1. Gospel of Jesus Christ
The word gospel means “good news,” so the gospel of Christ is the good news of His coming to provide forgiveness of sins for all who will believe (Colossians 1:14; Romans 10:9). Since the first man’s sin, mankind has been under the condemnation of God (Romans 5:12). Because everyone breaks God’s perfect law by committing sin, everyone is guilty (Romans 3:23). The punishment for the crime of sin is physical death (Romans 6:23) and then an eternity spent in a place of punishment (Revelation 20:15;). This eternal separation from God is also called the “second death” (Revelation 20:14–15).
The bad news that all are guilty of sin and condemned by God is countered by the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. God, because of His love for the world, has made a way for man to be forgiven of their sins (John 3:16). He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the sins of mankind on Himself through death on a cross (1 Peter 2:24). In placing our sin on Christ, God ensured that all who will believe in the name of Jesus will be forgiven (Acts 10:43). Jesus’ resurrection guarantees the justification of all who believe (Romans 4:25).
The Bible specifies the content of the gospel message: “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time” (1 Corinthians 15:1–6). In this passage, Paul emphasizes the primacy of the gospel—it is of “first importance.” The gospel message contains two historical facts, both supported by Scripture: Christ’s death and His resurrection. Both those facts are bolstered by other proofs: Christ’s death is proved by His burial, and His resurrection is proved by the eyewitnesses.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that God provided the way for man to be freed from the penalty of sin (John 14:6; Romans 6:23). Everyone dies physically, but those who believe in Jesus Christ are promised a physical resurrection unto eternal life (John 11:23–26). Those who reject Christ will not only die physically but will undergo a “second death,” which the Bible describes as an eternal lake of fire (Revelation 20:13–14). Jesus is the only One in whom salvation can be found (Acts 4:12).
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the best news anyone will ever hear, and what a person does with this news will determine where he or she spends eternity. God is calling you to choose life. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved (Romans 10:13).
2. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. —Romans 1:16
Before we consider Paul’s boldness in preaching the gospel, we must understand something of the gospel that He preached. It is a sound principle of communication to define terms prior to any debate or proper discussion. This clears the playing field and allows those involved to know where the others stand or what they mean when they speak. Evangelicals today define theological terms so broadly that we can no longer suppose that we are all talking about the same thing even though we are using the same words. This is especially true regarding the gospel.
The first thing worth considering in our text is the definite article the. Paul did not have a gospel that was peculiar to him. His was not a Pauline gospel as opposed to a Petrine or Johannine gospel. Though something of the personalities of these apostles shines through in their presentation, the gospel they shared was the same. They would know nothing of the frequent language of our day that speaks of different variations, versions, and flavors of the gospel as though there could be more than one.
Secondly, Paul did not have a gospel that was peculiar to a certain culture. He did not preach one variation to the Jews and another to the Gentiles. Though he was aware of cultural differences and used the unique inroads provided by each culture, his gospel was not adapted to fit the culture or to be less offensive to it. In fact, the offensiveness of the gospel to both Jew and Gentile was the very thing that put his life in constant danger. It is doubtful that the apostle Paul would understand contemporary evangelicalism’s overwhelming preoccupation with minutely understanding a specific culture and adapting its message and methodologies to it. Paul understood that, ultimately, all men of every culture suffer from the same malady, and only one message has the power to save them.
Finally, Paul did not have a gospel that was peculiar to a single epoch in world history. There undoubtedly were significant changes in the Roman Empire with each passing decade of Paul’s life, yet he preached the same gospel at his death that he did at the start of his apostolic ministry several decades earlier. Without doubt, he would be surprised at the contemporary Christian conviction that each passing decade brings a new generation of people who require a new presentation or adaptation of the gospel.
PARALLELS BETWEEN THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND PAUL
It is clear from Scripture that there was an unbroken continuum between what Jesus did and communicated to His followers and what Paul believed and preached. This truth holds up under the greatest scrutiny. In the gospel of Jesus, God is love. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike. At the fullness of time, He gave His greatest demonstration of love by sending His beloved Son so that men might not perish but have eternal life through Him.
In the gospel of Paul, God is love. He has not left Himself without a witness of His mercy, but He does good to all men and gives them rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying their hearts with food and gladness. In the fullness of time, His love reached its crescendo in the giving of His Son to die for our fallen race while we were yet helpless sinners and enemies of God.
In the gospel of Jesus, men are evil and enslaved to sin. They are bad trees bearing bad fruit.8 They hate the light of God’s revelation and do not come to it for fear that their evil deeds will be exposed. Their hearts are full of evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and slanders. Even the highest and most lofty moralists among men are nothing but whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones.
Paul serves the same indictment against our fallen race: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands or seeks after God. They have all turned away and become worthless. There is no one who does good, and there is no fear of God before their eyes.12 For this reason, the law serves only to convict men of their sin, crush their self-righteous hopes, and leave them without excuse and totally dependent upon the mercies of God.
In the gospel of Jesus, all unbelieving men stand condemned before God, and His wrath abides upon them. The Galileans who died at the hands of Pilate and the eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell did not suffer these things because they were greater sinners than other men, but rather all men deserve the same fate and it is only divine mercy that keeps them from it. All deserve death under the wrath of God and will die in due time if they do not repent. In the gospel of Paul, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. Those who continue with a stubborn and unrepentant heart are storing up wrath against themselves that will be revealed on the day of judgment.
In the gospel of Jesus, the cross is the great essential and the culminating work of redemption. It was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to enter into His glory. Thus, He taught His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day. At Gethsemane and Golgotha, He revealed that His sufferings were not confined to the mistreatment of men or devils. On the cross, He drank the full cup of God’s wrath and died a forsaken man.
In the gospel of Paul, this same great theme occurs on every page. Paul preached to men as of first importance what he had also received: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Paul demonstrated with great and irrefutable proofs that Christ was the sin-bearer who became a curse and died under the wrath of God as a propitiation for His people. He proclaimed Christ crucified even though it was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. The cross was not a minor theme for Paul. It was everything. It held him captive and constantly constrained him.
The gospel of Jesus calls men to repent of their sins and believe. He promises those who obey the call will receive eternal life. He warns the rest that they will perish under the wrath of God if they continue in their unrepentant and unbelieving state. The gospel of Paul provides the very same promises and warnings. The apostle solemnly testified, to both Jews and Greeks, of the need for repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He proclaimed that God has commanded all people everywhere to repent, and he warned men not to be deceived by empty works, for the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
In the gospel of Jesus, sincere and costly discipleship always accompanies genuine conversion. Jesus frequently culled the large crowds that followed Him by making radical demands upon them: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” He even warned His own disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”31
The gospel of Paul contains the same radical demands of discipleship. With regard to holiness, Paul admonishes believers to come out from this world and be separate. With regard to righteousness, he commands believers to consider themselves dead to sin and alive to God as instruments of righteousness.33 With regard to faithfulness, they are encouraged to endure in spite of the many tribulations and persecutions that are certain to come against all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus.
The gospel of Jesus teaches men that a mere profession of faith alone is no sound evidence of salvation. Jesus warned that not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of His Father in heaven. He was adamant that the fruit of one’s life is the proof of salvation, and that everyone who does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
The gospel of Paul contains the same solemn warnings. He admonished those who have professed faith in Christ to examine and test themselves to see if they are truly in the faith. He warned men about having a form of godliness but negating its power, and professing to know God but denying Him with their deeds.38
Finally, the gospel of Jesus abounds with warnings about future judgment and the terrors of hell. In fact, Jesus spoke more about this dreadful matter than all the other prophets and apostles combined. According to Jesus, a great day of judgment is coming when men will be separated as sheep from goats, and a great multitude will hear, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The matter was so crucial to Jesus that He gave the following warning even to those whom He considered His friends: “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
The gospel of the apostle Paul agrees with Christ in the matter of judgment and hell. He writes that the wicked are storing up wrath for themselves to be revealed in the day of God’s righteous judgment and wrath. He warns believers and unbelievers alike that they should not be deceived by the empty words of those who would deny the coming reality of divine retribution and wrath. God will not be mocked. Whatever the disobedient sows, he will also reap. Like Christ, Paul is both explicit and unapologetic in his warnings: “The Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”
From the texts we have just considered, it is obvious that there is no contradiction or deviation between the gospel of Jesus Christ and that which the apostle Paul preached and defined in his epistles. In like manner, Moses and the prophets, the writers of the four Gospels, and the other contributors to the New Testament stand in perfect agreement with Christ regarding this “faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” There is but one gospel, which stands above the editor and the censor, and which must not be changed, adapted, or repackaged. Any attempt to do so, regardless of the reason or motivation, will result in a different gospel which is no gospel at all. We must put aside every foolish and dangerous notion that we can improve upon the gospel for the sake of the gospel, and stand with that great cloud of witnesses throughout the history of the church, who preached Christ crucified and raised according to the Scriptures.
Paul Washer, The Gospel’s Power and Message, Recovering the Gospel
3. What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
The gospel proclaims that Jesus paid sin’s penalty thru His substitutionary death for sin. Jesus died, was buried, and rose againYou’d think that would be an easy question to answer, especially for Christians. In fact, you’d think that writing a book like this—one asking Christians to think carefully about the question, What is the gospel of Jesus?—would be completely unnecessary. It’s like asking carpenters to sit around and ponder the question, What is a hammer?
After all, the gospel of Jesus Christ stands at the very center of Christianity, and we Christians claim to be about the gospel above all else. It’s what we intend to found our lives upon and build our churches around. It’s what we speak to others about, and it’s what we pray they also will hear and believe.
For all that, how firm a grasp do you think most Christians really have on the content of the Christian gospel? How would you answer if someone asked you: What is this news that you Christians go on and on about? And what’s so good about it?
My sense is that far too many Christians would answer with something far short of what the Bible holds out as “the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Maybe they’d answer, “The gospel is that God will forgive your sins if you believe in him.” Or they’d say something like, “The good news is that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Or, “The gospel is that you are a child of God, and God wants his children to be abundantly successful in every way.” Some would know that it’s important to say something about Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection, but then again, how does all that fit in?
The fact is, getting Christians to agree on an answer to the question, What is the gospel? is not as simple as it should be. I work with a ministry called 9Marks, an organization affiliated with Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC. For the most part, those who read and comment on our material are from a pretty narrow slice of evangelical Christianity. They believe the Bible is true and inerrant, they believe Jesus died on the cross and rose bodily from the dead, they believe human beings are sinners in need of salvation, and they intend to be gospel-centered, gospel-saturated people.
But what would you guess is the topic that single-handedly generates the most comment and the most energetic response of anything we write on? Yep, it’s the gospel. We can write and speak for months about preaching, discipling, counseling, church polity, even church music, and the response from our readers is interesting but not surprising. But let us post an article trying to be clear about what the Bible teaches is the good news of Christianity, and the response is stunning.
Some time ago, one of my friends posted a short article on our website about a well-known Christian artist who had been asked in an interview to define what the good news of Christianity is. Here’s what the artist said:
What a great question. I guess I’d probably … my instinct is to say that it’s Jesus coming, living, dying, and being resurrected and his inaugurating the already and the not yet of all things being restored to himself … and that happening by way of himself … the being made right of all things … that process both beginning and being a reality in the lives and hearts of believers and yet a day coming when it will be more fully realized. But the good news, the gospel, the speaking of the good news, I would say is the news of his kingdom coming, the inaugurating of his kingdom coming … that’s my instinct.
Several of us responded by asking questions such as, “If we’re articulating the Christian gospel, shouldn’t we include some explanation of Jesus’ death and resurrection?” Or, “Shouldn’t we say something about sin and the need for salvation from God’s wrath against it?”
The response to that series of posts was incredible. For literally months, we received dozens of messages about it. Some who wrote to us appreciated the questions we raised; others wondered what was wrong with articulating the gospel like that since Jesus preached about the arrival of the kingdom. Others were just refreshed to hear Christians thinking hard about how to articulate the gospel in the first place.
In some ways, I’m glad to see Christians getting excited when a discussion about the gospel begins. It means they’re taking it seriously, and that they have deeply held thoughts about what the gospel is. There would be nothing healthy at all in Christians who couldn’t care less how we define and understand the gospel. On the other hand, I think the energy generated by discussions about the gospel points to a general fog of confusion that swirls around it these days. When you come right down to it, Christians just don’t agree on what the gospel is—even Christians who call themselves evangelical.
Ask any hundred self-professed evangelical Christians what the good news of Jesus is, and you’re likely to get about sixty different answers. Listen to evangelical preaching, read evangelical books, log on to evangelical websites, and you’ll find one description after another of the gospel, many of them mutually exclusive. Here are a few I’ve found:
The good news is, God wants to show you his incredible favor. He wants to fill your life with “new wine,” but are you willing to get rid of your old wineskins? Will you start thinking bigger? Will you enlarge your vision and get rid of those old negative mind-sets that hold you back?
Here’s the gospel in a phrase. Because Christ died for us, those who trust in him may know that their guilt has been pardoned once and for all. What will we have to say before the bar of God’s judgment? Only one thing. Christ died in my place. That’s the gospel.
The message of Jesus may well be called the most revolutionary of all time: “The radical revolutionary empire of God is here, advancing by reconciliation and peace, expanding by faith, hope, and love—beginning with the poorest, the weakest, the meekest, and the least. It’s time to change your thinking. Everything is about to change. It’s time for a new way of life. Believe me. Follow me. Believe this good news so you can learn to live by it and be part of the revolution.”
The good news is that God’s face will always be turned toward you, regardless of what you have done, where you have been, or how many mistakes you’ve made. He loves you and is turned in your direction, looking for you.
The gospel itself refers to the proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, is the one, true, and only Lord of the world.
Good news! God is becoming King and he is doing it through Jesus! And therefore, phew!, God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s world is going to be renewed. And in the middle of that, of course, it’s good news for you and me. But that’s the derivative from, or the corollary of the good news which is a message about Jesus that has a second-order effect on me and you and us. But the gospel is not itself about you are this sort of a person and this can happen to you. That’s the result of the gospel rather than the gospel itself.… Salvation is the result of the gospel, not the center of the gospel itself.
The gospel is the proclamation of Jesus, in [two] senses. It is the proclamation announced by Jesus—the arrival of God’s realm of possibility (his “kingdom”) in the midst of human structures of possibility. But it is also the proclamation about Jesus—the good news that in dying and rising, Jesus has made the kingdom he proclaimed available to us.
As a Christian, I am simply trying to orient myself around living a particular kind of way, the kind of way that Jesus taught is possible. And I think that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live.… Over time when you purposefully try to live the way of Jesus, you start noticing something deeper going on. You begin realizing the reason this is the best way to live is that it is rooted in profound truths about how the world is. You find yourself living more and more in tune with ultimate reality. You are more and more in sync with how the universe is at its deepest levels.… The first Christians announced this way of Jesus as “the good news.”
My understanding of Jesus’ message is that he teaches us to live in the reality of God now—here and today. It’s almost as if Jesus just keeps saying, “Change your life. Live this way.”
You see what I mean when I say the gospel is surrounded by a fog of confusion! If you had never heard of Christianity, what would you think after reading those few quotations? You’d obviously know that Christians intend to be communicating some message that is good. But beyond that, it’s just a jumble. Is the good news simply that God loves me, and that I need to start thinking more positively? Is it that Jesus is a really good example who can teach me to live a loving and compassionate life? It might have something to do with sin and forgiveness. Apparently some Christians think this good news has something to do with Jesus’ death. Others apparently don’t.
My point is not to decide here and now which of these quotations are better or worse than the others (though I hope that after reading this book you’ll be able to decide). It’s simply to point out how many different things come to people’s minds when they’re asked, What is the gospel?
I want to try in this book to offer a clear answer to that question, one that is based on what the Bible itself teaches about the gospel. In the process, I am hoping and praying for several things.
First, if you are a Christian, I pray that this little book—and more importantly, the glorious truths it attempts to articulate—will cause your heart to swell with joy and praise toward Jesus Christ for what he has accomplished for you. An emaciated gospel leads to emaciated worship. It lowers our eyes from God to self and cheapens what God has accomplished for us in Christ. The biblical gospel, by contrast, is like fuel in the furnace of worship. The more you understand about it, believe it, and rely on it, the more you adore God both for who he is and for what he has done for us in Christ. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul cried (Rom. 11:33), and it was because his heart was full of the gospel.
Second, I hope that reading this book will give you a deeper confidence as you talk to others about the good news of Jesus. I have met any number of Christians who hesitate to share the gospel with friends, family, and acquaintances for fear of not having answers to all their questions. Well, it’s probably true, no matter who you are, that you’ll never be able to answer all the questions! But you can answer some of them, and I hope this book will help you answer more of them.
Third, I pray that you will see the importance of this gospel for the life of the church, and that as a result you will work to make sure that this gospel is preached, sung, prayed, taught, proclaimed, and heard in every aspect of your church’s life. It is through the church, Paul says, that the manifold wisdom of God will be made known to the universe. And how is that? Through the preaching of the gospel, which brings to light “for everyone” God’s eternal plan to save the world (Eph. 3:7–12).
Fourth, I hope this book will help to shore up the edges of the gospel in your mind and heart. The gospel is a stark message, and it intrudes into the world’s thinking and priorities with sharp, bracing truths. Sadly, there has always been a tendency among Christians—even among evangelicals—to soften some of those edges so that the gospel will be more readily acceptable to the world. One of my prayers is that this book will serve to preserve those edges and prevent the erosion of truths that, though hard for the world to swallow, are indispensable to the good news of Jesus. All of us are tempted, in the name of being winsome witnesses, to present the gospel in as attractive a way as possible. That’s fine in some respects—it is “good news,” after all—but we must also be careful not to round off the gospel’s sharp points. We must preserve the edges, and I hope this book will help us to do that.
Finally, if you’re not a Christian, then I pray that by reading this book you will be provoked to think hard about the good news of Jesus Christ. This is the message on which we Christians have staked our entire lives, and it’s one that we believe demands a response from you, too. If there’s anything in the world that you cannot afford to ignore, it is the voice of God saying, “Good news! Here is how you can be saved from my judgment!” That’s the kind of announcement that demands attention.
Greg Gilbert,What Is the Gospel?
4) Christ Rose From The Dead
Jesus Christ’s Resurrection: The Best Documented Event of Ancient HistoryWhile Christmas — the birth date of the Messiah, Jesus Christ — marks the watershed of splitting calendar history into two epochs, B.C. and A.D., Easter marks the day and commemorates actual events, however miraculous, that followed the crucifixion and death of Christ that transformed the world forever.
But how and why would that torturous event and extreme sorrow associated with the death of the Messiah affect eternity in a positive way? Why should Easter be a joyful time? The answer is neither elusive nor complicated.
There are many religions of the world going back thousands of years. But only one of them, Christianity, has a founder who professed to be the Messiah — the son of God — who provided irrefutable proof of who He was by conquering death through resurrection. Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
Christ is absolutely unique in being the only person in history who was pre-announced starting a thousand years before He was born, with over 100 prophetic accounts from 18 different prophets from the Old Testament between the 10th and the fourth centuries BC — predicting the specifics of His coming birth, life and death. Hundreds of years later, the details of Christ’s birth, life, betrayal, and death validated those prophecies in surprisingly accurate and minute detail. One thousand years BC, David prophetically wrote about the crucifixion of Christ at a time crucifixion was unknown as a means of execution.
Every other consequential person of history came into the world to live. The death of other religious leaders — such as Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Mohammad, and Confucius — brought an anticlimactic end to their lives and their work.
But Christ came into the world as God’s son in order to die and pay the price for man’s sin. His sacrifice was the ultimate climax of his life, done for the benefit of all mankind — opening the way to eternal life in Heaven for all who believe.
Of the five major world religions built on personalities, only Christianity claims its founder is still alive, having overcome death through resurrection. No Jew ever believed that, after Abraham died and was interred, his tomb ever became empty. After Buddha died, no disciple claimed that he or she saw or spoke to him again.
As for Mohammed, the founder of Islam, there is no trace of his appearing to his disciples or followers after he died. His occupied tomb is located in Medina and is visited by tens of thousands of devout Muslims every year.
Christ was unique in giving up his life as a sacrifice to fulfill why he came into the world. Christ showed the highest standard of love possible, through compassion for outcasts and healing the afflicted, by his teachings, and ultimately in making the ultimate sacrifice—giving his life to rescue and save mankind. Then, to provide “seeing is believing” evidence, God brought Jesus back from being dead in a tomb to being alive — resurrected — so people would have living proof of who He was.
The New Testament provides accounts from multiple sources who witnessed Jesus firsthand after the resurrection. In fact, Jesus made at least 10 separate appearances to his disciples between the resurrection and his ascension into Heaven, over a period of 40 days. Some of those appearances were to individual disciples, some were to several disciples, and once to some 500 at one time.
Particularly noteworthy is that there were no accounts of witnesses who came forth and disputed these appearances or called it a “hoax.” Not a single one. Nor do we find any historical record of any witness accounts that were contradictory.
While there are skeptics of the biblical Jesus, there’s actually far more reliable historical evidence for His life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection than for any other historical figure of ancient times. Consider, for instance, that the authenticity of Alexander the Great, who was born some 350 years before Christ, is based on two original biographical accounts of his life by Arrian and Plutarch, which were written some 400 years after Alexander died.
The manuscripts of Virgil and Horace, both of whom lived within a generation of Christ, were written more than four centuries after their deaths. The copy of works by Livy and Tacitus on Roman history and the works of Pliny Secundus on natural history were written more than 500 years after the time of the original account.
Yet no one doubts Virgil and Horace lived and authored great poetic masterpieces. Nor do we hear questions about the authenticity and accuracy of accounts of Livy and Tacitus in chronicling the events of the Roman Emperors Augustus, Claudius, Nero, or Tiberius.
We know the historical Jesus through four different accounts known as the Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — not written hundreds of years later, but within a generation or two of Jesus’s life. Apostles Matthew and John provide eyewitness accounts from their years of walking with Jesus as disciples. Mark also had eyewitness experience, although he was only a teenager when Jesus began his public ministry. Luke, the doctor, learned about Jesus from his friend Paul, the apostle who wrote the most letters in the New Testament.
About 1,000 times more manuscripts preserve the deeds and teaching of Jesus in the New Testament (about 25,000 total) than there are preserving other classical ancient works of historic figures who lived at approximately the same time, with the exception of Homer, whose Iliad is backed by 1,800 manuscripts. But that is still less than one-tenth the number of ancient manuscripts that back the authenticity of the New Testament.
Because of their experience with the resurrected Jesus, the apostles were in a unique position, knowing with certainty that Jesus was truly the Son of God. They had been present for the life, ministry, miracles, and death of Jesus. If the claims about Jesus were a lie, the apostles would have known it. That’s why their commitment to their testimony was so powerful and compelling.
Additionally, the apostles’ willingness to die for their claims has tremendous evidential value, also confirming the truth of the resurrection. No one will die for something he invented or believes to be false.
Seeing, talking to, and touching the risen Jesus transformed the apostles, who then committed the rest of their lives to educate and advocate for the truth about the message of salvation through Christ. Eleven of the 12 apostles — including Matthias who replaced Judas, the betrayer of Jesus — died as martyrs for their beliefs in the divinity of Christ. The 12th, John, was exiled to Patmos Island, where he recorded the book of Revelation.
It turns out that Easter, which has its ultimate meaning in the resurrection, is one of ancient history’s most carefully scrutinized and best-attested events. The resurrection is real and changes everything. Easter is the commemoration and celebration of the single event that transformed the world forever.
Scott Powell
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT CHRISTIAN POST5) He Is Coming Back
What Does the Bible Say About The Second Coming Of Jesus?When you reach the Bible’s end in Revelation, Jesus makes a final declaration: “Yes, I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:20). Based on this statement, if you asked a believer whether Jesus is coming back soon, they would most likely say “yes,” because they believe what Jesus said. I would agree with them.
Just about everyone has a different opinion on when Jesus is coming back I thought I'd just let the scripture describe Jesus is returned
Revelation 1:7
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Matthew 24:36
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 22:12-13
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
1 Corinthians 15:52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Revelation 22:12
“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Matthew 24:27
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:1-51
Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ...
Revelation 22:20
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Matthew 24:31-33
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
Matthew 24:44
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Revelation 1:1
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Hebrews 9:28
So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 24:42
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
Matthew 24:3
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Isaiah 2:20-22
In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Acts 1:11
And said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Revelation 3:11
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.
1 Thessalonians 3:13
So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
Titus 2:13
Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 14:1-3
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Luke 21:25-28
“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Matthew 24:30
Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Acts 1:9-11
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
John 14:2-3
In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 25:31
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
Matthew 25:13
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Matthew 24:31
And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
Matthew 24:2
But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
1 John 2:18
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
Matthew 24:6
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:1-47
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ...
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 2:19
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
Luke 21:34-36
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Hebrews 10:2
Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
1 Peter 3:2
When they see your respectful and pure conduct.
Zechariah 14:5
And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
Revelation 20:4
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
2 Peter 3:8-9
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1 Timothy 3:16
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
Matthew 26:64
Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
1 Peter 1:13
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 24:42-44
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Daniel 12:1
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
Matthew 24:4-5
And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Revelation 19:14
And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
Revelation 1:17
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ...
Colossians 3:4
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Revelation 1:17-18
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
Colossians 2:9
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
Hebrews 2:9
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
John 10:30
I and the Father are one.”
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:9
And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Corinthians 4:4
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Colossians 1:16
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Jude 1:14-15
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Psalm 50:3
Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.
1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
Jude 1:14
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
Revelation 19:11-16
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ...
1 Corinthians 11:26
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Luke 21:28
Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 17:28-30
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Hebrews 6:4-12
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. ...
Revelation 1:4
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
1 Corinthians 1:7
So that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Acts 1:10-11
And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
2 Peter 3:3-4
Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Joel 2:31-32
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Philippians 1:10
So that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
Revelation 1:2
Who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Matthew 24:27-30
For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Revelation 20:15
And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Isaiah 13:9-11
Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
Isaiah 24:4-6
The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.