Hope Stands

What does it take to become a man?

samuel kee — May 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

A few things collided for me this morning. First, I read Philippians 3, as part of my scheduled Bible reading plan. Second, I saw a yellow Ferrari. Third, I read Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death. Then it all made sense.

My “epiphany” was this: We travel to manhood on a road paved with our own failures.

Let me start by saying that I have a very keen sense of my own failure. I’ve always been this way. From the time I was a boy, I’ve beat myself up. And the beating hasn’t stopped to this day. It’s safe to say that my soul is black-and-blue. I hate failing and am so aware of when it happens. Walking by the yellow Ferrari parked at Starbucks this morning, I felt that familiar feeling of failure once again. I peeked into the glass-covered engine compartment. I looked at the plush interior. I traced the immaculate fenders with my finger. Whoever owns this Ferrari, I thought, is a success. Oh yeah, and since I don’t own one, then that makes me a failure. The car didn’t say anything. It just sat there, condemning me.

When you look into a mirror, what do you see? You see two things at once: both a failure and someone who has had some successes. You see a person who has been built up by his share of victories, supporters, encouragers; and you see someone who knows it’s all a sham. On the surface of the mirror, you see all the things that make you a man. Maybe someone told you that you were a man. Maybe you’ve had some accomplishments. Maybe you’re tough, own a Ferrari, or have no trouble getting a girlfriend. Maybe you fit all the cultural stereotypes of what it means to be a man.

However, below the surface, you see something else, which scares the giblets out of you. You see flesh and bones. You see blood and organs. You see a tragedy waiting to happen. You see your sick soul, your tormented heart, and your imminent destiny. Soon you will die. Soon you will become food for worms. In fact, as Ernest Becker wrote in 1974, humans are just “fancy worm food.” Becker should know, for he died later that year. The Pulitzer Prize he won for that book could not save him. As we stare into the mirror, we have to come to grips with reality that we’re just fancy, complicated, and rich worm food.

Nothing we do and nothing we own can stop us from dying. They guy with the yellow Ferrari will die. The tough guy will die, so will the traitor. So will I—so will you. The mirror reveals the secret that we’ve been trying to stuff down: we’re not as manly as we thought.

The Apostle Paul understood this, having had the same glance in the mirror. He was able to see below the surface, at the worms beneath. But he didn’t stop there. He was also able to see the way out. He was able to travel to manhood on a road paved with his own failures.

He realized that success is actually a trap, and failure is actually a catapult.

First, we learn that success is a trap. More vividly, success leads to mutilation. Philippians 3:2 says, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.” Those who mutilate the flesh are those who take pride in performing religious rituals, like circumcision. They believe that their sense of worth comes from success, appearance, doing the right thing, being better than others. But Paul knows the truth: putting confidence in the flesh is just another form of mutilation. He calls it for what it is. “We…put no confidence in the flesh” (3). No matter what you do, you’ll still end up as worm food. Neither our actions nor our flesh can save us.

He goes on to tell us about what he saw on the surface when he looked into the mirror. “Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (3:4-6).

In those days and in that crowd, the things that Paul had accomplished were to be envied. That’s what it took to be somebody. Paul had it all and he knew it.

But he came to realize that none of that could save him from the stupid, mute, defecating worms. None of his “righteousness” was real. It couldn’t save him; it couldn’t justify his existence. He soon saw that he was a failure. And that’s a huge step.

On the road to becoming a man, we can either progress on the pavement of our own failure, or we can stall in the prison of our own success. Here’s what I mean. When we’re growing up, we’re constantly looking for affirmation. We’re afraid of being nobody, so we search for the things that make us somebody. People will come in and out of our lives who affirm us. We’ll have some accomplishments. We’ll do good things. We’ll begin to think that we’re getting somewhere. After all, so long as people are saying nice things about me and so long as I’m distracted by my good accomplishments, then I don’t have to face the fact that I’m fancy worm food.

I learn to live on borrowed power, as Becker puts it. I am powerful because you say I’m powerful. I think I’m a man because society says I’m a man. After all, I own a Ferrari, have a girlfriend, do sports, and have a good job. Or, in Paul’s language, “I am from the right people, have done the right rituals, have a spotless moral record, I fight against evil…” But remember, none of these things can save us from our mortality.

They end up trapping us, so that we stay stalled in self-deception. While we think we’re okay, we’re not. Death will come and take us in an instant, and we’ll be left without the only thing that can save us. You and I both know that there are grown men who have not matured past this stage. They still think that being a man is about owning stuff, doing stuff, and avoiding stuff. They are trapped, immature, and have stunted masculine growth.

I should know. After all, I get hypnotized by Ferraris.

But Paul was not trapped like we are. He saw through the shiny paint of self-righteousness. “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss” (3:7). Paul learned to look differently at his successes. He learned to see them not as successes, but as losses. That’s the true math of masculinity. Gain is counted as loss. The road to success is paved by our own failure.

He counted every accomplishment as a loss, for he knew that none of his accomplishments could rescue him. They would get him nowhere. If he held onto them, they would only trap him in immaturity and stunted growth. He needed to throw them down, count them as loss, and find something that really mattered—that was real. Once he found it, his failures would catapult him forward to manhood.

What did he find? “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (3:8). He found Jesus Christ, the infinite Creator of all life, the One who has power over the worms. In the light of Jesus Christ, he was able to see his successes for what they really were: rubbish. In the Greek language, the word “rubbish” is much stronger, meaning something like a pile of crap. The Ferrari was crap. His religious career was crap. His morality was crap. (Sorry to be so blunt with my words—but the Greek is really quite blunt! Paul was trying to get a point across.)

Paul was more than willing to calculate all of his successes as loss, so he could get out from under the pile of crap. That was the only way that he could gain Christ. He threw everything down, trampled on it, turned it into pavement, and walked out of immaturity, to maturity, toward Jesus Christ.

Paul was man enough to do this. Are you?

He was man enough not to depend on the affirmation of others. He did not need to be a leech and live off of their power, thinking he was somebody because someone told him so. In order to become a man, he admitted that he was a failure, that nothing he did could change that fact, and latched on to a true source of power.

Where did he get this power? “Faith in Christ” (3:9). Here’s Paul’s desire, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection” (10). True power is found in Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Paul let go of his immature, imposter power in order to grasp this true power.

How was he connected to this true source of power? By faith! Faith is what connects us to this true source of power. How does it work? The first step of faith is to unlink yourself from the false power sources—the things you see on the surface in the mirror. Let go of them. Admit that you’re a failure. Confess that you’re a sinner who’s going to die, be fed to the worms, and forgotten. Then, after unlinking, you must relink. Relink to Jesus Christ and the true power he offers. To have faith is to unlink from self and relink to Savior.

In order to make faith possible, for it was not before, God had to become worm food. He had to enter our world and find us in the rubbish heap. He did this in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ went down into death and met us at our greatest need. He became sin for us. But he did not stay in death, for he rose on the third day. That’s the power of the resurrection—that’s the offer of the resurrection. To relink to the power source of Jesus, we allow him to grab hold of us, so that we can grab hold of him, and then we are pulled out of death by the power of the resurrection. His life pulls us out of death, out of the grave, away from the worms.

Failure is a catapult, because by failing in our faith in ourselves, we relink to Jesus and allow the force of the resurrection to pull us out.

The road to manhood is paved by our own failures. Don’t be trapped forever in immaturity, in the pursuit of only success. Being successful is not the road to manhood. Neither power, nor possessions, nor pleasure makes you a man, in fact the opposite is true. Living for these things keeps you stuck in childhood. We become men when we do two things: admit that we’re failures and hold onto Jesus Christ in faith.

Jesus is our righteousness; Jesus is our reason for living; Jesus is our true source of power and life. Jesus is our freedom and passageway to manhood.

In Cultural Issues, Knowing God Ernest Becker, Ferrari, man, maturity, Philippians 3

Is the Bible Reliable or Is It More Like a Fairytale?

samuel kee — May 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

This is “Papyrus 52,” containing the gospel of John

Over the last four posts, we’ve been discussing the question, “Can I take the Bible seriously?” In order to come to a conclusion, we’ve been discussing five questions, the final one having to do with how to evaluate an ancient book. In the last post, we discussed the authenticity of the Bible. In this post, we’ll examine the reliability of the Bible. Specifically, we’ll answer the question, “is the Bible just a fairytale?” After all, the claims of the New Testament seem too good to be true, extravagant, etc. Can the claims of the New Testament be trusted? By using the Historical Research Method, we’ll seek to discover if the New Testament is a reliable ancient manuscript.

There are three “checks” we’ll use to discern the reliability of the New Testament: internal consistency, external consistency, and other supportive evidences.

Check 1: Internal consistency

There are three things to look for to check the internal consistency of an ancient manuscript. First, check to see if the author of a particular book in the Bible is consistent with himself. Make sure that he does not contradict himself within the same book or in another book that he has written, i.e., make sure John does not contradict what he writes in John with what he writes in Revelation.

Second, check to see if the various eyewitnesses are consistent with each other, making sure that one biblical book does not contradict another. In claiming that two books contradict each other, one is asserting that there is no possible/logical way for the two books to make sense together. The writings of the apostle Paul are consistent with the writings of the apostle Peter, in other words.

Third, determine the amount and quality of claims an event has. As far as the NT goes, the more witnesses there are to an event, the more credible it is. For instance, the gospels provide four accounts to the life and events of Jesus’ life. Such evidence bolsters the case for Christ. In addition to these four accounts, books such as Acts, Paul’s letters, and Hebrews through Revelation also testify of Jesus. Furthermore, this testimony is internally consistent.

In sum, the writings of the New Testament do not show any signs of fabrication or legendary development. They are consistent and contain a coherent message.

Check 2: External consistency

In order to test for external consistency, we’ll look at five components.

First, there are ancient historians who testify to Jesus’ life and the events of the New Testament. When we crack open the history books, do we find historians that refer to biblical characters? Yes! Josephus, who was not a Christian, references to the deaths of John the Baptist and James, the relative of Jesus. Even more, Josephus writes about Jesus:

“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. His conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders” (from “Testimonium” by Agapius, as found in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, Scott, p. 394).

Second, there are church authorities who testify to the life of Jesus. These early church founders provide external evidence of Jesus’ life when they write about biblical events in their works. For example, certain church fathers make reference to the fact that they actually knew a disciple of Jesus (Polycarp knew John).

Third, archaeology confirms the biblical record, over and over again. For instance, modern archaeology has excavated the house of Peter, the synagogue build by the centurion in Luke 7, and a first century church in Capernaum. Further, in 1992, the burial grounds of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest mentioned in John, and his family were found buried in Jerusalem.

Fourth, the strategy for using eyewitnesses is consistent with other ancient writings. Richard Bauckham’s book Jesus and the Eyewitnesses describes how history was written in ancient times. Unlike today, history in New Testament times was written from eyewitness accounts. Today, we’re comfortable relying on second, third, and fourth hand accounts. But ancient people did not write history this way. They did their research by utilizing first (and maybe second) hand witnesses. You had to have seen the event in order to be a reliable witness. Then, when the historian was recording the event, he would mention the name of a witness as a way of supporting his claim. The names mentioned in Scripture, such as Rufus, Simon, and Tabitha, were the names of real first hand witnesses, who could be called up on at any time to verify the claims. That’s why their names were mentioned by the New Testament writers. Their names were like modern day “footnotes.” If anyone reading one of the New Testament books questioned the claims, then one of the “footnotes” could be personally consulted. That was the purpose of mentioning the names of the eyewitnesses. In addition, when it comes to the New Testament, females witnesses were used when supporting the claims of the resurrection. Since female testimony held no authority in a court of law, it is highly unlikely that the gospel writers “made up” their stories. Were they wanting to convince their readers that the resurrection were true, then they would have “made up” male witnesses, whose testimony was considered credible in ancient times. The only reason that female witnesses were used, therefore, is because that’s exactly the way it happened: Jesus rose from the dead and some females were the first witnesses of it. That is not the mark of a legend or a myth, but of real history.

Fifth, the New Testament books do not contain the marks of typical ancient fiction (legends or myths), and this is a sure indication that they are not works of fiction. Many scholars have noted the vast difference between the New Testament accounts and the accounts of ancient fiction. Ancient fiction did not use detail, as the New Testament does. In the New Testament, we’re told many details within the writing. For instance, we learn in John 21 that 153 fish were caught. We learn specific hours of the day when event happened. We learn locations and professions, etc. Works of legend or myth do not provide this kind of detail—nowhere in ancient fiction do you find the kind of detail that is given in the New Testament. This can only mean that the New Testament is not a work of fiction or legend, but of truth. Again, the New Testament does not have the marks of a legend or myth, which develops centuries after the lives of the people concerned, in order to fool the ignorant reader. The New Testament is not written to fool anyone, but through its use of eyewitnesses and historical, geographical, and social detail, seeks to bolster the reader’s confidence in the reliability of the claims and the events behind them. The New Testament is completely vulnerable and honest, often including details that make its heroes (Jesus and the disciples) look like weaklings or fools, rather than compromise the truth. This can only be because the New Testament writers were not interested in creating a legend, but communicating the truth. An honest reading of the New Testament will convince you of this. It has nothing to hide.

Check 3: Other supportive evidence

In our final check, we’ll look at other supportive evidences: the uniqueness of Scripture, the affect that Scripture has on people’s lives, and the predictive power of Scripture. Each of these evidences further builds the reliability of the Bible (along with the other checks, of course).

First, the uniqueness of Scripture is another evidence of its reliability. Even though there are many biblical authors over thousands of years, the testimony of the Bible remains uniform: how to get sinners into a relationship with a Holy God.

Second, the affect that Scripture has on people’s lives is quite astounding. The disciples and many Christians after them have been transformed by the Bible. Christians have had an unwavering witness of God’s word, even to death.

Third, the predictive power of the Bible is another evidence. Just consider the Messianic prophecies, alone. There are about 300 Old Testament predictions that were literally fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. These OT writings point to Jesus, the great Treasure of the Bible.

Born of a woman (Gen 3:15; Gal 4:4)
Born of a virgin (Isa 7:14; Matt 1:18-25)
Descendant of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; Matt 1:1)
From the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10; Lk 2:23, 33)
Of the house of David (2 Sam 7:12; Matt 1:1)
Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:1)
Time of his appearance and death (Dan 9:24-27; Lk 19:44)
Betrayal price (Zech 11:12-13; Matt 26:15)
Isa 52:13-53:12 (written 700 years before Jesus’ birth) speaks of the suffering servant, who would be sinless, a substitute, scourged, pierced through, placed in a rich man’s grave, lifted up after death, and exalted.

Other passages in the Bible predict these things about the Messiah:

Abandoned by his disciples
Silent before his accusers
Beaten and spat upon
Mocked
Hands and feet pierced
Crucified with transgressors
Lots cast for his garments
Cry from the cross
No bones broken
Pierced in his side
Ascension into heaven
Seated at the right hand of God

Other remarkable OT prophecies include details about the overthrow of Nineveh, Babylon, Ammon and Moab, Philistia, Edom, Memphis and Thebes, and Palestine. It is safe to say that no other book ever written has this kind of prophetic power.

Is It For Me?

This brings us to our final question of the Historical Research Method—a personal one. You might not think that it’s appropriate to introduce a personal question within a scientific framework. But for our purposes, I believe it is. The nature of the Bible demands this question. Any piece of literature seeks to communicate and the Bible is no different. However, the Bible is different in that it claims to communicate the very words of God. As I’ve written before, the Bible is the word of God in the words of humans. God wants to say something to us: he loves us and has forgiven us.

Jesus believed the biblical texts to be the truth (John 17:17, “Your word is truth.”). Paul claims that all scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17). As we have discovered through the Historical Research Method, the case for the truthfulness of the Bible has become strong. The Bible is a book to be trusted. We are to build our lives on it, rather than on the foundations that will crumble like sand (Matthew 7:24-27). If this Bible is true and accurate, then we must consider what it has to say. We would be foolish to ignore it.

The Bible claims that all humans have sinned and cannot be in a relationship with a perfect God by their own efforts. The Bible claims that Jesus lived a perfect life, died unfairly for us sinners, and rose from the grave triumphantly. He bore the punishment for our wrongs. The Bible claims that if we believe in him, abandoning our lives to the cause of Christ and to his eternal glory, then we will be raised with Christ at the last day. The Bible also warns those who do not give their lives to him of the judgment that is theirs. Both blessing and warning come from the same book, and this book is true.

Is this book for you? Perhaps your heart already knows the answer. Start with the resurrection of Jesus and discover the compelling claims of Scripture. Scripture makes plain what our consciences remind us of every day: there is no hope within this world (alone) and we need a Savior. The Bible contains the solution that we have been longing to find.

In Cultural Issues, God's Existence, Knowing God bible, current issues, faith, history, new testament, reliable, trust

Was the Bible Forged or is it Authentic?

samuel kee — May 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

This is “Papyrus 52,” containing the gospel of John

If you’re just tuning in, we’ve been answering the question, “Can I take the Bible seriously” over the last three posts. To determine this, we’ve been answering a series of questions: 1) Do you honestly believe that there is no truth? 2) Who is to say that you have the truth and others don’t? 3) What is the purpose of the Bible? and 4) Are you sure you’re interpreting it correctly? We are now ready to answer our final question (which will take three posts to do!):

Are you sure you know how to evaluate the reliability of ancient books?

Even though pop culture has claimed a lot of things about the Bible’s origins, such that it was composed hundreds or thousands of years after the life of Jesus, was determined by power-hungry church councils, and that its contents are just myths or legends, there is a way to discover the truth. It’s a method used by historians anytime they are trying to discern the authenticity and reliability of an ancient document. It’s called the Historical Research Method.

By using the Historical Research Method, we have a way of determining if pop culture is right, or not. This is an informed, intelligent approach to help you answer the question if you should take the Bible seriously. Again, this is the way that most ancient document are evaluated, how we come to trust some and not others. It’s a scientific approach to history.

The Historical Research Method asks two major questions of any document, but I will add a third. First, Is it forged? (In other words, is it authentic?) Second, Is it a fairytale? (In other words, is it reliable?) The third question I will add is this, Is it for me?

Before we begin, we need to remember that the Bible is a historical book. So the normal means of historical research can show whether or not it was a forged hoax. While we will focus on the New Testament, for the brevity of this article, the Old Testament cold also be tested in the same ways. In fact, the Old Testament would pass the tests a bit better in some areas than the New Testament.

Is It Forged?

We need to determine if the Bible was forged, or not. Was it written at a later date, by imposters who claimed to be people who they were not? To discover the truth, the Historical Research Method leads us through a series of four tests. First, determine when it was written. Second, determine what it really says. Third, determine how certain we can be about what it says. Fourth, determine who wrote it. If a document “passes” these tests, then we can conclude that the Bible was not forged; therefore, it is authentic. It is what it claims to be, the words of God in the words of humans. Let me briefly walk you through the four tests.

Test 1: When was it written?

To determine when an ancient document was written, we have to look at three features of the document which will help us discover the time period. Imagine if a person who lives two thousand years from now discovers the remains of your home. How will they know what time period your home was from? Suppose they found an iPhone 5 buried in the rubble. After doing some research, they’ll be able to determine the general time period of your home, based on the time period of the iPhone 5. This is roughly the idea of how historians discover when a document was written.

First, they look at the orthography. This is the process of examining handwriting or scripts, what we might call “fonts.” Certain styles and types of handwriting come out of certain time periods. When looking at the handwriting of ancient Bible manuscripts, scientists are able to determine what time period they came from. In fact, orthography has determined that the Bible’s New Testament manuscripts are very old, dating back within a couple decades of Jesus Christ.

Second, they look at the materials on which the early copies were written. The New Testament documents were written on papyrus, while later copies were written on parchment or animal skins. The kind of material an ancient document was written on helps to determine how old it is. The oldest New Testament documents were not written in books, in other words, for books were not invented yet.

Third, they look at the earliest copies that have been discovered. To date, the earliest copies of New Testament writings are fragments that scientists date as early as 68 AD (it’s a fragment of Mark 5:52-53). Another very old fragment has been dated at 120 AD (of John 18:31-33).

Because of orthography, document materials, and document dating, the Historical Research Method shows us that the New Testament was not written hundreds of years after the life of Christ, but just a decade or so, during the lifetime of the disciples of Jesus. This means that it could have been written by the disciples of Jesus, just as the documents themselves claim. They were not later fabrications.

Test 2: What does it really say?

The second test is to determine what the New Testament really says, in its earliest versions. I’ve heard so many people over the years say something like, “You can’t trust the Bible, because people have changed it so many times. And you can never know what it originally said.” Therefore, goes the conclusion, our modern Bibles are not authentic to the first writings of the disciples. The Historical Research Method will help us to determine if these claims have any legitimacy. We will look at language, the “witnesses,” the number of early copies, and then some other comparisons.

First, in order to discover what the earliest versions of the New Testament say, you have to understand the language. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Suppose that someone discovers a document that was not written in Koine Greek, then it would be safe to say that it is not an early version of the New Testament. You have to know Koine Greek to determine what the earliest copies of the New Testament say.

Second, you have to look at all of the “witnesses.” By witnesses, I mean all of the manuscripts that contain New Testament writings. By gathering all of these together, we get a clearer picture of what the New Testament said in its original form. This is like doing research at the library or online. The more sources you can find that match up, the better your chances of discovering the truth. In the case of the New Testament, since the original manuscripts (the ones written by the disciples) did not survive, we have to rely on these copies (or witnesses). As you know, there were no printing presses back then! Here are examples of the early witnesses, which fall into four types of manuscripts:

Papyri and Codices

These are Greek manuscripts of the NT books. They exist as partial or complete copies. One of the earliest known papyri is dated 120 A.D. It is a fragment of the Gospel of John, a manuscript existing within a generation (about 40 years) of when John wrote the original. Papyri were written on papyrus. Codices are even larger portions of Greek scripture.

In sum, there is an incredible amount of these Greek manuscripts still in existence, totaling over 5,000 in all. Such a large amount is ideal for trying to find out what the originals said. To do this, the many copies are compared with each other. In a complex process called “textual criticism,” the most logical copies win the vote. With so many copies, we have greater confidence in determining what the original autographs said.

Early Versions

These are not written in Greek, but are early translations of the Greek into other languages throughout church history, such as Latin. These early versions also serve as witnesses to what the original writings were, thereby increasing the authenticity of Scripture.

Quotes of Scripture

Just as happens today, the New Testament was quoted in the writing of others. This is yet another way of discovering what the New Testament really said. For instance, if Polycarp (an ancient friend of the apostle John) quotes a Bible verse from the Gospel of John, then we can compare his quotation to the Early Versions, Papyri, and Codices. We have copies of these early quotations in books, letters, sermons, and notes.

Lectionaries

These are copies of the New Testament in early church hymnals, again confirming what the original manuscripts said.

Third, let’s look at the number of copies. Having examined the language of Koine Greek and sorted through all of the witnesses (papyri and codices, early versions, quotes of Scripture, and lectionaries), let’s add up everything we’ve got and then compare the results with other ancient documents. When these four types of manuscripts are combined (papyri and codices, early versions, quotes of Scripture, and lectionaries), an astonishing 24,000 manuscripts of New Testament material is accumulated! With such high numbers, the case for discerning the original, authentic writings becomes more likely. Such as in a court of law, when many witnesses testify the same way to a specific event, doubt fades away. In this way, the many New Testament witnesses compel the critical thinker to admit that the claims of the New Testament are authentic. They are not products of tradition or legend, but have arrived to us directly from the pens of the original writers, those who have witnessed personally the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (i.e., Matthew, John, Paul, James and Peter).

Fourth, let’s take our research a step further and compare our findings to other ancient documents, to see how they fare. Looking only at the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, which total over 5,000, we can compare its likely authenticity with other books from antiquity. I hope you can see that no other ancient book possesses anywhere near the same abundance of early manuscripts (or witnesses) as does the NT. Consider the following evidence:

Therefore, if one says that these other ancient authors and manuscripts are accurate, then we should also admit the authenticity of the New Testament. If we believe without question the authenticity of Homer, then we also should believe the truth of the Bible. If we believe the events of Julius Caesar’s life and death on the bases of only 10 witnesses, we have far more reasons and witnesses to support our belief in the life and death of Jesus. We also have more reason to put our trust in His resurrection.

Test 3: How certain can we be?

With regard to the less than 1% discrepancies of NT writings, the scholars Wescott and Hort gave a statement about these minor differences. They said that if one takes all of the variant readings of the New Testament and puts them all in one place, then they would only take up ½ of 1 page of a 550 page Greek New Testament; and of this half a page of variants, none of them would affect doctrine or practice.

Test 4: Who wrote it?

Early church tradition and outside witnesses help to verify that the traditional authors can be trusted. I am not going to take the time to elaborate on this.

Conclusion

In conclusion, having examined the evidence through the four tests of authenticity, the Historical Research Method has helped us to answer our first question, “Is it forged?” I know that this post has been very tedious (and if you’ve made it this far, please let me know!). But my aim has been to address the scoffers, those who flippantly say things like, “The Bible has been altered so many times over the years, rewritten by people with agendas, and changed to meet certain needs.” Every time I hear statements like this, I just want to scream, “You have no idea of what you are talking about!” I am just a layman, not an expert, and even I can see that there is an abundant amount of scientific, historical research behind the Bible. Men and women, experts in textual criticism, language, and archaeology, have poured their lives into figuring out what the Bible originally said. And, based on my own research and observation, it has not changed over the years. We can be confident that the Bibles we hold in our hands today, state what the original writers penned. They are authentic, not forged.

That was the first of three questions behind the Historical Research Method. The next question is “Is it a fairytale?” Yes, the Bible is found to be authentic, but is it reliable? Can it be trusted? I will write about this in another post.

In Cultural Issues, God's Existence, Knowing God authenticity, bible, greek, new testament, reliable, research, textual criticism, trust

Some Thoughts on Why We Can Take the Bible Seriously (Part 3)

samuel kee — May 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

Are you sure you’re interpreting it correctly?

The next question (4^th out of 5) is fairly straightforward. It has to do with interpretation. Most of the time (I mean this literally), when the people I talk to express lack of confidence, disgust, or disbelief in the Bible, it’s because they have misunderstood it. The Bible is an ancient book, involving an unfamiliar context, culture, genre, and worldview. The combination of these factors makes it very easy to misinterpret. It’s hard to put ourselves in the shoes of the first readers, making it easy to misunderstand.

With that said, however, even though it’s an ancient book, written over the time span of thousands of years by a plethora of different authors, its message is remarkably clear and consistent. Even better, instead of causing more confusion, the different books of the Bible actually help to clarify and explain each other. As a whole, the canon of Scripture helps us understand the more confusing parts. The intelligent reader has to keep this in mind when reading the Bible.

For instance, Genesis 1-2 were not meant to give a scientific explanation of the origins of the universe. They were written by Moses as he was leading the nation of Israel out of slavery and into the Promised Land, where they would be confronted with other gods, legends, and so forth. Genesis was written to re-introduce the disillusioned people of Israel, who had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years, to the true God. Unlike the other gods to whom they would soon learn about, the true God was in complete control. He did not squabble for control with other gods or humans. He did not act out of necessity and no one forced his hand. He created the universe one yom (the Hebrew word for “day”) at a time, both steady and in control.

The main purpose of Genesis 1-2 is to introduce us to the true Creator of all life, so that we can begin to learn about his character and about the goodness of the world he made. We run into trouble when we read Genesis 1-2 as only a scientific explanation, thereby putting unnecessary obstacles in the way of trusting the Bible. The same would be true if I read the phone book as a book of poetry—I would be sorely disappointed and would not think too highly of it.

We might easily read certain parts of the Old Testament and conclude that God is more like Zeus and less like Mr. Rodgers. Again, we need to keep in mind the whole of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. (There’s a little of both Zeus and Mr. Rodgers in God—and a whole lot more!) And, we need to keep in mind the end of the story.

Have you ever seen The Sixth Sense? After you watch the end of this movie, you can never watch the rest of it the same way. You watch the whole thing in light of the end. The same is true with the Bible, which was meant to be read “in light of the end.” In other words, we have always to keep in mind the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his return to establish his Kingdom. If we fail to keep these in mind, then we’ll struggle. The death, resurrection, and return of Jesus shed light on the whole thing. That’s how God wants us to read it. God wants us to read every command in the Old Testament in light of Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled every word of the law. Whether promise, prophecy, or poetry, it’s all meant to be read in light of Jesus Christ.

Another serious point of misinterpretation has to do with the nature of God, himself. One of my friends once said to me, “If I even step foot in a church, God would strike me dead.” Another said, “God would never listen to my prayers, after all the bad I’ve done.” In fact, I’d say that most people believe that this is what the Bible communicates. But, they’re wrong.

John Calvin said that people will never come to God until they realize that God is beneficent toward them. God is good toward you, did you know that? God is a loving Father (not a sinful father), who is longing for you to return to him. God is good and merciful, willing to put his own Son through hell in order to make room for you in Heaven. God is deadly serious about you receiving his love. God is not against sinners, but for sinners. If you pray to him and seek him, then he will receive you with open and caring arms.

Read the Bible with that in mind. A great place to start would be Luke 23:39-43. This small story displays the tenor of the whole of the Bible. Accurate interpretation starts here.

In Cultural Issues bible, Genesis, interpretation

Some Thoughts on Why We Can Take the Bible Seriously (Part 2)

samuel kee — May 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

3. What is the purpose of the Bible?

It’s crucial that we ask and answer the third question, “What is the purpose of the Bible?” By understanding the purpose of something, we are better able to use it and enjoy it. If I don’t understand the purpose of an iPhone, then it’s more of a hindrance than a benefit. It just takes up space in my pocket, costs me a lot of money every month, and consumes my time and resources when I charge its batteries, take care of it, etc. But if I understand what an iPhone is, how it functions, how it works, how to use it, its benefits, and so forth, then I may find that the pros outweigh the cons. It’s no longer a burden, but a blessing.

How does the Bible function? Have you ever thought about that? Up to now, maybe you felt that it only took up space on your shelf, was a burden to carry around, had little to do with your life, was archaic, took too long to read, wasn’t practical, was condemning, etc. But remember, once you understand the purpose of something, it opens up to you and you’re able to enjoy it—and it could become more of a blessing than a burden.

Scripture functions in three ways. Over and over again, it constantly does the same three things. First, it shows us the human problem. We learn why the world is the way it is. We understand what our deepest need is, where we fall short, and what is at stake. Second, we learn about God’s solution to the human problem. We read about God’s mighty acts on behalf of humans; we read again and again about how God rescues his people. The greater our need, the greater his loving and powerful acts are on our behalf. Third, we learn about how humans are to respond, once they see the mighty, saving acts of God.

The Bible, therefore, is a book of hope. The overall purpose of the Bible is to show us how sinful humans can be in a personal relationship with a holy God, through the means that he has provided. The warp and woof of the Bible is the same: our problem, God’s solution, our response. This pattern repeats over and over, climaxing at the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s ultimate solution, given for our deepest problem of sin, to which we are called to respond in faith.

The purpose of the Bible is not to give us scientific explanations. It’s not to comfort us. It’s not to confirm our thoughts and feelings. It’s not meant to be easy. Though it may contain each of these things. The purpose of the Bible is to reveal to us God’s mighty acts on our behalf in the person of Jesus Christ.

The entry point of this is the resurrection of Jesus. If you’re struggling to believe the Bible or are not sure of its claims, this is where you and I need to begin. Perhaps you don’t like the Bible’s position on certain ethical matters, such as abortion, sexuality, generosity, etc. Please don’t get hung up on these, for they are not the main thing of the Bible, the purpose. In a sense, they don’t matter—at least not at first.

The thing that most matters is the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is the hinges on which the door of the Bible swings. Without it, nothing else matters. The first followers of Jesus knew this; that is why they first proclaimed his resurrection, starting with this pivotal event. After all, if the resurrection didn’t happen, then the rest of the Bible’s claims don’t matter. If the resurrection didn’t happen, then the whole thing is a hoax and you don’t have to place yourself under the authority of the Bible’s moral commands. Why should you? Suppose a mad man decided to call himself king one day? He issues a bunch of commands for your city. People must not use electricity on even-numbered days; they must give 40 percent of their income to the king; all children must be regularly spanked, and on it goes. Nobody in their right mind would ever consider obeying these commands if the king is a false king, if he has no power, etc. They only way they would obey is if he actually is who he said he is: the authority over their lives.

So why get all bent out of shape about the Bible’s standards if you don’t accept Jesus as King? In other words, stop worrying about what the Bible says about lesser things, until you come to grips with what it says about the major thing: Jesus Christ. Was Jesus really the Son of God? Did he really rise from the dead? If he did rise from the dead, then all of his claims are vindicated. And if he is who he said he is, and his claims are backed up by the resurrection, then we can begin to wrestle with his teachings.

Here’s what I’m trying to say. First, the Bible is a book of hope, pointing us to Jesus Christ. Second, the event that supports our claim (that Jesus is the Son of God) is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Third, come to grips with the resurrection before the Bible’s other claims. The resurrection is the gateway to the Bible, the on ramp, where we merge into the rest of its teachings.

Don’t get caught up on matters that are not crucial to being a Christian, in other words. This takes us back to the purpose of the Bible and the importance of understanding how to use it. To be a Christian, does not mean you need to be a certain political party, have a certain sexual orientation, hold to certain moral standards, don’t have tattoos, don’t smoke, don’t swear, don’t believe in evolution, etc., etc. These are not the core of our faith. Please don’t let them keep you from Jesus. To be a Christian means that we embrace the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, believing that Jesus died for our sins out of love, and rose for our justification. That’s it. To be a Christian is to receive free grace from God, allowing him to provide the solution to our greatest problem, and then responding to him in faith and submission. Our problem, God’s solution, our response.

To see if you should take the Bible seriously, start with the resurrection of Jesus. Read the Bible’s accounts of the life and death of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Wrestle with the facts for yourself. Don’t get caught up in the peripheral issues before you consider the central issue.

Take the resurrection seriously first, to see if you should take the rest of the Bible seriously afterward.

Once you read the Bible’s accounts of the resurrection, let me recommend three other books, which will also help you think through it. First, I recommend Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Second, I recommend chapter 8 of Reason to Believe by William Lane Craig. Third, I recommend (very humbly!) my book, Hope Stands.

Thank you for reading and in future posts I will answer the last two questions in our series about the Bible (“Are you sure you’re interpreting it correctly?” and “Are you sure you know how to evaluate the reliability of ancient books?”).

In Cultural Issues, Knowing God belief, bible, reliable, resurrection

Some Thoughts on Why We Can Take the Bible Seriously (Part 1)

samuel kee — May 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

I’ve heard a lot lately about whether we can take the Bible seriously or not. Can the Bible be trusted? Is it reliable? Should I believe its claims? This is especially relevant when thinking about current issues like homosexuality, religious pluralism, or evolution. I think that we can take the Bible seriously. To support this, I want to lead you through five questions. 1) Do you honestly believe that there is no truth? 2) Who is to say that you have the truth and others don’t? 3) What is the purpose of the Bible? 4) Are you sure you’re interpreting it correctly? 5) Are you sure you know how to evaluate the reliability of ancient books? My goal is not to convince you with overwhelming evidence, or to force you to believe like I believe; rather I merely want to stimulate your thinking, in order to help you come to your own conclusions.

1. Do you honestly believe that there is no truth?

Our culture today wants us to believe that there is no absolute truth. With good reason, too. We don’t want to offend anyone, say they’re wrong, and so forth. We think it’s arrogant and mean. We’ve seen what damage can be done by those who force their beliefs onto others. Think Hitler. Think Crusades. Think hate crimes.

But does it help to throw out the truth in an effort to maintain peace? Because another sort of unrest creeps in when truth is removed. It’s the restlessness that comes from not having a foundation. Without the guiding hand of truth, then anything and everything is permissible, especially hate. Deep down, we all want there to be truth. We want to know whom we can trust, how we ought to live, and what we should give our lives to. We want there to be purpose and justice; and, most of all, nobody wants to be an accident. Without truth, then we’re all just random, and that’s unlivable.

And it doesn’t work. When someone says, “There is no truth,” then they are asserting a truth. After all, if there is no truth, then their statement is not true. And if their statement is not true, then there is truth. And if there is truth, then their statement is wrong. It’s nonsensical. Any time we make a claim, we are putting our trust in truth. We are making a judgment, based on the evidence; we are asserting truth that we are upholding and willing to stand behind. “This is ice cream.” “Murder is wrong.” Reality is that we’re surrounded by truth, we are constantly looking for it, depending on it, cherishing it, and believing it. We were made to do so. That’s why we all hate liars. It’s built into the fabric of our being to reject those who do not tell the truth.

The real problem may not be that we don’t believe in truth; the real problem might be that we don’t want someone else’s truth to correct us, to shape us, to have authority over us. In other words, it might be better to fault ourselves, rather than to fault the truth.

2. Who is to say that you have the truth and others don’t?

We must all be very careful when it comes to going against what the Bible says. We ought to pause and realize what we are doing. It’s no game. We ought to approach disobedience to the Bible with appropriate caution and reserve. I am not saying that you’re not free to disagree with what the Bible says, for instance, about topics like homosexuality, but I am saying that we can’t do it flippantly. We must carefully consider what we are doing when we reject the Bible’s claims.

Think about the Garden of Eden, in which Satan lied to Adam and Eve and said the fruit would be good for them to eat (Genesis 3). Adam and Eve were told something different by God himself, who said that eating the fruit would be deadly. This was their moment of decision: would they listen to God or to Satan? Whose word would they trust? Was the fruit good or bad? In the end, they went against what God said and sided with Satan. That was a grave mistake—literally.

After thousands of years of history, we haven’t progressed much from our first parents. Today, we are still faced with the same question: whose word will we trust? Will we trust the voice of God in the Bible or the voice of those who go against it? Whatever we choose, we must realize what we are doing, the gravity of our choice, and what is at stake. We must do it with fear and trembling.

Just take a moment to realize what kind of a book the Bible is. It’s utterly astounding, whether you believe its claims or not. The world has not known such a formative, wise, revolutionary, and transformational book. Its pages are thick with morality. It is sets the standard for moral and right living, raising the bar to the heavens. For instance, it tells us to love, not good people, but our enemies. It commands fathers not to be harsh with their children. It tells us not to lust, let alone have sex outside of marriage. It tells us not to envy, to be greedy, to take advantage of people, to oppress. It commands us to care for the unfortunate, to bring healing and hope to those around us, to live at peace with everyone, so far as it is possible. It condemns hypocrisy, especially religious hypocrisy. The world has never known a more moral or wise book than the Bible. Just realizing this, we would be foolish not to pause to consider what it has to say. We would be wise to seriously consider it.

And we would be arrogant to assume that we know better than the Bible. As I said, there is nothing like it. Are we more moral than it? Are we wiser than it? Do we have a greater sense of the truth, of what’s right and wrong, than it? Can we evaluate life better than it can? I’m not saying that you can’t, for you could be a remarkable person; but I am just saying that we had better seriously consider what we are doing when go against it.

John Calvin gave a list of reasons why we should seriously consider the credibility of the Bible and therefore its authority over our lives.[1] When I consider these reasons with an open mind, I find them to be very compelling. First, consider the wisdom of the Bible as compared to human wisdom. Second, consider the antiquity of the Bible—the fact that it has been around for so long lends itself to credibility. Third, consider the miracles recorded by the Bible. If these are true, then they add massive support to the Bible’s authority. Fourth, consider the prophecies found in the Bible. Human history has seen hundreds of them fulfilled. Fifth, consider the way the Bible has been preserved against being destroyed. Many have tried to get rid of it, but have not been able. Sixth, consider its simplicity, yet profoundness. Seventh, consider the testimony (witness) of the church to it throughout the ages. Could you be wiser than millions of people throughout thousands of years? Eighth, consider the sacrifice of the martyrs, those who have died for their belief in the Bible.

We might not like what the Bible has to say, much like a child doesn’t like it when his dad says he can’t get ice cream, but that doesn’t mean that it is wrong (or that the father is not wise). The Bible has been around much longer than either you or I; it would be arrogant of me simply to discard what it has to say, not to consider it, weigh it, examine it, and let it speak into my life.

That’s all for now. I will write about the other three questions in future posts. Thank you for reading.

[1] Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1.7.4.

In Cultural Issues, Knowing God belief, bible, evolution, homosexuality, pluralism, tough questions, truth

Stop Focusing on Your Failures

samuel kee — May 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

Remember that scene in the original Indiana Jones where the Nazis were finally opening the ark? What happened? Those who looked at the ark were melted instantly, but those who looked elsewhere were spared. Something like that happens on a daily basis in our lives. Some of us are being daily melted in spirit, crushed beneath the weight of our problems and struggles. This is because we’re following the strategy of the devil, who wants us to look directly at our shortcomings when they are opened up to us. Listen to how Thomas Brooks puts it:

“The first device that Satan uses to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition—and so making their life a living hell—is by causing them to be constantly poring and musing upon their sin.”

Satan opens up our sin to us, pointing it out, reminding us of it, whispering about it to our conscience, in order to seize our eyes. Maybe you don’t want to believe in Satan and this is all a little too much for you. That’s fine, you don’t necessarily have to believe in Satan to be convinced of what I am saying. You can still recognize that we often get fixated on our failures. And the more we look, the more we melt.

It’s a devious trap, too. Because we need to recognize our shortcomings. That is essential to spiritual health; we need to be honest with ourselves and own up to our faults. However, we must not fixate on them. There comes a point when we need to say, “Enough is enough!” and look to something else.

We must learn not to focus on our sins, but on our Savior. Christians are those courageous people who have learned to look more to their Savior than to their sins. “Yeah, Satan, I know I’ve blown it again; I know that I deserve punishment and death. But what of it? I look at Jesus and I see that he’s been punished for my sins already. And his love is stronger than your hate.”

Christians are no better than anyone else. Neither are they just a bunch of chumps. They merely know where to look for a solution to the same problem that everyone shares. Christian or not, everyone is trying to find a way to escape their conscience and justify their existence. Some do it by trying to be better “next time.” Thus, their gaze goes straight to their problems. Others do it by trying to escape reality through some sort of pleasure or pursuit. “Maybe if I live it up, then I’ll forget about my faults.” Again, their focus is deadlocked on the problem rather than a solution.

And there are some things you can’t get rid of by focusing on them. In fact, the more you look, the more you’ll be consumed. Maybe what you need right now is to get your eyes off of the thing that’s killing you and to look at the One who can give you life. Look to your Savior, for as Scripture says, “whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20).

In Finding Hope, Knowing God dysfunction, failures, Indiana Jones, life, love, problems, solution, Thomas Brooks

Expectations

samuel kee — April 28, 2013 — Leave a comment

I’ll never forget when I chipped my teeth in college. I was at wrestling practice and came down hard on my jaw. I got up to my feet and felt these bits of bony teeth in my mouth. Somewhat shocked, I ran over to my coach and said, “Coach, I chipped my teeth!” Now, I was hoping he’d give me some sympathy, saying something like, “Why don’t you go down to the trainer and get a massage.” Or, “You can take the rest of the practice off.” Or even, “Go get a drink and inspect the damage,” would have been good enough for me. But I’ll never forget what he said. He squinted his eyes and asked, “How long have you been wrestling?” Unprepared for his question, I stammered, “About ten years.” He then said, “You mean to tell me you’ve been wrestling for ten years and you’ve never chipped your teeth?” And then he walked away! His point was clear: when you sign up for wrestling, you’re signing up to get your teeth chipped. If you do a contact sport, then, guess what, you can expect to get contacted! And this is the same message found in the Bible. In Romans 8, God wants us to know that nothing will separate us from his love. Verse 39 says, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” Even though that is true, we’re told in verse 36 of the same chapter that we are also like sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Both are true. When you sign up to be a Christian, you’ll find you have absolute invincible love from God for all eternity; AND, you’ll end up getting your teeth chipped. It’s just part of what it means to be a Christian. Just because you’re going through trials does not mean that God loves you any less or that you did something to upset Him. It may just mean that you’re really on the team.

In Finding Hope encouragement, life, Romans 8, team, teeth, wrestling

Love is Absurd

samuel kee — April 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

Albert Camus wrote a book in 1942 called The Stranger. He mainly wanted to show how absurd life was—how the little things in life are such big things. Through a series of thoughtless events, the main character, Meursault, finds himself awaiting execution for killing a man. At the end of the book, Meursault is ranting about his fate, unable to comprehend the absurdity of it all. He looks at his looming execution, which he rightly recognizes as an “ultimate” sort of thing. To decide whether one lives or dies and to carry out that sentence, is magnificent. The thing he couldn’t get over was this, that his execution would be performed by a guy “who changed his underwear.”

In other words, it’s absurd to realize that such an ultimate act could be performed by a finite mortal, a bumbling human, a creature who is no better than any other creature—a man who changes his underwear. Perhaps Meursault preferred his executioner to be someone who was above changing their underwear? At least then his death would have a bit more dignity.

Meursault totally forgets that just a few months before, he killed a man because the sun was in his eyes and causing him an uncomfortable sweat. Whether or not to grant life or take life seems to be a profound decision, and should not be left to mere mortals. Yet every day, every hour, human beings are executing their power over life as only God should be allowed to do.

It’s absurd to think that guys who change their underwear should be allowed to put a pressure cooker in a public square and watch it maim and destroy. And yet I’ve heard other people voicing their disgust over the authorities, also people who change their underwear, who are executing the same sort of judgment over the lives of the suspects. Everyone is crying incongruence.

But lurking in the shadows of humanity is another Stranger, whose life embraced human absurdity and incongruence. This Stranger did not take any lives; he did not blow anything up; and he did not perform any executions. He did not commit any crimes, kept no record of right or wrong, and did not seek vengeance. Yet he was a Stranger who changed his underwear, grew tired and hungry, and had an appetite for tears.

He also did the absurd.

He came into this tragic world from a perfectly good world, in order to subject himself to our cruelty. Our redemption came through his condemnation and our rescue came through his cross. He did not take life, but gave it away in absurd amounts. He gave second chances, he opened his heart, and brought restoration. His reward for all of this was trial, torture, and death. There is no more absurd character than Jesus, whose love compelled him to face the onslaught of punishment that our sins deserved—bravely, calm, and controlled.

Yes, one sinner who takes the life of another sinner is absurd; but infinitely more absurd is one sinless Person who gives his life for sinners. Jesus was not one finite person making an ultimate decision, he was one Ultimate Person making the decision to be finite.

Love is more absurd than cruelty. It’s fairly easy to complain about the absurdity of suffering, but it’s another thing to have the sense to complain about the absurdity of God’s love for us.

In Cultural Issues, Knowing God absurd, Albert Camus, Boston, cross, death, Meursault, The Stranger

Receipt

samuel kee — April 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

Once you purchase an item, you receive a receipt. You then carry the receipt around with you in the store, in order to prove that the item has been purchased and you don’t need to pay for it again. If anyone accuses you of taking the item without paying for it, you only need to show the receipt. “This does not need to be paid for again!” is what the receipt says.

We had an outstanding debt, but God paid for it. God paid for our debt with the currency of his Son, Jesus. His life was spent on the cross for us. Every drop of blood he lost, transferred to our fare. There is no other way to pay for our guilt and cleanse our conscience, other than with a perfect Life. Trying to pay with an imperfect life will not add up to the right amount; you’ll always come short if you try to pay the debt with your own good works. Your good works are not able to track with your debts. Only God has enough resources to cover what we owe.

Then he gave us the receipt, proving that our debt is paid.

The receipt is the resurrection of Jesus. It’s our proof that our sins do not need to be paid for again. You don’t have to make yourself pay for your sins; you don’t have to make someone else pay for your sins. Jesus has paid for them in full. Nothing else is owed.

The cross and resurrection are proof that you are loved.[1]

[1] I got this idea from Tim Keller, who spoke at the 2013 Gospel Coalition.

In Knowing God love, proof

What does it take to become a man?