was restored
into its original freedom, its primary state. It didn’t bring a newness of situation but a
restoration.
This is quite important. Though we may see many people throughout the world being
brought into situations that are a better expression of freedom, redemption primarily
concerned itself with the restoration of what was once available, not of bringing about a
newness of experience that had previously been unknown.

However, when we go on to look at the redemption that has been secured through Christ
on the cross, the fulness of the freedom available will be seen to be that which existed
only for the first man and woman on the earth, before the first sin was committed. But,
even so, aspects of that freedom will be restored that had been lost to individuals in their
own lives.
.)(.
Summarising, then, the action of the redeemer by paying the ransom effected freedom
from bondage, a release. Here we have the concept of redemption in one short sentence
using the four keywords that are characteristic of it.
These characteristics are evident in the following examples in section 2 - taken from
ancient times - and which the people understood as accomplishing redemption.
2. Forms of redemption in ancient times
We shall be returning to all these examples of manumission under part d and there,
hopefully, show how the cross of Jesus Christ has paid the price (the ransom) for each of
them. For now, though, it’s only necessary to show the differing forms that redemption
took in the ancient world before we look at how the Bible talks about the cross of Christ
being a type of redemption.
a. Manumission (the freeing of slaves)
i. In the Old Testament
Lev 25:47-55
When a Jew became poor and sold himself into slavery, one of his brothers (and various
other members of the family) had the right to redeem him out of slavery with a price that
was based upon a consideration of how long it was until the next year of Jubilee. If the
slave prospered, he also had the right to redeem himself (see my notes on ‘Jubilee’ for an
extensive explanation of this year).
Even if the slave wasn’t to be redeemed, upon the next Jubilee, the slave had to be set
free with no ransom being paid (this shall be looked at under the subject - very simply,
‘Jubilee’ referred to every fiftieth year in the Jewish calendar when a special type of
release took place).
Therefore, the price that the master was to pay for the initial purchase of the slave would
have been estimated according to the number of years that were still to pass before that
year.
ii. In the Greek world
In the Greek world, slaves (whether born in slavery or bought into it) were allowed to

buy their freedom via the intermediary of a pagan god. Having saved up the ‘redemption-
value’, the slave would deposit the money in a pagan temple which would then use it to
buy that slave from his master on behalf of the god of the temple.
The slave was bought ‘for freedom’ (this being a translation of the technical term that
was used) and not to become just another menial servant in the temple service - this was
expressly stated when the transaction took place.
Inscriptions within the temples themselves have survived which are records of such
transactions. One such inscription is reproduced in Morris and runs
‘Date. Apollo the Pythian bought from Sosibius of Amphissa, for freedom, a female
slave, whose name is Nicaea, by race a Roman, with a price of 3 minae of silver and a
half-mina....The purchase...Nicaea hath committed unto Apollo, for freedom. Names of
witnesses follow’
Of course, manumission wasn’t a compulsory obligation, some preferring to stay under
the protection of their master, but many slaves availed themselves of their right to redeem
themselves ‘for freedom’ with a ransom price.
Having been ‘bought’ by a god, there were certain duties that the freed slave was then
obligated to perform on certain occasions, but that’s not to say that their slavery was
transferred to the god of the temple.
b. Prisoners of war (POWs)
When war was ended, the victors would carry away captive prisoners of war - warriors
and rulers of the opposing side captured in battle.
Many of these POWs were put to forced labour, becoming slaves within the foreign
nation. However, others, by their very appearance, weren’t suited to the menial drudgery
of service for they were the rulers and royalty, the leaders and older ruling men.
To increase the spoils of war, the victors would make it known in the opposing camp that
they had ‘such and such’ a person and were willing to release him for a certain sum. This
sum was known as the ransom.
If the losing camp was able to raise this amount (and it depended entirely on how well
they thought that the captive was thought of in their home territory as to how much they
would ask), they swapped it for their comrade.
He was ‘redeemed’ out of the enemy’s hands to be a free citizen in his own land.
c. The ox owner
Ex 21:28-32

If an ox had been accustomed to gore in the past, but the owner hadn’t taken any action to
remove the possibility that it might take human life, then, if it should kill, the owner of
the ox was to be held accountable for the life of the one that the ox had killed - the
punishment of death rested upon him.
However, a ransom might be laid upon him (even though this was not obligatory - the
first consideration was death) and it was to be paid.
Though it doesn’t say who exactly it was to be paid to, we imagine that it must have been
some relative or other who was either directly related to the deceased person or who was
the head of the family or tribal unit. In this way, the ox owner redeemed himself from the
condemnation of death that rested upon him - he was as free as he was before the incident
took place.
d. The inheritance
Lev 25:25-28
When a Jew became poor and sold his inheritance (which had been given to him as an
everlasting inheritance), his next of kin had the right to redeem the property with a price
based upon the time left until the next year of Jubilee (see above and also the subject
‘Jubilee’). If the Jew prospered whose property it was, he had the right to redeem it
himself.
The actual Scripture lays an obligation upon the brother and the individual. Though
we’ve spoken of both of them above as ‘having the right’ to redeem the land, the passage
actually says that the brother ‘shall come and redeem’ (Lev 25:25) and the subsequent
instruction to the Jew who sold it doesn’t appear to give him any choice in the matter
(Lev25:26-27).
The reason was that property wasn’t exchangeable absolutely but was an eternal
inheritance to be freed to its rightful owner upon payment of the ransom as soon as that
ransom was able to be paid or, if it had not been ransomed before, at the year of Jubilee.
Chart
The chart below shows, in table form, the forms of redemption as detailed in section 2. In
each example, a single label summarising the type of bondage is written in block capitals.

3. Redemption in Christ
Having seen how the ancients understood the concept of redemption, we now look at
what the Bible talks of as the redemption we have in Christ before returning to the last
section to see how Christ has paid the price for each situation previously described.
a. Bondage to sin
i. The choice to sin
When Cain became angry that the offering he’d brought to the Lord had been
unacceptable whereas the offering of his brother Abel was accepted, God spoke directly
to him warning him (Gen 4:6-7) that

‘...sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it’
The language is that of sin being like a wild animal, waiting at the door of Cain’s life,
which must be tamed and mastered. But the story of mankind both here and in subsequent
generations is that we’ve never mastered it. The same is true today as it was all those
years ago - when man has found himself in a situation where he gets angry because one
person has more favour than another, the normal reaction is to plot to ‘put down’ the
other. Though only on very rare occasions would most of us scheme murder, the mind is
the battle zone where such actions are plotted (Mtw 5:21-22).
There’s a freedom of choice in every sin committed - even though mankind has the
resources (the will and the determination) to take authority over sin, we often choose to
submit our will to it and so become its slave, bringing more sin into the world by the
outworking of our own free choice.
Written to believers but equally applicable to all men and women, Rom 6:16 reads
‘If you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom
you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to
righteousness’
When we submit our wills to the way of sin, it becomes our master and we its slave. It’s
not enough to simply say just that we are by nature sinners (Cp Mark 7:15 - the ‘sinful
nature’ or ‘flesh’ was dealt with by Jesus on the cross when we were crucified with Him -
see also my notes on Baptism for an explanation of Rom 6:6), but that even when we
have a free choice, we sin.
Just as a slave is one who obeys the will of a master, so a sinner is one who obeys the will
of sin. Sin becomes a person’s master because it has its way in a person’s life - that is, a
person chooses sin’s will for themselves.
This is a voluntary slavery and nothing that’s forced upon us. Even though we like to
think of ourselves as victims of circumstance and plead that we had no choice in the
matter but to ‘sin’, the real crux is that, in every circumstance, we were unwilling to pay
the consequences that would have been brought upon us if we had chosen the ‘right way’,
if we had chosen righteousness.
ii. Facing up to the reality
If we have the Law (that is, if we are ‘religious’, if we have a belief system and a life
that’s based upon even some laws and regulations that are Biblical) we do not keep it
(Rom 2:21-24). Even people who’ve never read the Bible and do not therefore know
what God has said, have a ‘morality’ that they like to think that they live up to - but of
which they often fall short.
In prison, where we would think that most people have no morals, there’s still a form of

moral code in the life of even the grossest individual (in the world’s eyes). But, still, what
little we think we are, we fail to be.
But, further than this, if we don’t have the Law (if we have no recognised moral code by
which we live our lives), even the ‘light’ we perceive about God we don’t live up to
(Rom 1:18-21ff). When individuals look around themselves and perceive what’s plainly
evident to them, they still suppress that truth and replace it by an image that doesn’t
resemble either the nature that we were created in or the nature of God (which, when all’s
said and done, are one and the same).
So, Paul can say with conviction (Rom 3:23 - in one of his ‘greatest hits’!) that
‘...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’
and that (Rom 3:9)
‘...we are all under the power of sin’
Man’s great problem is not that he’s living in bondage but that he won’t accept that he’s
in bondage.
When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles about the
truth setting them free (John 8:31-34), they retorted with the statement (v.33)
‘...we are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to anyone...’
not realising the bondage to sin that Jesus had in mind. Therefore, He replied by pointing
out (v.34) that
‘...everyone who continues in [so the meaning] sin is a slave to sin’
By their reaction to Jesus’ words it’s obvious that the Jews present refused to
acknowledge the truth about themselves as individuals and corporately as a nation. But
the scenario is not one that just belongs to ‘then’ - each of us would like to see Jesus’
teaching as pointing to ‘him’ or ‘her’ but certainly not to ‘me’ or ‘us’ because that
convicts us of the situation that we’re in and begins to wake us up to the fact that we need
to change. Johntask writes
‘Man’s greatest need...is to know what is his greatest need’
That is, man needs to face up to the reality of his dilemma and not to rely upon any false
hopes or ideals, neither to mask the truth of his situation and try to rely upon false words,
lies and deceit.
Some people rely on doing good (hoping that somehow their good deeds may outweigh
the evil they do) or even on not being as bad as another (and we can always find some

poor bloke who’s a greater sinner than we are) - but all such arguments are lacking in a
recognition of individual human responsibility, and lacking in a dependence upon the
work of Christ.
Man’s dilemma, then, is not just that he’s subject to the bondage of sin, a bondage that he
cannot permanently break free from, but that it’s necessary for him to acknowledge it
before Christ who’s able to minister redemption to him in the situation.
The work of the Holy Spirit of ‘conviction of sin’ is of primary importance as a
forerunner to a person being ‘born again’ - man’s response to God’s work of conviction
must be repentance, a turning away from sin (see my notes on ‘Repentance’) but this can
only be achieved if there’s an acknowledgement of that individual’s state.
b. Impossibility and promise
In the examples in section 2, we saw that in OT times there were instances when a man
was able to redeem both himself and his possessions out of bondage. With regard to sin,
however, this is an impossibility even though Judaism tried to obtain it by works of the
Law (Rom 9:30-32).
Ps 49:7-9 tells us that
‘...no man can redeem the life of another, or give to God the price of his life. For the
ransom of his life is costly and can never suffice that he should continue to live on
forever and never see the pit’
It hardly seems necessary to quote any further Scriptures, this being unambiguous and
straightforward - though there may be occurrences where a man may redeem himself on
earth by paying a price to another man for something that has happened, when we come
to look at our relationship with God, there’s nothing that man can pay that will redeem
him from the sentence that hangs over him.
But, if there was no possibility of self-redemption from sin, there was in the OT the
promise that God would redeem His creation from out of sin’s bondage that had been
inflicted upon it.
So, further on in the psalm previously quoted, we read the sons of Korah stating quite
unequivocally (Ps 49:15) that
‘God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me’
even though just how God is going to do it is not explained to us. Nevertheless, what they
felt was going to certainly happen, has now been made known (Heb 11:39-40).
And in Hosea 13:14 (quoted this way in the NT in I Cor 15:55) we read God saying

‘I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol, I shall redeem them from death. O Death,
where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction?’
These verses speak of a redemption from the grave, from death, and don’t directly refer
to sin - but (I Cor 15:56)
‘the sting of death is sin...’
and (Rom 5:12)
‘...sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to
all men because all men sinned’
Death is spoken of as a direct consequence of sin in the Romans’ verse and we find the
same in James 1:14-15 which states that
‘...sin when it is full grown brings forth death’
The promise of a redemption from the bondage of sin necessarily deals with death, for
it’s in death that sin finally triumphs and keeps us eternally absent from the presence of
God. But, more than this, if sin is to be defeated, the curse of physical death must be
broken (Gen 3:19).
To defeat death, therefore, sin must be dealt with.
c. The Redeemer and the ransom
In this section, we’re going to simply look at the passages that use redemption imagery to
speak of the death of Christ and so begin to understand how the work of the cross can be
taken to have been a ransom paid that’s acceptable to God that frees men and women
from sin and its consequences.
There are three words that are spoken of as being the ransom (blood, death and life) and
we’ll list these first (my italics throughout) before going on to discuss their relevance.
i. Blood
Jesus shed His blood.
Eph 1:7-8 - ‘In [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses [that is, sin], according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us’
Rev 5:9 - ‘...[the Lamb] was slain and by Thy blood didst ransom men for God from
every tribe and tongue and people and nation...’
I Peter 1:18-19 - ‘...you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers
[that is, legalistic observance/Oral law = self-redemption]...with the precious blood of
Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot’
Acts 20:28 - ‘...the Church of God which He purchased with the blood of His own Son’

ii. Death
Jesus died on the cross.
Heb 9:15 - ‘...a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the
first covenant [that is, the people before Christ came]’
The penalty of sin, under the Law, is death - spiritual and physical. Jesus took that death
upon Himself, so paying the price for our freedom.
iii. Life
Jesus gave His life.
Mark 10:45 - ‘...the Son of man came...to give His life as a ransom for many’
.)(.
‘Blood’, ‘Death’ and ‘Life’ are the three words that are used to describe the sacrificial
offering of Christ to God on the cross. ‘He shed His blood’, ‘He gave His life’ and ‘He
died on our behalf’ are three phrases which are synonymous - if you lay down your life
by the shedding of your blood, you die. They’re so integrated in their meaning that we’re
virtually saying the same thing no matter which one of the three words that we choose to
use.
Jesus owned no land or property that we know of (though, as head of Joseph’s family,
there may have been a small allocation of land where they grew some crops), neither did
He have any riches or personal possessions that were of any great worth, so He gave the
one thing that He did have in exchange for mankind’s salvation - Himself.
We read, therefore, that (Titus 2:14) Jesus
‘...gave Himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity’
Jesus had nothing else to give us but Himself. Jesus is both our ransom and our Redeemer
and, more than this, redemption is only found in Him even though we may try and find it
elsewhere and in different people who now exist or who have existed throughout history
(Rom 3:23-24, Acts 4:12).
Therefore, this believer’s claim is quite shocking in our modern society that likes to court
the favour of many gods and see in each and every religion a way to God that’s both
relevant and acceptable. The Bible says ‘not so’ and becomes offensive to a lot of its
readers.
On the cross, Jesus was made to be sin even though He knew no sin - He knew what sin
is but He knew no sin by experience, He hadn’t committed sin (II Cor 5:21).

When Jesus cried out (Mtw 27:45-46)
‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’
He was spiritually separated from the presence of God (Mtw 27:45-46), cut off out of the
land of the living (Isaiah 53:8), taking the punishment that our sin deserved and paying
the price that we should rightly have paid as a consequence of our sins.
Concluding, then, the fourfold concept of redemption that we looked at in section 1 can
be used to match the work of Christ on the cross as shown on the chart above as
Bondage - sin
Redeemer - Jesus
Ransom - The blood, death and life of Jesus
Freedom - From sin
We should note in closing that theologians throughout history have sought to theorise on
who the ransom (Jesus Christ) was paid to, many arriving at the conclusion that it was
satan.
But, while the Bible makes use of redemption imagery to explain one aspect of the
accomplishment of the cross, it makes no mention as to whom payment was made. ‘The
ransom was paid’ is all that the Scriptures tell us and, indeed, that’s all that can be said -
to go further is to stray into speculation that will draw us into error.
The question is very much like the question that’s also often asked about Jesus
concerning whether there was ever a possibility that, being God, He could have sinned.
But the question is invalid for all that the Bible tells us is that Jesus didn’t sin and we can
go no further than this.
d. Freedom
We must now go back to our original consideration of ancient examples of redemption
and see how the Bible says that the freedom obtainable through them was a type of that
which is now available in Christ.
To save repeating too much from the previous section, it may be advisable to quickly
reread the relevant definitions.
i. Manumission
Freedom from the rule of a master (sin)
Using the phraseology of the Greek world of slavery, Paul writes (Gal 5:1)
‘For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand fast therefore and do not submit yourselves
again to a yoke of slavery’

where the ‘yoke of slavery’ mentioned is a reference to the legalistic observance of a
written code - that is, self-redemption. Just as the pagan temple bought a slave ‘for
freedom’, so the imagery is the same - God has bought a people (I Cor 6:20, 7:23, II Peter
2:1) ‘for freedom’.
Yet, just as the Greek slave was obligated to perform certain duties and functions towards
the god that had bought him, so we also have become slaves of God, responding to His
love in Christ through our initial commitment to give our lives over to Him but also from
that moment onwards being obedient to the will of Him who bought us.
Therefore Paul writes (Rom 6:18) that
‘...having been set free from sin, [we] have become slaves of righteousness...’
and that (Rom 6:22)
‘...you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God...’
It’s very easy to read passages like these from a modern viewpoint and so fail to miss the
depth of what Paul is actually trying to convey to us. We can think of freedom in abstract
or real terms but don’t often make the connection that the culture that it sprang from
already had a procedure in place that Jesus became the ultimate solution for.
Though the NT writers never did campaign to abolish physical slavery in their day (and
they would probably not have got very far had they done so!), they nevertheless did
proclaim that the real slavery of mankind is to sin and that true freedom can only be
experienced when it’s dealt with through the cross of Christ.
So, if we’re ‘in Christ’, then we’re free from sin (the master) and free from any effort on
our part to redeem ourselves and yet, at the same time, obligated to be obedient to the
God who bought us out of that state.
ii. Prisoners of War (POWs)
Freedom from out of the hand of the enemy (sin)
Mankind’s enemy is sin, which separates us from the reality of God’s presence and
everything that goes with Him (Isaiah 59:2). It’s often asserted that satan is the real
enemy but, in the context in which we’re considering redemption, he shouldn’t be
misconstrued as such.
Having been set free by Christ from sin’s power and dominion over us, we’re back on
God’s side and back in God’s army, residing in His camp. When Jesus says (Luke 4:18)
‘He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives’

we should realise that the Greek word for ‘captive’ used here means ‘prisoner of war’,
not just someone who’s ‘bound up’ as can be seen from the use of the same root word in
Luke 21:24 (Vines comments that the literal meaning of the word is ‘one taken by the
spear’ which brings the meaning home to us with an economy of words).
Having said what we have about satan above, we should note that the enemy who takes
captive must also be satan but only in the secondary sense that he only has power over
mankind as a result of sin. Through temptation he entices us to sin that he may gain an
advantage and bring his authority and leading into our lives (see also under section iii
below) but, first and foremost, that which brings us into captivity is sin.
A POW is also a type of slave, so much of the teaching that comes under the previous
heading ‘manumission’ is equally applicable here.
iii. The Ox owner
Freedom from the condemnation of death (sin)
The ox owner stood under the condemnation of death because he knew that what was in
his possession had the potential to kill, but he took no action to prevent the event from
happening.
Death is not an experience to be welcomed if we live in sin (that is, if we continue to do
things that are offensive to God) for (I Cor 15:56)
‘the sting of death is sin’
But, because sin is dealt with in Jesus Christ, we who once were afraid to die need no
longer be fearful (Heb 2:14-15 - note that satan is out to destroy mankind. Temptation is
his weapon and a response from an individual produces sin which is his intention and
purpose. Therefore he can be said to have ‘the power of death’, for sin is death’s power.
By this verse, it has been taught that satan rules over a kingdom ‘below’ and that he
receives the souls that follow him upon death. However, this is a distortion of the Biblical
record which tells us that both satan and those who do what is displeasing to God shall be
rewarded in one and the same place with no distinction being made between the two -
Revelation chapter 20).
Therefore, being set free from the fear of physical death, we can echo the words of Paul
when he says (Rom 8:1) that
‘there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...’
Why is this? Because we have redeemed ourselves by works of the Law? No, certainly
not!
The answer lies in Rom 8:22 where we read that

‘...the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and
death’
where the highlighted words refer us back to the legalistic observance of a written code,
self-redemption, that we found ourselves serving under before acknowledging that we
couldn’t redeem ourselves from the consequences of our own actions.
Because Christ has fulfilled the just requirements of the Law by taking the penalty upon
Himself, there no longer need rest the condemnation of death upon our lives. We can be
free to ‘look forward’ to the day of our death because its ‘sting’ (our sin) has been dealt
with.
iv. The inheritance
Freedom from an exile away from the inheritance (the result of sin)
It was by sin that we lost the inheritance in the garden. It’s by one Man’s obedience that
we receive back what is rightfully ours in Christ.
Col 1:12 tells us that
‘...the Father...has qualified us to share in the inheritance of saints in light’
and Heb 9:15 proclaims to us that
‘...those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has
occurred which redeems them...’
which, yet again, uses the redemption imagery to tell us a further truth about our new
position.
By dealing with sin, God ransomed us from the one thing that bound us into an existence
away from His presence in Christ. We’re free to participate in His eternal inheritance
with all the saints (where the Biblical meaning of the word ‘saint’ is ‘all who have been
called and set apart to serve God’ - that is, every believer), though the effect of previously
committed sin upon our lives needs also to be dealt with.
As Charles Wesley put it in the hymn ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing’
‘...He breaks the power of cancelled sin...’
and can be summarised as a fulfilment of the OT concept of the ‘Year of Jubilee’ (see the
study on ‘Jubilee’ for an exposition of this facet of Jesus’ work on the cross).
But it’s sin that lies as the foundation stone that needs dealing with in a person’s life by
Christ before the subsequent structure of bondage that has been built upon it can be dealt

with.
Conclusion
Concluding this study on redemption, we should realise not just that the Bible presents
Jesus as the Redeemer who pays Himself as the ransom to redeem mankind from the
bondage of sin but that, when the early Church tried to express the work of the cross in
realistic terms to the society in which they lived, they did so in language that was secular
and didn’t employ purely religious terms that were specifically christian and which the
ordinary man in the street would have failed to understand.
In each and every generation, the challenge of presenting the Gospel to society is not to
use language that’s largely ignorant of everyday English usage but to use words and
concepts that mean something to the normal man in the street.
4. SALVATION
DEFINITION AND NECESSITY OF SALVATION
sal•va•tion (sal vâ/shen), n. [ME. salvacioun; OFr. sauvation; L. salvatio < salvatus,
pp. of salvare, to save], 1. a saving or being saved; preservation from destruction; rescue.
2. a person or thing which is a means, cause, or source of preservation or rescue. 3. in
theology, spiritual rescue from sin and death; saving of the soul through the atonement of
Jesus; redemption.
In Christian doctrine, salvation is a rescue or deliverance of humanity from a
specific condition and from a specific destination. Salvation presumes that there
is a danger, jeopardy, peril or life threatening hazard from which rescue must be
accomplished on an imminent basis.
The CONDITION from which humanity must be rescued:
1. Separation from the Creator/God of humanity.
2. Such separation from the Creator/God occasioned by the sinful actions of
all humanity (by disobeying and ignoring the commands of the
Creator/God), both in congress and individually.
The DESTINATION from which humanity must be rescued::
1. The sinful human actions necessitate that the Creator/God pronounce a
judgment on all humanity as a punishment for those actions taken.
2. Such punishment being separation from God, and assignment in company
with Satan and all his followers in the region of Hell.
3. Such assignment to be eternal in nature, never to be reconsidered,
changed or revoked.
THE REASON FOR THE CONDITION OF HUMANITY
In Relation To The Federal Heads Of The Human Race - Adam and Eve.

1. God created Adam and Eve in the image of Himself.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:7, 21-25
2. God created Adam and Eve with a moral nature, through which they were
responsible to obey the precepts of the Creator/God which were made
known to them.
A. They were to produce children - Genesis 1:28
B. They were to subdue the earth - Genesis 1:28
C. They were to rule over the earth - Genesis 1:28.
D. They were to eat from any tree in the garden - Genesis 2:16 EXCEPT
E. They were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil -
Genesis 2:17
3. Adam and Eve disobeyed and transgressed the precepts and
commandments from God that had been made known to them:
A. Eve changed the words of God. Where God had commanded Adam
and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Eve told
the serpent that He had told them not to eat and not to touch it - Genesis
3.3
B. Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
disobeying the command of God for selfish reasons - Genesis 3:6
B. Adam ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
disobeying the command of God for reasons unknown - Genesis 3:6
C. Adam and Eve had shame for their actions - Genesis 3:8
D. Adam and Eve became afraid of God because of their actions -
Genesis 3:10
E. Adam denied responsibility for his disobedience and blamed God and
his wife - Genesis 3:12
F. Eve denied responsibility for her disobedience and blaming deception
by the serpent - Genesis 3:13
In Relation To The Action Of God Against Adam and Eve
1. Both individuals were called to accountability by God for their actions,
were judged guilty for their actions and punished in accord with the law of
God - Genesis 3:11-13, 17, 23-24
2. Eve was given pain in childbirth - Genesis 3:16
3. Eve was placed in a subservient position to her husband, a position that
she had not occupied prior to her disobedience - Genesis 3:16
4. Adam was to work for his food - Genesis 3:17-19
5. Adam and Eve would spiritually and physically die - Genesis 3:19;
Romans 5:12
6. Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden of paradise - Genesis 3:23-24
In Relation To The Action Of God Against The Human Race Because Adam
and Eve Were The Federal Heads Of All Human Beings To Follow
1. The progeny of Adam were born in his likeness - Genesis 5:3-4
2. The condition of all human beings is connected with the sin of Adam and
Eve

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin,
and so death spread to all men, because all sinned...
Romans 5:12 (NAS)
When Adam and Eve were first created, they had a correct and righteous
relationship with God, because of which they had no need of salvation. As
a result of their sin, their relationship was severed and they needed a
redeemer in order to restore the relationship that they once had. Their
progeny, the human race, are born separated from God, not because of
sins committed, but by virtue of their paternity, being the children of Adam.
This separation is reason enough for humanity to also need a redeemer in
order to be reconciled back to God.
In Relation To The Action Of God Against The Human Race For Sins
Committed By Them Against His Commands All men have not sinned in the
action of Adam, but all men sin as a result of the action of Adam. It is the nature
of all human beings to sin, as a result of the fallen condition inherited by being
the children of Adam and Eve.
1. All human beings are sinners, by nature and by personal action, and none
are righteous. Some may sin to a greater or lesser degree, but all have
failed to attain to the standard of God, which is perfection of character,
spiritual righteousness and performance - Romans 3:9-10
2. All human beings are condemned by God, for sins committed, subject to
His divine judgment and wrath - Romans 3:10-20; Ephesians 2:3
3. All human beings are separated from God to the extent that they are not
children of God, but of the devil - 1 John 3:7-8; 1 John 5:19; John 8:44.
4. All human beings are captives and slaves to the sin in their lives, not being
able to overcome the power of sin by their own efforts - Romans 7; John
8:31-36;
5. The entire being of humanity is affected by sin: mental, moral, spiritual and
physical.
A. Mind: understanding is diminished - Ephesians 4:17-18 B. Heart: the
core being is corrupted - Jeremiah 17:9-10; Mark 7:20-23 C. Conscience:
is defiled - Titus 1:14-15 C. Spirit: is unclean - 2 Corinthians 7:1 D. Will: is
weak - Romans 7:18 D. Body: is defiled - Isaiah 59:3; James 3:6
THE "SALVATION" OR PROVISION PROVIDED BY GOD THAT WILL RE-
ESTABLISH AND BRING MAN INTO A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS
ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH THE ATONEMENT
THE ATONEMENT
1. The atonement is provided by Jesus Christ because of the nature of His
being.
He is both God and man, revealed in the incarnation, by which Jesus
Christ as deity, took on the nature of humanity in addition to His deity.

And the Word [Jesus Christ] became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Holy Bible, John 1:14 (NAS)
While Christ as God was uncreated and eternal, the word "became" emphasizes Christ's
taking on humanity. This reality is surely the most profound ever because it indicates that
the infinite became finite; the Eternal was conformed to time; the Invisible became
visible; the supernatural One reduced Himself to the natural. In the incarnation, however,
the Word did not cease to be God, but became God in human flesh, i.e., undiminished
deity in human form as a man.
"The MacArthur Study Bible", John MacArthur editor, commentary on John 1:14
2. The atonement is provided by Jesus Christ because of His sinless life.
He [God] made Him [Jesus Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The Holy Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NAS)
In order to redeem man from sin, He had to be free from any evil taint of humanity. Had
He committed only one sin, He would have been disqualified as the Redeemer of sinful
men, Perfect Himself, Christ professed the highest conceivable standard of character
and conduct for His followers, "Be ye therefore perfect."
"All The Doctrines Of The Bible", Herbert Lockyer, Zondervan, 1964, p. 48
3. The atonement is provided by Jesus Christ because of His voluntary death
on the cross.
THE REASON FOR HIS DEATH
AS A RANSOM
Sin places humanity into a state of captivity from which a price must be
paid in order that a person might be redeemed or purchased out of that
state. The state of captivity, brought about by the sinful condition of
humanity, is like a slave market where people are sold as the possession
of the purchaser, and in order to be free, the slave must pay for a release
or deliverance; this is a ransom. Humanity is "sold under sin" (Romans
7:14) and therefore fall under the judgment of God. The judgment has
already been pronounced by God and the penalty is death, both physically
and spiritually. The death of Jesus Christ is the ransom paid in order to
redeem the human race from the penalty of sin. The ransom is paid to
God, as a payment for the release of humanity from the penalty of their
sinful state. (cf. Matthew 20:28, 1 Peter 1:17-19, 1 Timothy 2:5-6,
Galatians 3:13)
AS A PROPITIATION
The justice of god demands that a penalty for sin be paid, but is Jesus
Christ as a propitiation that satisfies the justice of God and allows Him to
forgive sinful human beings through His mercy and grace.
Crucial to the significance of Christ's sacrifice, this word [propitiation] carries the idea of
appeasement or satisfaction - in this case Christ's violent death satisfied the offended

holiness and wrath of God against those for whom Christ died (Is. 53:11; Col. 2:11-14).
The Heb[rew] equivalent of this word was used to describe the mercy seat - the cover to
the ark of the covenant - where the High-Priest sprinkled the blood of the slaughtered
animal on the Day of atonement to make atonement for the sins of the people. In pagan
religions, it is the worshiper not the god who is responsible to appease the wrath of the
offended deity. But in reality, man is incapable of satisfying God's justice apart from
Christ, except by spending eternity in hell.
"The MacArthur Study Bible", John MacArthur editor, commentary on Romans 3:25
AS A RECONCILIATION
By committing sins, which all have their direction toward God, humanity
has become separated and alienated from God. A reconciliation cannot be
effected because humanity cannot meet the requirements of God in a
sinful state and cannot be removed from the authority of judgment by God.
It is Jesus Christ who becomes the mediator of the reconciliation between
man to God.
Reconciliation was not necessary from God's side. Man has ever been the offender. His
sin estranged him from god, and he has been at enmity with Him. Thus, as an enemy,
someone had to make possible a reconciliation. Christ, assuming human nature, satisfied
divine justice for our sins at Calvary, and through our acceptance of Him as Saviour we
are received into favor again with an offended God. He never departed from man, and
therefore has no need to be reconciled.
"All The Doctrines Of The Bible", Herbert Lockyer, Zondervan, 1964, p. 191
God by His own will and design used His Son, the only acceptable and perfect sacrifice,
as the means to reconcile sinners to Himself. God initiates the change in the sinner's
status in that He brings him from a position of alienation to a state of forgiveness and
right relationship with Himself.
"The MacArthur Study Bible", John MacArthur editor, commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:19
AS A SUBSTITUTION
Because Jesus Christ was fully deity and fully man, His death was
substitutionary on behalf of humanity. The perfect and sinless life of Jesus
Christ is the substitute for that of sinful human beings, and his death is
also a substitute for the eternal spiritual death that has been pronounced
as the judgment against all sinful human beings.
God the Father, using the principle of imputation, treated Christ as if He were a sinner
though He was not, and had Him die as a substitute to pay the penalty for the sins of
those who believe in Him (cf. Is. 53:4-6; Gal. 3:10-13; 1 Pet. 2:24). On the cross, He did
not become a sinner (as some suggest), but remained as holy as ever. He was treated
as if He were guilty of all the sins ever committed by all who would ever believe, though
He committed none. The wrath of God was exhausted on Him and the just requirement
of God's law met for those for whom He died.
"The MacArthur Study Bible", John MacArthur editor, commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:21
4. The atonement is provided by Jesus Christ because of His resurrection
from the dead.
THE REASON FOR HIS RESURRECTION
A redeemer who remains in the grave cannot redeem, a mediator cannot
mediate and one to provide reconciliation between God and man, cannot

do so from the grave. It was a necessity that Jesus Christ be raised from
the dead, so that He might provide the means of atonement through His
life.
THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURES CONFIRMED
After His resurrection, Jesus Christ said to His disciples, "These are My words which I
spoke to you, while I was still with you, that all things which 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, "Thus it is written, that the
Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for
forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from
Jerusalem."
The Holy Bible, Luke 24:44-47 (NAS)
THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE SACRIFICE BY CHRIST ACCEPTED BY GOD
Without being accepted by God, the sacrifice of Christ would have been
meaningless. By the resurrection of Christ, God demonstrated His
acceptance and approval of the work that Christ had accomplished.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of
God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,
concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who
was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to
the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord..."
The Holy Bible, Romans 1:1-4 (NAS)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures the believer in His gospel that
they are also accepted by God.
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have gained access by faith into this grace
in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God
The Holy Bible, Romans 4:25-5:2 (NIV)
ASSURES LIFE AND IMMORTALITY FOR THE BELIEVER IN CHRIST
We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with
Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
The Holy Bible, 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (NIV)
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also
believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.
The Holy Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:13-14 (NIV)
Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you
also will live.
The Holy Bible, John 14:19 (NIV)

5. The atonement is provided by Jesus Christ because of His ascension to
heaven.
THE REASON FOR HIS ASCENSION
THAT GOD WOULD ACCOMPLISH THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST
Jesus Christ, who had willingly suppressed the position and power of His
deity while in the form of a man, was restored to His former glory by God.
Just as He had prayed during the Last Supper, the Father accomplished
at the ascension of Christ:
"And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You
before the world was."
The Holy Bible, John 17:5 (NKJ)
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the
hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and
what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in
accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in
Christ, when he raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the
heavenly places, far above al rule and authority and power and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. An He put all things
in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is
His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The Holy Bible, Ephesians 1:18-23 (NAS)
THAT JESUS CHRIST WOULD EXHIBIT HIS ONENESS WITH GOD
Just as Christ is one with the Father, believers can be one in Christ.
THAT JESUS CHRIST WOULD BE THE FORERUNNER OF BELIEVERS TO FOLLOW
Jesus Christ is the pattern for those believers who will follow. If God can exalt Jesus
Christ, then Jesus Christ can exalt the believer and bring them to heaven. That is the
statement of Jesus Christ and it is confirmed by His ascension and exaltation by God.
"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that
where I am, there you may be also."< 14:3 John Bible, Holy The>
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the
unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable
things in which it is impossible for god to lie, we who have taken refuge would have
strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
The Holy bible, Hebrews 6:17-20 (NAS)
THAT JESUS CHRIST WOULD PREPARE A PLACE FOR BELIEVERS TO FOLLOW
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's
house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to
prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
The Holy Bible, John 14:1-3 (NAS)

THAT JESUS CHRIST COULD ACT IN THE PLACE OF AN ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one
which enters within the vail, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having
become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The Holy Bible, Hebrews 6:19-20
And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an
oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, "The Lord has sworn and will
not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever'"); so much the more also Jesus has
become the guarantee of a better covenant. The former priests, on the one hand, existed
in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus,
on the other hand, because He continues forever, hold His priesthood permanently.
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to god through Him, since
He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a
high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the
heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for
His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when
He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the
word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.
The Holy Bible, Hebrews 7:20-28 (NAS)
Jesus' entering within the veil signifies His entering the Holy of Holies, where the sacrifice
of atonement was made. Under the Old Covenant it was made yearly by the high priest.
Under the New it has been made once for all time by Christ's sacrifice on the cross. Our
anchored soul is, in god's mind, already secure within the veil, secure within His eternal
sanctuary. When Jesus entered the heavenly Holy of Holies, he did not leave after the
sacrifice as did the Aaronic high priests, but "He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty
on high" (Heb. 1:3). In other words, Jesus remains there forever as Guardian of our
souls. Such absolute security is almost incomprehensible. Not only are our souls
anchored within the impregnable, inviolable heavenly sanctuary, but our Savior, Jesus
Christ, stands guard over them as well! How can the Christian's security be described as
anything but eternal? Truly we can trust God and His Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, with
our souls. That is good cause to come all the way to salvation and to enjoy its security.
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews, John F. MacArthur, Moody
Press, 1983, pp. 168-169
THAT CHRIST WOULD PROVIDE ACCESS TO GOD FOR THE BELIEVER
And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who
were near; for through Him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father. So then
you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and
are of god's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building being fitted
together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built
together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our
Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of

Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His
flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of god, let us draw near with a
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
The Holy Bible, Hebrews 10:19-22 (NAS)
THAT CHRIST WOULD RULE A KINGDOM FROM HIS THRONE
It is the purpose of Jesus Christ to be an eternal mediator between God
and man through His office as an eternal high priest.
You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me
a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you
will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent
my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." You are a king then!"
said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I
was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of
truth listens to me."
The Holy Bible, John 18:36-37
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of god the Father.
The Holy Bible, Philippians 2:9-11
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE ATONEMENT
A person can and must take advantage of the provisions of the atonement in
order that they can be reconciled to God. Without a reconciliation, the judgment
of God will condemn the person to an eternity without God and without hope for
rescue from hell.
The provisions of the atonement are obtained by means of salvation, which is
secured through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the atonement which brings about the
means of salvation, and it is salvation that brings about the benefits of the
atonement into the life of the believer.
Salvation is defined as the rescue of a person from the imminent, critical and
inevitable judgment of a holy and righteous God against humanity for sins
committed and unrepented. Salvation has several components that define its
meaning:
1. CONVICTION AND CERTAINTY OF SIN IN THE LIFE OF A PERSON
It is presumed by the Scripture that all human beings have a knowledge of
sin that is both innate to their being, and also revealed by the Spirit of
God. It is the knowledge that reveals the guilt and confirms the judgment
of God against the sinner. Knowledge of the sinful condition of all human
beings is the prerequisite to salvation, and that knowledge is provided by
God Himself, through the creation and by revelation.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which
is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since
the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen , being understood through what has been made, so that they
are without excuse.
The Holy Bible, Romans 1:18-20 (NAS)
"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes,
will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin,
because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the
Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this
world has been judged."
2. REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION OF SIN
REPENTANCE
All sin, regardless of how it was committed or against whom. has as its
root rebellion against God and is ultimately a sin committed against God.
As a consequence, repentance is required by God and confession to Him
of offenses committed is necessary so that the full import and gravity
regarding the serious nature of the offenses can be understood.
Repentance is not simply saying, "I'm sorry," because words come very
cheap. Repentance, in its full meaning, is in relation to turning around, or a
reversal of action. Repentance is not only saying that a person is sorry,
but carries actions indicating that the person has turned in the opposite
direction from the sins committed. repentance.
"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares
the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your
downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and
a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of
anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!"
The Holy Bible, Ezekiel 18:30-32 (NAS)
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to
them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore
bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to
raise up children to Abraham."
The Holy Bible, Matthew 3:7-9 (NAS)
Repentance also carries with it a condition of true remorse and regret, not
just because of the consequences of the sin, but because it was
committed against God. This expression of remorse reaches to the core of
a person's being.
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly
sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness,

what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what
concern, what readiness to see justice done."
The Holy Bible, 2 Corinthians 7:10-11a (NAS)
As can be see, repentance involves an act of obedience and an
agreement with God regarding the necessity of Repentance. It involves a
response from the innermost being of a person, a sorrow that involves a
regret for the commission of the sin itself, not just the negative results of
that sin. It involves an action that signifies the validity and truthfulness of
the repentance in that the person turns away from, or rejects the sin in
their life, and that leads to the process of confession of sin to God.
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper. But he who confesses and forsakes
them will find compassion.
The Holy Bible, Proverbs 28:13 (NAS)
When I was silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with
the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I
said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
The Holy Bible, Psalm 32:3-5 (NAS)
On what basis are Confession and Repentance made? How does these
elements bring a person closer to appropriation of the benefits inherent in the
Atonement?
The benefits are appropriated through the gift of Faith, that is given from God. It
is repentance that brings the person to a position of submission to God and a
realization that separation from God is a reality and that reconciliation is not
possible through human effort. It is through repentance that a person
understands that only by pleading to the grace of God can a standing before God
be obtained.
Irrespective of nationality, position or condition, sinners are called to repentance (Acts 5:31;
20:21; 26:20; Matthew 9:13; Luke 15:17,19; 24:47; II Peter 3:9). Saving repentance is the sinner's
forsaking of his own ways, the giving up of his own thoughts, and his full surrender to Christ.
Repentance is not something the sinner must do to win god's compassion. It is no protracted
agony of soul, but a repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (II Timothy 2:24- 25).
Repentance ushers in pardon for the sinner-it makes way for God's pardoning grace (Acts 5:31).
When David was humbled and broken because of his sin, Nathan said, "The Lord hath put away
they sin" (II Samuel 12:13). Pardon is the richest of blessings for the repentant, believing sinner.
"Pardoning mercy is the sauce that makes all other mercies taste the sweeter; it sweetens our
health, riches and honor."
All The Doctrines Of The Bible, Herbert Lockyer, Zondervan Publishing, 1964, p.174
Repentance is the preparation that leads to faith and the resultant appropriation
of the benefits provided through the atonement. Faith involves a knowledge of
the claims of Jesus Christ who is the object, an agreement as to the validity of
those claims and an appropriation of those claims into the life of the person.
Knowledge About Claims of Jesus Christ

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
The Holy Bible, Romans 10:17 (NAS)
Agreement As To The Validity Of The Claims Of Jesus Christ
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to god must believe that He is
and that he is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
The Holy Bible, Hebrews 11:6 (NAS)
Appropriation Of The Claims Of Jesus Christ
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to
those who believe in His name, .who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the
will of man, but of God.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so
that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
The Holy Bible, John 3:14-16
"Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will
die in your sins."
The holy Bible, John 8:24 (NAS)
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he 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?" She said to
Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes
into the world."
THE THREE REQUIREMENTS OF FAITH
The faith that God honors, the faith that is from a sincere heart, requires three things: felt need,
content, and commitment.
FELT NEED
Faith cannot begin until a person realizes his need for salvation. If he is without Christ, he needs
salvation whether he recognizes it or not. But he will not have reason to believe until his need is
felt, until it is recognized. When Saul was persecuting the church, he had a great need for
salvation, but he certainly felt no need of it. He was thoroughly convinced he was doing god's will.
Only when the Lord confronted him dramatically on the Damascus road did his need become
known and felt - in Saul's case, very deeply. The need may not, at first, be clearly understood. On
the Damascus road, Saul could not have explained his spiritual need in the way that he was able
to do some years later when he wrote the book of Romans. He simply knew that something was
desperately wrong in his life and that the answer was in God. He knew he needed something
from the Lord.
Often a person's felt need is only partial. The first feeling of need may only be for a purpose in life
or for someone to love us and care for us. Or it may be a sense of need for forgiveness and
removal of guilt, for inner peace. The most important thing is that a person realize that the answer
to his need is in God. People came to Jesus for many reasons, some of them rather superficial.
But when they came, Jesus met all their needs. They may have felt only a need for physical
healing, but He also offered spiritual healing. Felt need does not require theological
understanding of the doctrine of salvation, only a sincere heart that knows it needs salvation. On
the other hand, a person who does not feel a need for salvation, no matter how good his
theology, if far from faith in God. Felt need is essential, but inadequate on its own.
CONTENT
A person does not have to comprehend the full knowledge and understanding of the doctrine of
salvation before he can be saved, but he does need the gospel truth (1 Cor. 15:1-5) that he is lost
in sin and needs the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He must know the gospel. The idea of
"blind faith" sounds spiritual, but it is not biblical. Even great persons of faith will not know many
of the things about God until they see their Lord face to face in heaven. But God does not

demand faith without giving reason for faith. The writer of Hebrews, for example, piles up truth
upon truth and presents Jesus as the Jews' promised Messiah. He also shows that the New
Covenant is far superior to the Old, that the old sacrifices were ineffective, and that only the new
sacrifice can bring a person to God-and so on and on.
The following story is told of Channing Pollock, a well-known playwright. Mr. Pollock was
collaborating with another author in writing a play. As they were working late one night in
Pollock's New York apartment, something in the work they were doing caused the friend to say to
Pollock, "Have you ever read the New Testament?" Pollock said he had not, and they continued
working until early morning, when they parted, Pollock went to bed, but could not sleep. He was
bothered b his friend's question, simple and casual though it seemed. He finally got out of bed
and searched the apartment until he found a New Testament. After reading the gospel of Mark
through, he got dressed and walked the streets until dawn. Later, telling the story to the friend, he
said, "When I returned home, I found myself on my knees, passionately in love with Jesus Christ."
Beginning with a felt need, vague as it was, he then looked at the truth and its evidence-and
believed.
COMMITMENT
The climax of faith is commitment. Professing Christ, without commitment to Christ, is not saving
faith.
My father often told the story of a tightrope walker who liked to walk a wire across Niagara Falls-
preferably with someone on his back. Many people on the bank expressed complete confidence
in his ability to do it, but he always had a difficult time getting a volunteer to climb up on him.
Many people express complete confidence in Christ but never trust themselves to Him.
As a missionary translator in the New Hebrides, John Paton was frustrated in his work for a long
time because the people had no word for faith. One day a man who was working for him came
into the house and flopped down into a big chair. The missionary asked him what the word would
be for what he had just done. The word the man gave in reply was the one Paton used for faith in
his translation of the New Testament. Without hesitation or reservation, the man had totally
committed his body to the chair. he had felt his need for rest, he was convinced that the chair
provided a place for rest, and he committed himself to the chair for rest. A believer must, in the
same way, totally commit his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Only then is faith, saving faith.
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Hebrews, John F. MacArthur, Moody Press, 1983,
pp. 264-265
6. RESURRECTION
Evidence for the Resurrection
by Josh McDowell
For centuries many of the world's distinguished philosophers have assaulted Christianity
as being irrational, superstitious and absurd. Many have chosen simply to ignore the
central issue of the resurrection. Others have tried to explain it away through various
theories. But the historical evidence just can't be discounted.
A student at the University of Uruguay said to me. "Professor McDowell, why can't you
refute Christianity?"

"For a very simple reason," I answered. "I am not able to explain away an event in
history--the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
How can we explain the empty tomb? Can it possibly be accounted for by any natural
cause?
A QUESTION OF HISTORY
After more than 700 hours of studying this subject, I have come to the conclusion that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes
ever foisted on the minds of human beings--or it is the most remarkable fact of history.
Here are some of the facts relevant to the resurrection: Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish
prophet who claimed to be the Christ prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures, was arrested,
was judged a political criminal, and was crucified. Three days after His death and burial,
some women who went to His tomb found the body gone. In subsequent weeks, His
disciples claimed that God had raised Him from the dead and that He appeared to them
various times before ascending into heaven.
From that foundation, Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and has
continued to exert great influence down through the centuries.
LIVING WITNESSES
The New Testament accounts of the resurrection were being circulated within the
lifetimes of men and women alive at the time of the resurrection. Those people could
certainly have confirmed or denied the accuracy of such accounts.
The writers of the four Gospels either had themselves been witnesses or else were
relating the accounts of eyewitnesses of the actual events. In advocating their case for the
gospel, a word that means "good news," the apostles appealed (even when confronting
their most severe opponents) to common knowledge concerning the facts of the
resurrection.
F. F. Bruce, Rylands professor of biblical criticism and exegesis at the University of
Manchester, says concerning the value of the New Testament records as primary sources:
"Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any material respect, the
possible presence of hostile witnesses in the audience would have served as a further
corrective."
IS THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIABLE?
Because the New Testament provides the primary historical source for information on the
resurrection, many critics during the 19th century attacked the reliability of these biblical
documents.

By the end of the 1 9th century, however, archaeological discoveries had confirmed the
accuracy of the New Testament manuscripts. Discoveries of early papyri bridged the gap
between the time of Christ and existing manuscripts from a later date.
Those findings increased scholarly confidence in the reliability of the Bible. William F.
Albright, who in his day was the world's foremost biblical archaeologist, said: "We can
already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the
New Testament after about A.D. 80, two full generations before the date between 130
and 150 given by the more radical New Testament critics of today."
Coinciding with the papyri discoveries, an abundance of other manuscripts came to light
(over 24,000 copies of early New Testament manuscripts are known to be in existence
today). The historian Luke wrote of "authentic evidence" concerning the resurrection. Sir
William Ramsay, who spent 15 years attempting to undermine Luke credentials as a
historian, and to refute the reliability of the New Testament, finally concluded: "Luke is a
historian of the first rank . . . This author should be placed along with the very greatest of
historians. "
I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the
evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than
most of the facts of ancient history . . .
E. M. Blaiklock
Professor of Classics
Auckland University
BACKGROUND
The New Testament witnesses were fully aware of the background against which the
resurrection took place. The body of Jesus, in accordance with Jewish burial custom, was
wrapped in a linen cloth. About 100 pounds of aromatic spices, mixed together to form a
gummy substance, were applied to the wrappings of cloth about the body. After the body
was placed in a solid rock tomb, an extremely large stone was rolled against the entrance
of the tomb. Large stones weighing approximately two tons were normally rolled (by
means of levers) against a tomb entrance.
A Roman guard of strictly disciplined fighting men was stationed to guard the tomb. This
guard affixed on the tomb the Roman seal, which was meant to "prevent any attempt at
vandalizing the sepulcher. Anyone trying to move the stone from the tomb's entrance
would have broken the seal and thus incurred the wrath of Roman law.
But three days later the tomb was empty. The followers of Jesus said He had risen from
the dead. They reported that He appeared to them during a period of 40 days, showing
Himself to them by many "infallible proofs." Paul the apostle recounted that Jesus
appeared to more than 500 of His followers at one time, the majority of whom were still

alive and who could confirm what Paul wrote. So many security precautions were taken
with the trial, crucifixion, burial, entombment, sealing, and guarding of Christ's tomb that
it becomes very difficult for critics to defend their position that Christ did not rise from
the dead. Consider these facts:
FACT #1: BROKEN ROMAN SEAL
As we have said, the first obvious fact was the breaking of the seal that stood for
the power and authority of the Roman Empire. The consequences of breaking the
seal were extremely severe. The FBI and CIA of the Roman Empire were called
into action to find the man or men who were responsible. If they were
apprehended, it meant automatic execution by crucifixion upside down. People
feared the breaking of the seal. Jesus' disciples displayed signs of cowardice when
they hid themselves. Peter, one of these disciples, went out and denied Christ
three times.
FACT #2: EMPTY TOMB
As we have already discussed, another obvious fact after the resurrection was the
empty tomb. The disciples of Christ did not go off to Athens or Rome to preach
that Christ was raised from the dead. Rather, they went right back to the city of
Jerusalem, where, if what they were teaching was false, the falsity would be
evident. The empty tomb was "too notorious to be denied." Paul Althaus states
that the resurrection "could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single
day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a
fact for all concerned."
Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions admit an empty tomb. Those
resources range from Josephus to a compilation of fifth-century Jewish writings
called the "Toledoth Jeshu." Dr. Paul Maier calls this "positive evidence from a
hostile source, which is the strongest kind of historical evidence. In essence, this
means that if a source admits a fact decidedly not in its favor, then that fact is
genuine."
Gamaliel, who was a member of the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, put forth
the suggestion that the rise of the Christian movement was God's doing; he could
not have done that if the tomb were still occupied, or if the Sanhedrin knew the
whereabouts of Christ's body.
Paul Maier observes that " . . . if all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it
is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude
that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was
actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has
yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would
disprove this statement."
FACT #3: LARGE STONE MOVED

On that Sunday morning the first thing that impressed the people who approached
the tomb was the unusual position of the one and a half to two ton stone that had
been lodged in front of the doorway. All the Gospel writers mention it.
There exists no document from the ancient world, witnessed by so excellent a set
of textual and historical testimonies . . . Skepticism regarding the historical
credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational bias.
Clark Pinnock
Mcmaster University
Those who observed the stone after the resurrection describe its position as having
been rolled up a slope away not just from the entrance of the tomb, but from the
entire massive sepulcher. It was in such a position that it looked as if it had been
picked up and carried away. Now, I ask you, if the disciples had wanted to come
in, tiptoe around the sleeping guards, and then roll the stone over and steal Jesus'
body, how could they have done that without the guards' awareness?
FACT #4: ROMAN GUARD GOES AWOL
The Roman guards fled. They left their place of responsibility. How can their
attrition he explained, when Roman military discipline was so exceptional? Justin,
in Digest #49, mentions all the offenses that required the death penalty. The fear
of their superiors' wrath and the possibility of death meant that they paid close
attention to the minutest details of their jobs. One way a guard was put to death
was by being stripped of his clothes and then burned alive in a fire started with his
garments. If it was not apparent which soldier had failed in his duty, then lots
were drawn to see which one would be punished with death for the guard unit's
failure. Certainly the entire unit would not have fallen asleep with that kind of
threat over their heads. Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline,
wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in
the night watches."
FACT #5: GRAVECLOTHES TELL A TALE
In a literal sense, against all statements to the contrary, the tomb was not totally
empty--because of an amazing phenomenon. John, a disciple of Jesus, looked
over to the place where the body of Jesus had lain, and there were the grave
clothes, in the form of the body, slightly caved in and empty--like the empty
chrysalis of a caterpillar's cocoon. That's enough to make a believer out of
anybody. John never did get over it. The first thing that stuck in the minds of the
disciples was not the empty tomb, but rather the empty grave clothes--undisturbed
in form and position.

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