I closed my last post with the question: who are you going to belief, Jesus Christ or the other guy?  Let me take it up a step and make it about God and our final destiny. There are more alternative options out there than I can count.  Aside from the different Christian denominations view of heaven and hell there are all the non-Christian religions and even political movements offering a secular utopian paradise. 

Secular utopianism promises a paradise that is not everlasting but will someday deliver a satisfying life that ends in annihilation.  So far, every attempt to reach this secular paradise has failed, but hey, maybe next time.  But really when it comes to your final destiny who are you going to believe?  I’ve already made up my mind, I’m going with Jesus Christ who not only returned from the dead but also holds to the high view of the Bible.  He claimed to be the eternal God who created everything and proved it by His resurrection from death. 

Jesus Christ stated His view of the Bible in Matthew 5:18 & 19: For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Jots and tittles are the little accent marks that appear next to the letters that make up words.  Basically, Jesus just said the original transcripts of the Bible are written exactly as God wanted them.  And there will be consequences for anyone who misrepresents His original intention. 

There are skeptics who have raised questions about the truth of Christ’s claims about the Bible.  Nothing wrong with being cautious of such claims when so much is riding on getting it right.  We are ultimately dealing with meaning of life and eternal destiny issues.  I’m more concerned about the number of people who are just indifferent to the matter and therefore ignore it.  At least the skeptic is interested enough to test the Scriptures to see if they’re true.  Who knows, it might result in them believing in Jesus Christ for everlasting life!
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God would love to welcome them into heaven and spent eternity exploring the world to come.  

In the previous post I pointed out that our universe was created with defined laws of physics, chemistry and biology.   We have built our civilization and the technology that supports it on faith in the reliability of those laws.  So, it makes sense that God would do the same in the area of Spirit matters.  And both the Bible and Jesus Christ make that claim.   

While I’m primarily concerned with the various Christian theologies, I will point out what makes the Judeo-Christian system unique to all other religions is the Bible presents God as inherently moral.  All other religious systems, both mono & poly theistic, present deity as Amoral.  When comparing the different Christian denominations, you’ll find a number of irreconcilable contradictions on many major doctrines.  God who is all knowing, wise and moral would not be the author of that kind of disorder.  God would have established the same kind of order in the Spiritual realm as He has in the physical world.    

I’m going to offer a short overview of the various Christian propositions on redemption.  How is one saved from the penalty of sin.  How do I get into heaven?  Some denominations teach it is by belief in Jesus Christ alone, no good works required but sanctification is works based.  I’ll refer to that as the justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone system.  All the others teach some variation of faith in Jesus Christ grants a probationary acceptance with final salvation determined on judgement day when one’s works are reviewed.  The works are defined as things like repentance of sin, baptism, observance of certain sacraments like confession and the Lords Supper.  There are some groups that say you must belong their specific denomination in order to be allowed into heaven when you die. 

Basically, all but the first one, justification by faith alone in Christ alone, say you have a chance at making it into heaven but offer no guarantee.  The justification by faith belief agrees with what Jesus Christ said in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” & John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” 

In John 3:16 Jesus Christ asserts that God loves the everyone in the world.  That He gave His Son to redeem us. And Jesus will give everlasting life to everyone who believes in Him.  In John 5:24 Jesus further states everlasting life is given as soon as one believes in Him.  That person will never face a future judgement.  That means there is no final judgement of works to determine their destiny. That was decided when they believed and passed from death to life.  It is a life that lasts forever. 
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That all seems very straight forward, easy to understand and orderly.  So, when confronted by someone who says otherwise who are you going to believe, Jesus Christ or the other guy?  

Once again, I find myself way behind in my blogging.  No excuse, just a number of distractions mixed in with a dash of spring fever.  Anyway, back to the topic of a high vs low view of the Bible. 

20 years ago, when I was at another church, I would often meet with some of the men attending the University of North Texas for Bible study and sometimes just to discuss whatever was on their minds, current events, cultural shifts or whatever.  One night they came in with this question.  Why are there so many different denominations with differing theological views?  They presented it this way.  If all our pastors are prayerfully seeking the Holy Spirits guidance in their studies and work hard at objectively teaching what the Bible clearly says, why so many disagreements? 

After some discussion I put forth several options from which they could vote on for the most likely reason.  Option 1 - The Holy Spirit has a sense of humor and is leading them to different conclusions just to see the debates.  Zero Votes.  2. Maybe the pastors aren’t being truthful about their prayerful approach to study.  50/50 on the votes.  Most thought there might be some like that but were sure their pastor wasn’t like that.  3.  Maybe some of these pastors are more influenced by their education and mentors than they realize.  That got the most votes.     

They understood the impact of 2 Peter 1:21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.  If the Holy Spirit guided the human authors in writing the Bible, He wouldn’t lead someone to believe it meant something today different than what He had inspired the authors to write.  We know languages evolve over time.  The meaning of words can change with the culture.  But God doesn’t change and neither does the intent of His revealed word. 

Therefore, the words of the Bible should not be interpreted to mean something today they didn’t mean when first written down.  Unfortunately, not everyone follows that rule.  In a previous post I mentioned a survey of pastors in which only 25% of the respondents agreed with 2 Peter 1:21. So, the rest apparently followed either what they had been taught in seminary or the ‘what it means to me’ rules of interpretation.  And that is how we end up with so many different denominations and contradictory belief structures. 
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God created a universe that follows defined laws of physics, chemistry and biology.  Which means we can trust that the things we make using those rules will work as planned.  We trust reality will continue in its present state.  So, why would we not conclude that God would also have defined spiritual laws?  

This post is taken from my Easter message at Trego Community Church which is also this week’s podcast. 

Since it is Easter, I want to post some observations about Jesus Christ’s final words from the cross.  John is the only gospel writer who mentions these particular statements.  It’s also true John did not include a lot of the material Matthew, Mark and Luke covered in their gospels.  I’ll also point out he was the only Gospel writer who actually witnessed the crucifixion as well as the only disciple to do so.  And John is the only N.T. author whose specific purpose was evangelistic.  Which is, I believe, the reason he wrote the following.  

John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Notice I highlighted and underlined 3 words in these verses.  I did so because all three translate the same Greek root word teleo which means to finish or to complete.   It’s likely the NKJV translators used the different English words because of the grammatical differences in each usage of the word Teleo.   Let me explain.   

In the first clause of v. 28 is actually John’s commentary on Jesus Christ’s entire ministry.  And Accomplished translates the Greek word tetelestai, the perfect indictive form of teleo.  The perfect indictive means a completed action that carries an ongoing permeant impact.  John is telling us Jesus had completed everything He had been sent here to do and there is nothing else to do for all time.  There is nothing else needed to complete the redemption of mankind or any individual human.  In other words: 
John 1:29 He has taken away the sin of the world. 

John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 10:10 I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 

2 Corinthians 5:19 that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

There was one more prophecy concerning the crucifixion to complete so John wrote “that the Scripture might be fulfilled, (Jesus) said, “I thirst!””  The cross reference is Psalm 69:11 “For my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”  The word fulfilled translates the Greek word teleiōthe which is the Aorist form of teleo.  Again, a completed action that would connect His crucifixion to Messianic prophecy.  The Roman soldiers gave him vinegar to drink not knowing they were fulfilling prophecy but the Priests and Pharisees would.

With that final act completed Jesus Christ said tetelestai one last time and gave up His life.  When Jesus Christ said “tetelestai” He really meant it was finished, complete. The cause of death that had plagued mankind since Adam’s sin in Genesis 3 had been removed.  Jesus Christ was telling us the work of redemption was completed once and for all time.  I believe the repetition of Teleo was for emphasis, stressing the reality of our faith alone Justification. 
 
But John and the others who had witnessed the crucifixion went home thinking it was all over.    They were wrong.  There was one more Messianic prophecy about redemption that had to be fulfilled.   

Psalm 16:10-11 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Healing the sin wound which kills is not enough.  What we still needed was life.  We also had to know that what Jesus had said on the cross was true.  And that is the great significance of Christ’s resurrection.  It is irrefutable proof that Jesus Christ has the authority and power to give us life, everlasting life. 

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
1 Corinthians 15:21 & 22 For since by man also came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ validates everything He ever said including John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
If you believe John 3:16 you can be sure you have everlasting life.