Tag: Resurrection

Last Week we looked at what Yeshua said about being ‘born again’ (John 3:1-6) and what Christianity teaches, today, about being ‘born again’ (Acts 2:37-41 and Romans 10:9-10).

We also discussed the difference between saying that someone is your Lord (boss, spouse, etc.) and the conviction it takes to show that you truly have confessed Yeshua as Lord.

Yeshua had a ‘boss’, also, and he always did His Will:

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

John 4:34

I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

John 5:30

⁴¹And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, ⁴²Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. ⁴³And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Luke 22:41-43

In all that Yeshua did, he proclaimed the Father as his Lord.  Yeshua was not an automaton – he had his own free will.  Yeshua could have sinned or he could have walked away from his impending crucifixion, but he did neither.  This is our example of confessing someone as Lord – we do their will, not our own.

The first part of Romans 10:9 is confessing – the second part is believing

⁹That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 – emphasis added

Once again, this is not just a simple acceptance of an idea.  Believing in your heart is equivalent to saying you have no doubt in the facts of a situation.  This is generally difficult when the idea we are to believe (without doubt) took place nearly 2000 years before we were born. 

I’m often in doubt of what I had for breakfast the day before – and I was there! (most mornings are a little fuzzy before that first cup of coffee).

Here, I am going to steal, quite liberally, from a booklet written by John Schoenheit, entitled “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”.   You can order copies or download the pamphlet for free from this link.

John heads a ministry entitled Spirit and Truth Fellowship and has a vast library of written materials and videos that are a wealth of information.  He teaches from a Dispensational point of view, so, like anyone else you read from (especially me), you should take what they say to the Word and test it – that is how you can make the word your own.

John writes (and I paraphrase):

If true, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the single most important event in the history of mankind, and therefore the one most crucial to establish as an authentic historical event. In fact, the resurrection is the very linchpin of the Christian faith, holding together every claim and every blessing. If the resurrection could be proven a fraud, Christianity would disintegrate as a total fabrication with little redeeming merit. Jesus would not even be an example of a “good moral teacher,” as some maintain, for his most important prediction – that he would be raised from the dead – would be found a lie.

the Apostle Paul’s entire ministry was built upon the foundation of the resurrection, and it was his personal encounter with the risen Christ that caused him to develop an unassailable conviction in the reality of this event. Paul states the consequences to the Christian faith if the resurrection of Christ did not, in fact, happen.

John Schoenheit, Introduction – “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”

¹²Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: ¹⁴And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. ¹⁵Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. ¹⁶For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: ¹⁷And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. ¹⁸Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. ¹⁹If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. ²⁰But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1Corinthians 15:12-20 – emphasis added

This is an important work and should be a part of your library.  To give it justice, I would have to copy the entire text.  I gave you the link so you can read it for yourself, so I will just list the 23 reasons to whet your appetite:

1. The resurrection narratives have the ring of historical truth
2. The Apostle Paul’s life and ministry is a strong witness of the resurrection
3. The empty tomb is a historical given
4. The disciples were devout Jews
5. The testimony of women
6. Jewish propaganda presupposes the empty tomb and the missing body
7. His enemies would have produced his dead body to silence the believers (part of the plot of the Affirm Films movie Risen with Joseph Fiennes)
8. There was no veneration of the tomb
9. A non-Christian historian testifies in support of the resurrection
10. No alternative explanations in the early non-scriptural sources
11. The biblical records of the ten resurrection appearances give unified witness
12. The idea of Christ’s new body was a totally foreign concept
13. Modern scholars and historians admit that there is strong evidence of his bodily resurrection
14. The conviction of his followers in the resurrection
15. The martyrdom of his followers for their belief in the resurrection
16. The unanimous testimony of eye-witnesses, who could not all have been deceived or deluded
17. The unbelief of the disciples concerning his resurrection
18. The idea of a resurrected Messiah was a hard sell to the Jews and absurd to the Greeks
19. He could have gotten out of the tomb only by resurrection
20. The very existence and growth of the Christian Church makes no sense if he was not raised
21. The disciples had nothing to gain by fabricating a story and starting a new religion
22. The unanimous testimony of the early Christian leaders
23. All of the alternate explanations proposed for the resurrection lack credibility

In light of the evidence of the empty tomb, the resurrection appearances and the rise of the Christian Church, a reasonable person should conclude that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a well-established historical fact. In a court of law, such evidence would compel conviction unless contradictory evidence could be brought forward to introduce “a reasonable doubt.” But all alternate explanations and theories are extremely doubtful and counter-intuitive.

Therefore, Christians are being rational, sensible, and fully consistent with common sense when they rest their faith on this well-established historical event. Not only is there compelling historical evidence to back the belief, but extravagant benefits in the future are promised to those who believe it.  According to the Bible, the only sure promise of everlasting life for mankind, both individually and collectively, depends upon belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Evidence # 23 of the pamphlet, “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” by John Schoenheit

Believing is an easy thing.  When you walk into a dark room, you ‘believe’ that there is a switch next to the door that you can flip and a light will come on.  You may not have ever been in the room or you may have no working knowledge of electricity, but you will act on the knowledge you have acquired by walking into other rooms.

If you throw a ball in the air, you ‘believe’ it will come back to earth, even though no one can tell you what gravity is [Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked, “what is gravity?”  His response was, ‘I have no idea – neither has anyone else. We can describe gravity; we can say what it does to other things. We can measure it, we can predict with it, but when you start asking what it is? I don’t know.’]

Read the Word, read the histories, look to the example of other believers and “believe in your heart” the knowledge of the event that will guarantee you everlasting life in paradise.

Confessing Yeshua as Lord and believing the Father raised him from the dead require a conviction in your soul and a change in your life.  If Christ is your Lord and Savior, should you not act like it?  Should you not do what he commands you to do? 

He does not ask us to do something that he, himself, was unwilling to do.  He does not even ask us to do it as well as he did.  He commands you, if you are to be his follower, to have faith and to act on that faith.

¹⁴What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? ¹⁵If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? ¹⁷Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. ¹⁸Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. ¹⁹Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. ²⁰But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

James 2:14-20 – emphasis added

Works do not save us, but works are the evidence of our faith. Our Savior did ‘good works’ . . . non-believers are also capable of doing good works . . . so, shouldn’t we do so, also? 

Since we are incapable of avoiding all sin . . .

¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Romans 7:14-15

. . . we repent of what we have done and endeavor to strengthen our walk so we obey the one we confess as Lord.

To be ‘born again’ is not possible in these bodies.  One day we will be given new bodies (I’m praying that mine is younger and thinner) that are similar to the ones that Adam and Eve had before the Fall.  This is when we will truly be ‘born again’.

The spirit we have been given when we ‘confess and believe’ is an earnest (i.e., a token or down payment) – we are “redeemed” when Yeshua cashes in the token spirit we got when we confessed and believed.

⁴For we that are in this tabernacle [human body] do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. ⁵Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

2Corinthians 5:4-5 – emphasis added

Ephesians 1 speaks to the ‘mystery’ [mustērion – secret known only to the ‘initiated’ – hidden truth to the natural sense, but seen by the spiritual sense] and predestination. There is a lot to unpack there, but that is for another teaching.  I am only trying to establish that the spirit we get upon being our ‘believing confession’ is only a token of what we get once we receive our new bodies.

¹⁰That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: ¹¹In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: ¹²That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. ¹³In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:10-14 – emphasis added

This is why we are still such a mess!  We only have a voucher of what we are going to get. 

You hear some people exclaim, “I quit craving cigarettes when I got born again” or other such witness to the effect that they were changed when they received the spirit.  Wonderful for them.  Most of us never felt any different and wondered if we had done it wrong.

A voucher is not overly beneficial until you claim it, but when you act on it before cashing it in (which, unfortunately, we cannot claim before Christ raises us from the dead), you can see a difference.

A diploma is a ‘voucher’ which has little value until you use it to get employment.  It does, however, give one the sense that they are worthy of a position that they would not have been considered for without the diploma.

If you bought a ticket to a show, you do not see the show until you redeem the ticket. Likewise, we do not get the new bodies until the Christ redeems us.

What if we do not care for the ticket, or lose the ticket? Try getting into a show by proclaiming, “I had a ticket, trust me”. Many people believe (because the church falsely teaches) that once they confess and believe, nothing more needs to be done – “Once saved, Always saved”.

If the show changes (e.g., you bought tickets to see the Knicks play the Lakers, but when you arrived at the box-office and found they decided to show Tele-Tubbies on ice rather than basketball) you would probably be upset and demand a refund or throw the ticket away.

¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. ²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. ²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:17-23

This does not mean that you cannot produce bad fruit once you are “born again”. Show me the person that has not sinned since they confessed and believed – “then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Do not corrupt yourself by falling back into the evil that men do. Yahweh tells us what is good and evil in His Word. Learn to do the good and then just do it. Be the ticket that Christ wants to redeem.

¹Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. ²Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. ³And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. ⁴Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. ⁵And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

1John 3:1-5 – emphasis added

1. Knowingly confess Yeshua as Lord in your life
2. Know the Law (Torah, Instructions)
3. Do the Law – Do What Yeshua Did!
4. Believe in the undeniable fact that Christ was raised from the dead three days after he was crucified as a recompense for your sins.

This is the recipe for acquiring a new (born again / redeemable) body after Yeshua returns in his glory.

I did not plug my book last week so I don’t feel bad about doing it this week.

Doing the Law is important and it is not a burden.  Others that are not doing (will not do) it will give you a multitude of reasons why you can not or should not do it. 

Yahweh gave it to us – Yeshua did it, as did the Apostles, even after crucifixion and resurrection of Yeshua. Do not be deceived, Yeshua did not come to start a new religion, he came to witness to those that lost their way (Luke 19:10) – to perfectly do his Father’s Will.

Read GRAFTED: Embracing Torah to get a simple guide for what to do and not do; what to wear and not wear; what to eat and not eat; etc.  When I determined to Do What Yeshua Did (DWYD!), I looked for a quick and easy guide for following Torah.  When I could not find one . . . I wrote one.

The Law was given to the children of Israel AND to those that left Egypt with them and believed.  Be a fellow-traveler and believe.

One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

Exodus 12:49