Category Archives: Articles

Articles, Bible Questions

Bible Q&A – Did the Apostles Expect Christ to Return During Their Lifetime?

9 Comments

Question: A man I was talking with told me that the Bible isn’t true because it shows the Apostles thought Jesus’ return would be during their lifetime. And that, since Jesus didn’t come back when they expected it (and still hasn’t), they obviously didn’t have any idea what they were talking about. Can you help me?–C.F. from Indiana.

Thank you for asking such a great question. Believe it or not, this is actually a common attack against the Bible. Unfortunately, though, many people who try to defend the Bible answer this attack in ways that are actually self-defeating. By that, I mean many of the answers that Christians give to this attack are actually in favor of the attacker!

Let me give you some examples. These are not quotes, but paraphrases of what some Christians have said in the past to answer this attack.

  • When they said that the coming of Jesus was “at hand” (that is, very close), the Apostles were just saying that we should live like Christ could come in our lifetimes.

Do you see that on one hand, these Christians acknowledge that the Bible says the coming of Christ was indeed “very close,” but then on the other hand, they deny what they just admitted.

  • The Apostles expected the coming of Jesus to be during their lifetime, but they were just humans and didn’t know everything. But that doesn’t affect the reliability of the Scriptures.

The problem with this argument is that by saying the apostles were mistaken, or just expressing their opinion on when Jesus would return, it calls the rest of the New Testament letters into question. After all, if a plain, direct statement such as “the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8) was just an opinion, how many other things are actually just opinion? It undermines the credibility of the entire New Testament.

What is just as unfortunate is that these arguments are used in Bible classes to “explain” (or better stated, “explain away”) these statements about the coming of Christ.

Let’s look at two things which will answer the question.

The First Thing.

the New Testament writers absolutely stated (by inspiration) that Jesus would return during the first century. There is no sense in denying these clear Bible statements:

  • “Therefore, YOU [first century Christians] be patient unto the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7).
  • “The coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:9).
  • “The end of all things is at hand” (I Peter 4:7).
  • “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of THESE [first century false teachers], saying ‘Behold the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These [first century false teachers] are [present tense] murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage” (Jude 14-16).
  • “…Things which must shortly come to pass. …the time is at hand. …Behold He [Jesus] is coming [present tense] with clouds” (Revelation 1:1, 3, 7).

The New Testament writers believed Jesus would return very soon after they wrote. But this wasn’t just their guess or their opinion. This was an inspired message from the Holy Spirit! It was God Himself giving this message to the first-century Christians.

The Second Thing:

These statements of the imminent coming of Jesus Christ–the coming that the New Testament writers expected to come in the first century–weren’t about Jesus Christ coming at the end of time to destroy the universe. They were in regards to a different “coming” of Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 24, Jesus Christ talks about the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. He says that it will be the worst destruction to ever befall a nation in history. In fact He says there’s never going to be any national destruction worse than what would happen to Judah and Jerusalem (Matthew 24:21). Jesus also gives them a time-frame so they would know when to expect it: “this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled” (Matthew 24:34). This destruction, prophesied by Jesus, would come during the lifetime of some of those who were listening to Him.

You might ask Why is that important? It’s because of this: Jesus describes this destruction, this judgment on the Jewish nation, as “the coming of the Son of man” (Matthew 24:27, 30).

This destruction, this coming of Jesus Christ in judgment on Jerusalem, happened in AD 70–and it is this coming of Jesus that the apostles spoke about as being imminent. This took place during the lifetime of some of Jesus’ original disciples.

The apostles knew what they were talking about, and they were right when they said that Jesus’ coming [in judgment on Jerusalem] was “at hand.”

When we understand that there’s more than one “coming” of Jesus Christ mentioned in the Bible (one of them imminent, the other one not imminent), this once-confusing “problem” disappears.

-Bradley Cobb

Articles, Bible Questions

Bible Q&A – The Thief on the Cross–Does it Matter?

1 Comment

Question: Last week, you posted a question and showed that the thief on the cross lived and died under the Old Testament. My question is why does that even matter? Why post an entire article on something so trivial?–Anonymous.

First, thank you for taking the time to read our article. Second, thank you for taking the time to drop us a note asking this question. There’s two answers to your question: the short answer and the slightly longer answer.

The short answer:

Someone asked us the question, so we took the time to answer it.

The slightly longer answer:

The Bible states that we are to “rightly divide” or “handle properly” the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). There are many good, sincere people who have mishandled the story of the thief on the cross–and some people will lose their souls over it!  This is not a trivial thing.

Let me explain.

There are several religious groups–prominent, well-known religious groups–that try to tell people that they can be saved just like the thief on the cross was: By simply acknowledging Jesus as the Christ.

When it’s pointed out that Jesus said “he that believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), they frequently run to the thief on the cross, and say “He wasn’t baptized, therefore baptism isn’t required for salvation.” It doesn’t matter how many times baptism is shown in Scriptures to be connected with salvation and sin-removal (see I Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38, 22:16, and several others), they still point to the thief on the cross as their proof.

The problem with their stance–with their sincerely-held belief–is that the thief on the cross isn’t an example of someone being saved during the New Testament. The thief lived and died under the Old Testament. It’d be just as logical to appeal to the examples of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Job, and David for the answer to “what must I do to be saved” as it is to appeal to the example of the thief on the cross. All of them lived and died before the New Testament ever came into existence.

The thief on the cross lived and died during a time when forgiveness was based on obedience to the Law of Moses and the system of animal sacrifices. If we appeal to his being saved on the cross, then logically–to be consistent–we also have to argue that we can be forgiven today by means of animal sacrifices.

One other thing to consider regarding the thief on the cross is that his salvation, as promised by Jesus, was not the same as becoming a child of God. In other words, the thief was already a child of God. He was an Israelite, born into the family of God by means of his ethnic heritage–by means of being a Jew. He was like the Prodigal Son–someone who was already part of the family of the Father, but who had gone astray and needed to be brought back.

Yet whenever the thief on the cross is brought up as an example of how to be saved, people use it as an example of how to become part of the family of God. The thief didn’t become a child of God while on the cross. He simply came back home to God.

God Himself (speaking through Peter) answered the question “What must we do?” with the following words: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:37-38).

When someone–regardless of how well-meaning and sincere they may be–teaches that all you have to do to become a child of God is to do what the thief on the cross did, they’re teaching a false salvation.

The thief on the cross is an example of how an erring child of God can come back in repentance. He is not an example of how someone becomes a child of God.

Articles

Are You Sowing the Seed of the King, Dumb Brother?

Leave a comment

Years ago, a kind man named Dooley, after teaching the Wednesday evening Jr. High class at church, decided to share with the class some of the misheard hymn lyrics that he remembered.  I know he mentioned more than one, but I can’t remember the others.  The one I do remember is the title for this post: Are you sowing the seed of the king, dumb brother? (original words are: Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom brother?).

After discussing misheard hymn lyrics in one of last week’s posts, this one sprang to mind.  And when it did, it got me to thinking, and I began to ask myself:

Are you sowing the seed of the king, dumb brother?

And that is the exact question I want to pose to you today.

Before anyone gets offended, let me explain.  The word dumb still has the meaning of “silent” or “mute,” though it isn’t used that way much anymore.  For example, look at Isaiah 53:7 (KJV): as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opens not his mouth.  This is the meaning I want you to think about.

Are you sowing the seed of the king, silent brother?

Evangelism is stressed in almost every congregation I know.  Bulletin articles are written about it.  Sermons are preached about it.  And every member agrees it needs to be done.  And the congregation doesn’t grow.  So more sermons are preached, more articles are written, and every member is even more convinced that it needs to be done.  But what happens?  Do we go out sowing the seed?  Or are we silent?

Preachers are oftentimes just as guilty as anyone else of being silent.  For some reason, we get it through our heads that we’ve spent hours upon hours studying for teaching class, writing sermons, preparing articles, and visiting the members, so we’ve “put in our time.”  Somehow we give ourselves a pass for not doing any evangelism outside of the invitation we put at the end of our sermons.

Are you sowing the seed of the king, dumb brother?

It’s easy to point at others and say, “they’re not evangelizing.”  And that is probably a legitimate accusation against many Christians.  But the question isn’t “are they evangelizing?”

The question is “are you evangelizing?”

I’m not comfortable evangelizing.  God never promised a comfortable life.  Those wonderful folks in the Bible who went out evangelizing did it because they wanted to do it.  Their mindset was that it was a glorious thing to bring others to Jesus Christ.  They were willing to do things that may have been uncomfortable—even risking being murdered—because they thought Jesus and His church were worth it.  Do you?

I’m no good at evangelizing.  Have you ever actually tried it?  There are many different methods, and you’d be surprised at how easy some of them are.  Some are as simple as handing a DVD to someone, and telling them, “I really think you’ll find this interesting.  When you get done watching it, let me know what you think.”

I’m afraid.  The one person who knows me best can attest to the fact that I am a massive fraidy-cat when it comes to needles.  I spent a month avoiding a shot, and then when it came time for me to give it to myself, I couldn’t do it.  I was afraid.  But I finally forced myself to do it.  And you know what?  It’s really not that bad.  If you will finally just start doing it, you won’t be afraid anymore.

This article was written for you.  It was also written for me.  Let us both challenge ourselves every day to speak out for Christ and not be dumb—silent—any longer.

Are you sowing the seed of the king, dumb brother?

–Bradley Cobb

Articles

Be United, not Divided!

Leave a comment

The brethren in Corinth had problems. In that congregation, there was a spirit of selfishness that seemed to prevail. Some members wanted to show themselves superior to other members in the local church. Because of this, some would seek to vaunt themselves up by saying “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas [Peter], and I of Christ” (I Corinthians 1:12). They were basically saying “I was baptized by Paul; therefore, I am more of a Christian than you are.”

Paul condemns the practice of dividing the church. He instead calls for unity in Corinth. After all, he states clearly “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (I Corinthians 1:13). Neither Paul nor Apollos nor Peter died for the sins of the people, only Christ did. People are not baptized in the name of Paul, Peter, or Apollos, but of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Therefore, Christians should not seek to follow after the teachings of any man, but instead those of Christ. Christ is not divided, nor should His church be. This is a strict condemnation of the idea of denominationalism.

Instead, Paul calls the Corinthian Christians (and all Christians) to unity. By inspiration, Paul implores, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10). Is such a thing really possible? Yes, it is. Not only is it possible, it is commanded. If God’s people would simply take the Bible, God’s word, as their standard instead of following traditions and their own opinions, unity would be achieved. Not everyone is willing to do this, and they will be judged by God for their rebellion. What are you doing to promote the unity commanded by God?

-Bradley Cobb

Articles

Reading the Bible

Leave a comment

Many times, preachers get into the habit of not reading their Bibles.

What?  What do you mean?  I prepare sermons every week from the Bible!

Yes, I understand that.  I do the same thing.  However, this morning a realization hit me.  I’ve been studying specific passages of the Bible in preparation for a certain lesson; but I hadn’t just been reading the Bible.

Many times, preachers kinda know what they want to preach on, or what text they want to bring to light, and then they dig into that text.  They spend so much time doing that, that they trick themselves into thinking that they’ve done enough Bible reading for the week.  I know I’m not alone in this.  I’ve heard other preachers say the same thing.

This morning, I woke up around 2 in the morning (after going to sleep around 11:30), and was wide awake.  After a couple hours in vain of trying to go back to sleep, I got up with a flashlight and began reading Matthew.  So many things were there that I’d just plain forgotten about.  And literally dozens of sermon ideas and articles ideas hit me—and I was tempted to stop and write them down, but I wanted to keep reading.

Reading God’s word was freeing.  It was a great pleasure.  It was instructive.  It was corrective.  It was enlightening.

And I only got through Matthew 12.

It’s no wonder that one of my heroes, Harold Turner, made it a point to read through the New Testament once every month.

I can’t wait to do this again.

–Bradley Cobb

Articles

The Sufferings of Paul Didn’t Stop Him…

Leave a comment

Have you ever noticed how many people are willing to just give up when they face even the slightest hardship? This same attitude is pervasive in the church today. There are those who almost seek reasons to skip the worship assembly. If it is raining, they won’t go. If there is family visiting, they won’t go. If it is night-time, they won’t go (even though there are people who would gladly pick them up and bring them). If they have a sniffle, they won’t go. How about looking at what the apostle Paul endured, and then see if you really have an excuse.

The apostle to the Gentiles listed just a sampling of the hardships he endured in II Corinthians 11. He was beaten so many times that he had lost count (verse 23). He was thrown in prison often because of his faith. He was in danger of death from the time he first became a Christian, and it was a constant threat (see Acts 14:19-20). He was beaten with whips 195 times (II Corinthians 11:24). He was stoned, left for dead. He was in perils everywhere he went: in the cities, in the wilderness, in the sea, and among false brethren. Yet, after suffering through all of those things (and many more not mentioned) he still went about preaching the word of God.

Paul wouldn’t let being publicly beaten keep him from worshiping God, yet many brethren today think a sniffle is a viable excuse to God. Paul made it a point to worship with the saints wherever he went, even if it meant the possibility of being stoned to death; yet many brethren think God will overlook their skipping services because they have family over and “have to” entertain them. Those with that attitude don’t understand Romans 8:18, “The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us.” If Paul saw what you are doing today, would he be pleased or disappointed in you?

-Bradley Cobb

Articles, Bible Questions

Bible Q&A – How Many Cups?

Leave a comment

Dear sir, a friend of mine said that it is sinful to use more than one cup per congregation when taking the Lord’s Supper, and that everyone must drink from that one cup.  He said that Jesus took “the cup” (singular), and therefore, we can only use one cup.  What does the Bible say about this?–Anonymous

Thanks for the question.  It is true that we have some good, sincere brethren that insist that you can only use one cup in the Lord’s Supper.  They claim there is a special significance to the one cup.  They claim that Jesus only authorized one cup.

How can we know for sure? As always, let’s go to the Bible!

I Corinthians 10:16-17 has the apostle Paul (who at that point was sitting in the city of Ephesus) writing to Christians in Corinth (which was over 100 miles away, across the Aegean Sea).  And in that passage, he says “the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

Did you notice that? He said that the Christians in Ephesus, as well as the Christians in Corinth all used the same cup!  Now, was Paul saying they (over 100 miles apart) used the same literal cup each time they took the Lord’s Supper?  Of course not, because that would be physically impossible.

It is pointed out by these brethren that the Bible says we are to “drink this cup [singular]” (I Corinthians 11:26), and that Jesus took the cup and said that as often as we drink it [the cup, singular] we are to do it in remembrance of Him (I Corinthians 11:25).  Our brethren in Christ then ask, “In light of this evidence, how can we come to any other conclusion?”

It’s not the cup that is being drunk, it’s the stuff in the cup.

If the focus is on one literal cup, then that one literal cup (not the stuff in it, but the cup itself) has to be drunk…by each person present.  Don’t drink the contents, but drink the actual container.  Put it in your mouth and swallow it.  Jesus is obviously talking about drinking the “fruit of the vine” which is in the cup.  You can’t drink a literal cup.

IF we are only permitted to use one cup in the Lord’s Supper, then it must be the same cup that Jesus Himself used!  Jesus said this cup is the New Testament in my blood (I Corinthians 10:25).  And every congregation across the entire world must use that one exact cup.

But let’s look at one more verse which settles the issue.

Luke 22:17 – “And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “take this, and divide it among yourselves.”

Look at that passage, and you will see that it was after telling them to divide it among themselves that he instituted the Lord’s Supper (verses 19-20).  When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, the fruit of the vine was already in twelve different cups.

The conclusion from this is that the number of cups doesn’t matter—it’s what is in the cup that counts.

–Bradley Cobb

Articles

And We’re Complaining?

Leave a comment

We have had it good for a very long time. You don’t believe me? Name one Christian in America who has been murdered because he stood for his faith. Can’t think of any? How about naming a Christian in America who was beaten by order of the government? We’ve had it so good that we are actually shocked and outraged when the government does something that might cause us to suffer in some way.

To put it bluntly, we have become spoiled.

Is it horrible that the Supreme Court has made decisions that go against the Bible? Is it infuriating when the president forcefully promotes homosexuality?  Of course. But since when is it the government’s job to determine what is biblically right or wrong?

It would benefit all Christians to have a history lesson.

The New Testament was written during the days of the Roman Empire. Most of it was written during the reign of a guy named Nero. Some things you might not remember about him:

  • He was an open homosexual, going so far as to marrying a young boy.
  • He had Christians in Rome arrested, then had them covered in rags and tar, set them up on poles and set them on fire—burning them alive—so that his garden could be lighted at night.
  • He had other Christians arrested and thrown into the arenas to be ripped apart by starving lions.
  • He instituted an official, bloody, empire-wide persecution of Christians that lasted 3 ½ years, and religious people (the Jews) helped him enforce it.
  • And there’s really a lot more…

And we complain about the itty-bitty persecution we’re getting here in America? Really?

It was during the reign of Nero that Peter wrote the words “honor the king” (I Peter 2:17). It was during the reign of Nero that Paul said these words:

Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God. The powers that exist are ordained by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will themselves receive damnation. (Romans 13:1-2)

It was also during the reign of Nero that Paul said:

Therefore, I exhort that—first of all—supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all people, for kings, and for all those in authority (I Timothy 2:1-2).

I can hear it now, I’m supposed to thank God for the corrupt and wicked leaders we have?!?!?

Do you think Paul and Peter were just kidding when they said to honor Nero? To be subject to Nero? To not resist Nero? To pray and give thanks for Nero?

It’s time to realize that even as bad as things may be, they could be worse—a lot worse.

If you want this county’s direction to change, then you have to start changing the people. That’s not done through legislation, but through teaching them the true gospel of Christ.

–Bradley Cobb

Articles

You Can’t Out-Give God

Leave a comment

When it comes to giving, many people seem to give God the leftovers. They get to services on Sunday morning and they look to see what cash they happen to have left in their wallet, then they decide how much of it they’ll need for later. It’s only after doing such that they decide to give what is left to God. Christians should not be like this.   Paul praised the churches of Macedonia for the way they gave (II Corinthians 8:1-5). All can learn from their example.

  • They gave liberally. They knew what was important: putting God first (see Matthew 6:33). They gave as much as they possibly could, even more than Paul thought they could possibly afford. Giving liberally means that they gave freely, in excess.
  • Secondly, they gave joyfully. Instead of feeling like it was something demanded of them or feeling like they were being guilted into it, they were happy to give (see II Corinthians 9:7).
  • They gave out of love. They gave with great joy because the money given was going to help brothers and sisters in need. This shows the amount of love that they had for their fellow Christians.
  • They gave out of their poverty. Like the widow who gave the two mites (all that she had), these Christians did not worry about using the money on themselves. They gave until it hurt, and then gave some more. There are those today who do their budget and after all the bills are paid, they look to see how much they’re going to give God. Giving to God should come first.

What is the result of their giving so freely and without putting themselves first? God sustained them, making sure they did not go without those things they needed. God bestowed blessings upon them (II Corinthians 8:1). No matter how much we give, God is able and ready to bless us above what we have given. Like king David said, “I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).

Compare yourselves to the Christians in Macedonia and see how you measure up.

-Bradley Cobb

Articles

Bible Q&A – Is Jesus Deity?

Leave a comment

This week’s Bible Q&A is the last in the series of letters to “Agnostic Agnes.”  The final assignment was, “You’ve convinced Agnes that God exists, and that the Bible is inspired.  Now answer the question, ‘Is Jesus deity?'”

This letter may make you chuckle along the way, but hopefully it will show that you can answer the question from the Bible.  Enjoy!

Dear Aunt Agnes,

How are things going up there on the farm? I heard that the rain washed out the road to your house and you were stuck there with Uncle Bubba for a whole week. I hope you have recovered from that ordeal. I am proud that you went out and got Junior a job at the chicken houses. At least now, he will have a reason to smell.

Grandpa told me you had some of them “Jehovah’s Witnesses” come to your door a couple days ago. He said they were planning on coming back this weekend. Because of that, I decided to send this in an email so you would have it faster. I know they were telling you that Jesus is not really God or a part of God, but that He was just the first angel that was created. That simply is not true, and I’ll try to explain how you can know that Jesus is not a created angel, but that He truly is and was God.

I guess first, we should start off with a more general question: Did Jesus even exist? There are many people (especially atheists) who say that Jesus is a myth and that He never even came to earth. Jesus did exist, and it is not just stated in the Bible. There are other historical sources that prove that Jesus actually existed. Flavius Josephus was a Jewish historian that worked for the Roman Empire around 40-60 years after Jesus died. He wrote a book called “Antiquities of the Jews” in which he spoke of Jesus, called Him the Christ, mentioned His crucifixion, and even mentioned the “tribe of Christians” that still existed to that day, which were named for Him.

There was another man who, while he was in jail, wrote a letter to his son which asked what good came of the Jews executing their wise king. He then said that the Jewish nation was abolished, but the wise king did not die permanently, because his teaching lived on. This was a reference to Jesus, and was written in AD 73, just 40 or so years after Jesus died. This letter is currently on display at the British Museum.

There are several tombs around Jerusalem that have inscribed on them “remember me, Jesus, in the resurrection.” These tombs are from AD 30-60. These people obviously knew Jesus existed, for they were alive at the same time He was. Even people who were against Christianity wrote of Jesus as being a real person. Another historian, named Cornelius Tacitus, wrote in AD 115-117 that “Christos suffered the extreme punishment by Pontius Pilate, and now the followers have spread their lies in Judea and Rome.” Christos is Jesus Christ, and as you can see from the quote, this guy didn’t like Jesus or the Christians. But notice that He admitted that Jesus did exist.

More examples could be given, but I think this is enough for now to show you that Jesus really did exist.

The Bible states pretty clearly that Jesus is God. First, have you ever noticed that it calls Jesus the “Son of God” quite a bit? That shows that Jesus is God. That might sound confusing, but let me explain. Junior is the son of a Berthwait, right? Because of that, he is a Berthwait also, right? He has the qualities of a Berthwait. Just look at his nose and his stomach. There is no mistaking tat Junior is a Berthwait.

The same is true of Jesus. Since He is the Son of God, you would expect Him to have the characteristics of God. What does the Bible say?

God is eternal. The name Jehovah means “the always existing one.” He told Moses that His name was “I AM.” That is in Exodus 3:14, by the way. Well, is Jesus eternal? He said that “before Abraham was, I AM.” Jesus called Himself the always existing one. That was John 8:58. Since Jesus is always existing, He is God.

God is the creator of all things. The first verse of the Bible starts off “In the beginning God created…” John 1:1 says “in the beginning was the Word,” and in verse 3, “all things were created by Him (the Word), and without Him (the Word) was not anything made that was made.” If God made everything, who is “the Word”? In John 1:14, it says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.” So, we can see that the Word was the only begotten of the Father. That means He was God’s own Son, Jesus. So, if Jesus created all things and nothing was created without Him (as it said in John 1:3), Jesus must be God. Genesis 1:1 said God created everything. You might ask the “Jehovah’s Witness” that comes this weekend to explain to you how Jesus could create everything that was ever created if He was created. That would mean that somehow Jesus created Himself, which is impossible. Colossians 1:16 says that by Jesus “all things” were created in heaven or on earth. Since Jesus created everything, He is God.

God is the only one that can forgive sins. I John 1:9 says if Christians confess our sins, God will forgive us of them. Jesus said that while He was on earth, He had the power to forgive people of their sins. Matthew 9:2 and Luke 7:48 show two different time Jesus forgave people of their sins. Since Jesus could forgive sins while He was on earth, He is God.

God alone is worthy of worship. Even Jesus said that “you shall worship the Lord they God, and Him only shall you serve.” The apostles refused to accept worship, and even angels refuse to accept worship. But Jesus accepted it. He was worshipped at many different times, and said nothing against it, but accepted it. Jesus healed a man and later that man worshipped Him (John 9:35-38). The apostles worshipped Him. Since Jesus accepted worship, He is God.

Now understand, it is easy for someone to claim to be eternal, or be the creator, or to be able to forgive sins, but it is an entirely different thing to prove it. In the Bible, people sent from God always were able to back up their words with miracles. The purpose of miracles was to confirm that the message and the messenger were from God. When Moses was told to go speak to the Israelites and tell them that he was leading them out of Egypt, he asked God “what if they don’t believe me?” God gave him three miracles to perform to prove what he said. These are shown in Exodus 4:1-9.

In Mark 16:17-20, the apostles were sent out to spread the gospel, with miracles to confirm the words they were teaching. When someone was able to work genuine miracles, it showed that God approved of their message. The apostles were able to work these miracles, showing that their message was from God. But the words they spoke were Christ’s words, showing that God approved of them teaching about Jesus Christ.

When Jesus said He had power on earth to forgive sins, some people questioned Him and even accused Him of blasphemy. In order to prove that He had the power on earth to forgive sins, He healed the man that He had forgiven. This man had been bedridden for years, but Jesus made him completely healed and the man got up and walked away with his cot. Jesus performed miracles to prove what He said. He proved He was able to forgive sins, so He proved He was God.

Since miracles show God’s approval of the message and the messenger, Jesus’ miracles confirm the things He taught. It shows that Jesus really was eternal, and therefore He was God. It shows that Jesus really could forgive sins, therefore He was God.

There are clear statements from the inspired writers of the Bible that show Jesus is God. John clearly stated that Jesus is God. He said in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I know that the “Jehovah’s Witness” told you that it means “the Word was a god,” but that is not true. The original language there literally says “and God was the Word.”

Colossians 2:9 says that in Jesus dwelt all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That means Jesus was God in human form. I Timothy 3:16 says that God was manifest (that means clearly seen) in the flesh. Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus was the image of the invisible God.

In Acts 20:28, Paul tells the elders of the church at Ephesus to “take heed to the church of God…which He purchased with His own blood.” When did God buy something with His own blood? I Peter 1:18-19 says Christians are redeemed (bought back) with the precious blood of Christ. This also shows that Jesus is God.

Paul calls Jesus “our glorious God” in Titus 2:13. He calls God our savior in Titus 1:3, and in the next verse, He calls Christ our savior, showing that they are one and the same. Hebrews 1:8 shows God saying to Jesus “thy throne, o God…” So God calls Jesus “God.”

I think that should give you enough information for now to show that Jesus really is God. But while we’re on the topic of Jesus, there’s one more thing I think I ought to discuss before I let you go.

Some people, realizing that they can’t argue with the evidence of Jesus’ existence, have tried to say that Jesus never really died on the cross, or if He did, He never was raised from the dead. Neither one of those statements are true.

First, just look at all the people in the Bible who confirmed that Jesus died on the cross. All four gospel writers state that He died (specifically, that He “gave up the ghost”). The soldiers who were in charge of the crucifixion confirmed that Jesus was dead (John 19:32-33). Pilate was told Jesus was dead, but made sure for himself by sending for the Centurion in charge (Mark 15:44-45). After He was dead, even the Pharisees (Jesus’ enemies) confirmed He was dead (Matthew 27:63). Therefore, there is no way that He could have just fainted on the cross.

There is no doubt, going by the Bible, that Jesus was indeed dead. He was buried in a tomb, and the tomb was sealed. The Sunday after He died, the tomb was found empty. The burial cloths were still there, including the face cloth folded by itself. This shows that no grave robber could have taken the body, because they would not have unwrapped the body and then taken it. If the disciples had stolen the body, they would have taken it as is, and the burial cloths would not be left there.

There were many witnesses that saw Jesus after He was risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene saw Him first (Mark 16:9). Afterwards, Peter saw Him (I Corinthians 15:4-5). He was seen by the apostles on multiple occasions (John 20). He was seen by Paul (Acts 9:1-7). He was even seen by around 500 disciples at the same time, most of which were still alive when Paul pointed this fact out (I Corinthians 15:6).

This is evidenced by the change that happened in the life of the apostles after the resurrection. Before Jesus died, the apostles abandoned Him because they feared for their own lives. After the resurrection, they spoke boldly in the face of the same Jewish leaders who had Jesus put to death. Before the resurrection, the disciples met in secret (John 20:19), afterwards, they boldly proclaimed Jesus in the temple in front of thousands (Acts 2). The fact that their lives changed so dramatically shows that the resurrection was true. If the resurrection was a lie, they would not have been willing to take all the constant persecution and possible death that came with being a Christian. Paul even said that if the resurrection was fake, all of his hope was worthless (I Corinthians 15:13-14).

If the resurrection is not a fact, the entire Bible is unreliable. If the resurrection is not a fact, the Bible is a lie. That would mean we have no hope of heaven, we have no right to pray to God to ask for help, and we have no purpose in this world but to live and die. But since the Bible is inspired, we can trust what it says. Jesus was resurrected, and we have our hope!

Throughout the New Testament, evidence is seen of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. That’s what baptism pictures. Paul said in Romans 6:3-4 that we are baptized into His death (therefore He died), and we are raised with Him (therefore He was risen from the dead) to walk in newness of life.

Well, Aunt Agnes, I didn’t mean to write such a long email, but I hope this is helpful. If you need anything else, just let me know. Our teacher has given us a lot of good material on these things, and if you want I can copy them off for you and mail them your way. Tell Uncle Bubba I’m sending them postage due like he did with my birthday card last year. Grandpa still cracks up when he thinks about it.

Brad