"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." ("Now I have told you." The question is: What are you going to do about it? Just a quick note. If you read the account of Christ's arrest, trial, and execution, you will find that He was never actually criminally convicted. The Sanhedrin used false witnesses, but they did not suffice. When the High Priest asked Jesus if he was God, our Lord replied: "You say so." At this confession, the Sanhedrin decided He was guilty of blasphemy (which in this case was punishment for a person's status rather than a person's deeds; an instant mistrial) and appealed the decision to the Roman Courts! And in the appeal, they changed the charge from blasphemy to treason (another mistrial)! Pilate found Him not guilty and sent Him to Herod. Even King Herod, the evil man who Christ had unequivocally pronounced to be an "old fox", found the Savior not guilty. He was sent back to Pilate and the Procurator said "I find no reason to condemn this man." Then, in the rage of the people, Pilate released Barrabbas the bandit and sent Jesus to Golgotha to be crucified without any conviction. Christ died for a crime He was never convicted of. We deserve to die for the sins we commit every day. Have you ever lied, cheated, stolen, or lusted in your heart? Ever hated anyone? The Bible says that God sees all of us as lying, thieving, adulterous, murderous criminals. Christ died so you would not have to. Repent and Trust in Him! In Him, David S. MacMillan III
4.16.2006
Jesus: Never Convicted
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3 comments:
Why should I trust in Jesus for salvation, and not Krishna or Buddha or Allah or Rael or any other god? What makes Jesus so special? This is a serious question, I'm curious as to your thoughts.
Anyonymous,
Thank you for your question.
In the future, I would prefer that you positively identify yourself so that I will know who you are. Otherwise you will have multiple "anonymous'" advocating different views - very difficult to handle.
But no problem. You posed a very good question.
Generally, whenever someone asks a question, they assume some thing beforehand. In your case, the assumption was that "I should trust in [something or someone] for salvation." The reason that Jesus is the answer rests on why "I should trust in something or someone for salvation."
So why do we even need salvation? The answer is simple. We have each broken every one of the ten commandments at one point in time or another:
~1~ Have no other Gods before Me (none of us has always put God first ALL the time).
~2~ Make no idols (we've all imagined God to be something we have devised who operates according to our standards, not his).
~3~ Do not take God's name in vain (I know that I have broken this one on several occasions).
~4~ Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy (This one speaks for itself).
~5~ Honor your parents (ever been a teenager? If so, I know you've broken this one. I probably do it every day unfortunately).
~6~ Do not murder (we might think we are safe from this one. But God says that if we harbor hatred in our heart toward someone else, we are guilty of murdering them in our heart).
~7~ Do not commit adultery (Jesus said that if we look at another person with lustful thoughts, we have committed adultery in our heart).
~8~ Do not lie.
~9~ Do not steal (have you ever cheated? Ever taken something that did not belong to you, irrespective of value?).
~10~ Do not covet.
And it gets worse for us. James 2 says that if we keep every commandment but break only one, we are as guilty as if we had broken every commandment.
God sees the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. If my thoughts were recorded for a week, and the highlights were played before my family, I would look like a pretty rotten person. God sees all of this.
We all know that if God judged us by the Ten Commandments, we would be very, very guilty. And God is just. He is the perfect Judge. Because of His perfect nature, He has to punish sin. We have all earned our wages, for the wages of sin is death: Physical death due to the physical result of Adam's sin, and spiritual death in the Lake of Fire forever.
Because we live in this world and are the descendants of Adam, we are all going to die physically in one way or another. We are not really responsible for Adam's sin, so God can and has reversed physical death. But He is so just that He will not reverse spiritual death, because we get what we deserve.
So that answers the question of why we need to trust in someone for salvation from Hell. Here's why Jesus is the only answer:
If someone who lived a perfect life without any sin offered to take your place and die and go to Hell for you, then you would be able to go free. It can't be someone who has ever sinned, because then they would have to pay for their own sin. But if they are totally sinless, then they can take your punishment upon themselves.
Jesus did this. He was God's perfect Son. He lived a perfect life and fulfilled ever law and prophecy. Then, He was executed for crimes He was never convicted of. He was God, so he was able to take our sins on Himself. Because of this sin heaped on a perfect person, God had to send His only Son to Hell.
Praise God that the story doesn't end there! Because Jesus was 100% God, He was able to conquer the power of Hell by throwing off sin and raise Himself from the dead! The grave could not hold the King.
So there is your answer. Buddha said he had "attained" perfection, not that he had always been perfect. Mohammed can't take your sin; he didn't even know whether he was going to make it to heaven. In fact, Islam even says that good Muslims will burn in Hell until their sins "burn away" - which sadly will be forever. Neither Krishna nor Rael nor any other "god" lived a perfect life and died for our sins. They cannot take your sin, so they can't do you any good.
Krishna and Buddha and Rael and Joseph Smith and just about everybody else wants you to do good works to atone for your sin. But you can't stop Hell's fires by carrying a lot of ice. The only way to escape Hell is to put your trust solely in Christ. He loves you and will be happy to save you if you will put your trust in Him and allow Him to govern your life. As an added bonus, He will give you His Holy Spirit to help you live according to his rules - not because you have to, but because you will want to because of your gratefulness. And the peace and joy that comes from knowing that your destiny is secure cannot be explained.
Of course, if you want to try and find another God that:
~Is perfect, holy, and just.
~Planned from the beginning of Creation how He would save us.
~Prophesied about how the Savior would come hundreds of years before the fact.
~Came in the form of man to live a perfect life and fulfill all those specific prophecies.
~Was totally man and totally God, and died a horrific death and went to Hell.
~Rose from the dead and conquered death, Hell, and the grave.
~Will adopt you into His family and thereby save you from your sin if you will just trust Him for it,
Then I say good luck!
"For I know Who it is that I have believed in and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day."
In Him,
David S. MacMillan III
Hi, I'm not going to register a blogger account, because I'm only an occasional reader, but I'll sign all my posts as "n. nescio" if it makes you feel more comfortable and prevents confusion.
All you've said is backed up passages from the Christian Bible, right? That seems reasonable enough, it's important to have a basis for one's beleifs. I guess this fits into the first question, then - why should I trust in the Christian Bible, and not any other holy writing? All that you've said about death and judgement seems true from a Christian perspective, but there are other religions that say they're the path to eternal happiness....how do I know that Christianity is right and all the others are wrong?
You make an excellent point about assuming things. That brings up another question in my mind: how do I know I should trust in something or someone for salvation? Different religions want to save me from different things, right? How do I know that the Christian salvation is the one I want?
I'm sure you get questions like these all the time from stupid trolls and the like, but I am genuine in my curiosity. I really appreciate your previous reply, and I look forward to future discourse with you.
Cordially,
N. Nescio
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