How do I know the Bible is True? Part 7

7. The evidence of SCIENCE supports that the Bible is true. 

A literal understanding of Genesis 1-11 is supported by science. For example:

a. ANTHROPOLOGY. The Bible teaches that God made the first man from dust, and that all people are descendants of one man—thus there is only one human race (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7-25). The Bible tells us that the population that descended from Noah had one language and disobeyed God’s command to “fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1; 11:4). As a result, God confused their language, causing the population  to break up into smaller groups, which scattered over the earth (Gen. 11:8-9). Modern genetics show how, following such a break-up of a population, variations in physical appearance, such as skin color, can develop in only a few generations. Linguistic and biological evidence support the genetic closeness of all human ethnic groups, consistent with a recent origin from a small population source like that described in Genesis 1-11.  Evidence that all peoples on earth have come from Noah are found in the flood stories from many cultures around the world (see The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 1990, pp. 28, 219-236). All of these findings are consistent with biblical creation.

b. ASTRONOMY. According to a literal understanding of Genesis 1 and the genealogies of the Bible (assuming there are no gaps), the week of creation took place over 6,000 years ago. Therefore, the earth, sun, moon and stars are just a few thousand years old. The media and evolutionists contest this age by pointing to the billions of years derived from rocks by radioisotope dating which is based upon questionable assumptions. What they do not tell the general public is that there are many other dating methods which indicate that the earth is much too young for evolution to occur (e.g. earth’s magnetic field, lack of helium in atmosphere, lack of salt or sediment in the ocean, lack of erosion of the continents; too much carbon 14 in deep geologic strata; high oil deposit pressure; tree rings; galaxies wind themselves up too fast;  the small number of super nova remnants; magnetic fields on “cold” planets; young short-period comets; the sun is too big; the moon is too close; recent civilizations; and population statistics all point to a young earth and universe (see Dr. Russell Humphrey’s “The Earth’s Magnetic Field Is Young”, 1994; John Morris’ The Young Earth, 1994, pp. 93-117 & The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 1990, pp. 27, 86-88).  

c. BIOLOGY. The Bible teaches that God created distinct kinds of animals and plants to reproduce after their own kind (Gen. 1).  There are two laws of biology that support this. They state: like can only come from like, and life always gives rise to life (biogenesis). The first is obviously true – fruit flies always give rise to fruit flies and dogs always give birth to dogs and humans always have babies that are human. The Bible tells us that life always comes from pre-existing life …God is alive and from Him life was created. Each living thing reproduces after its kind, so we see that biology supports what the Bible teaches. (see The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 1990, pp. 20, 25-26; see Dr. Jason Lisle’s “Don’t Creationists Deny the Laws of Nature?”, Aug. 2007 ).

d. GEOLOGY. The Bible informs us that death entered the world after sin (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12). This has a bearing on geology and paleontology, as the Earth is covered with rocks full of fossils—dead things. Thus, the fossil-containing rocks could not have formed before sin. The Bible records the event of a global Flood (Gen. 6-8) —this has a great bearing on correctly interpreting the surface of the Earth and the massive quantity of sedimentary rocks, as well as explaining the formation of most fossils. Evidence for rapid deposition of geological strata as in the biblical global flood includes the lack of erosion between rock layers “supposedly” separated in layers by many millions of years; lack of disturbance of rock strata by biological activity (worms, roots, fish, plants, etc.); lack of soil layers; preservation of surface features (i.e. ripple marks, rain drop impressions, animal tracks); polystrate fossils (which traverse several rock layers vertically – these could not have stood vertically for thousands of years while they slowly got buried); soft sediment deformation whereby thick layers of “rock” are bent and folded into hairpin shapes without fracturing, indicating that the rock was all soft when bent. Evidence from Mount St. Helens tells us that canyons can be formed in a short period of time by catastrophic events (see John Morris’ The Young Earth, 1994, pp. 93-117). 

e. PALEONTOLOGY. The order and distribution of fossils in the geological record is best explained by the global flood of Noah’s day (Gen. 7-8; see The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 1990, pg. 196; John Morris’ The Young Earth, 1994, Transparency Master). 

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 6

6. The evidence of SELF-TESTIMONY supports that the Bible is true. 

Self-testimony is valid evidence in a court of law. The Old Testament authors often made claims like, “And the Lord spoke to me, saying…”or “The word of the Lord came to me, saying…” Henry Morris in his book Many Infallible Proofs(San Diego: Creation Life, 1974, pp. 156-7) claims there are 2,600 such claims of divine inspiration in the Old Testament. The New Testament also claims to be inspired word-for-word by God. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). According to Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus says the Bible is accurate down to each letter of a word and each stroke of a pen. 

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 5

5. The evidence of INDESTRUCTIBILITY supports that the Bible is true.

“The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O Lord, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.”Psalm 12:6-7 

Jesus said,“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Matthew 24:35 

Skeptics have tried for centuries to destroy the authority of the Bible. For example, in the 18thcentury, the noted French infidel Voltaire forecast that within a century there would be no Bibles left on earth. Ironically, 50 years after he died, the Geneva Bible Society used his old printing press and his house to produce stacks of Bibles (The Revised & Expanded Answers Book, 1990, pg. 17). The Bible has been banned, burned, and outlawed, yet it has outlasted all of its opponents. It remains the all-time best-seller in history. The Bible continues to be scrutinized today by archaeology, science, psychology, political movements, Hollywood, and computers, etc. Yet the Bible remains undaunted. It proves Itself to be true over and over again despite these many attacks. 

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 4

4. The evidence of MANUSCRIPT comparisons supports that the Bible is true.

The historical reliability of an ancient document is determined by the number of manuscripts and the time interval between the original and earliest copy. The more manuscripts and the shorter the time gap between the original and earliest copy, the greater the historical reliability of the document. When comparing the New Testament with other famous writings, the New Testament has far more manuscript authority than any other ancient literature (see above chart), showing that it is historically reliable.

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 3

3. The evidence of Bible PROPHECY supports that the Bible is true. 

The Old Testament predicted what would happen to certain nations, cities, and people, all of which happened or are happening just the way the Bible said. The book of Genesis records God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would never be wiped out (Gen. 17:7-8, 19-21; 21:12-13, 17-18; 22:15-18); today the Jews and Arabs, descendants of Abraham’s first two children, Isaac and Ishmael, are still with us as distinct peoples. Yet there are no more Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites or Babylonians, Medes or Persians. Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome all rose and fell just the way the book of Daniel said they would (Daniel 2:19-45; 7:1-8:27). There are many predictions about the coming of the Messiah that were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For example, Psalm 22 describes the crucifixion of Jesus in vivid detail. The amazing deal…Psalm 22 was written hundreds of years before Roman crucifixion was even established. A glimpse at a few of these prophecies (see above chart) shows that they were given and fulfilled in great detail. 

How do I Know the Bible is True? Part 2

2. The Evidence of ARCHAEOLOGY supports that the Bible is true.

Over and over again archaeology demonstrates that the people and places in the Bible actually existed when and where the Bible says they did. For example, a Time magazine article reported that two Italian scientists at Ebla in Northern Syria discovered documents that demonstrate that people like Abraham’s ancestors and places like Jerusalem actually existed around 2400 B.C. The article states, “Their discovery does more than provide documentary evidence of a little-known kingdom that existed between 2400 and 2250 B.C.; it also provides the best evidence to date that some of the people described in the Old Testament actually existed” (Hedley Donovan, ed., “A New ‘Third World,’ ” Time, 18 October 1976, p. 63). 

A more recent archaeological find took place in 2017 by archaeologists from Tel Aviv University that substantiates a Timna Copper Mine was dated to the time of Kings David and Solomon around 1,000 B.C. They announced that tests of donkey dung discovered at Timna, a site of ancient copper mines along the Rift Valley in southern Israel, showed the animal waste was 3,000 years old. The tests also showed that the donkeys’ diet indicated that their feed came from near Jerusalem—another example of a centralized power at the time of David and Solomon (https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/december/biblical-archaeology-top-10-discoveries-2017-israel.html). 

Again and again the Bible has shown itself to be rooted in history. We count our history by it. Every time you write down a date, you write down the date from Jesus’ First Coming to earth. So it is a book that’s rooted in history.

How Do I know the Bible is True? Part 1

There are several different kinds of evidences behind the truth of the Bible that support our faith. The first is:

1. The Evidence of UNITY supports that the Bible is true.

The Bible has 66 books written by about 40 authors over a period of 1,500 years. These authors ranged from kings to peasants…shepherds to tent makers…tax collectors to fishermen…rabbis to cupbearers. Yet all these authors who wrote on three different continents using three different languages (Hebrew, Greek and a little Aramaic) wrote with agreement on what are some of the most controversial subjects in our world today. For example, the first book of the Bible talks about “Paradise Lost” (Genesis 1-3) and the last book of the Bible talks about “Paradise Restored” (Revelation 21-22). How do you get forty people in a room to agree on anything? Yet they agreed on these things. How can this be?

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1:16-21: “16For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

These verses teach five important facts:

a. The Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents (1:16a).

b. The Bible was written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses (1:16b).

c. The Bible reports supernatural events (1:17-18) that took place to fulfill specific prophecies (1:19).

d. The Bible did not originate from men (1:21a). 

e. The Holy Spirit directed these different authors to write each word down without error (1:21b).

Look and Live

“So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:9

As the people of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land, they complained against God and Moses because they were dissatisfied with the manna He sent them to eat (21:4-5). To discipline them, God sent poisonous snakes among the people, resulting in many physical deaths (21:6). Moses then prayed to the Lord (21:7) and God told Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten when he looks at it, shall live” (21:8). This invitation to look at the bronze serpent was given to “everyone.” How did the people respond? We then read, “So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived” (21:9). One look of faith at this bronze serpent delivered the bitten person from physical death.

Jesus refers to this passage when He talked with Nicodemus (John 3:14). In a similar fashion, all of humanity has been struck down by sin (Rom. 3:23). Sin has sunk its fangs into our spiritual souls and the venom has made its way to our hearts and we are dying in our sins. But God saw our hopelessness and lifted up His Son on the cross to die for our sins (Rom. 5:8). To be born again and experience eternal life, Nicodemus needed simply to “look and live,” just as in Numbers 21 a bitten person had to “look and live.” Jesus explained their “look” as simply believing in Him:

“14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). 

Just as the dying Israelites had to look at the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole, so all people who are dying in their sins must look in faith to Jesus who was lifted up on a cross to die for their sins. To Nicodemus, the admonition to look and live would have been both personal and effective. Having fasted, prayed, faithfully attended the synagogue, observed the feasts, and honored the Sabbaths, he was tempted to look at what he had done to give a him a right standing with God. Instead, now he discovered he must simply look to Christ alone for eternal life. He must believe in Him.

Have you been born again by believing in Jesus for His gift of eternal life? It doesn’t matter if you are a child who is nine or an adult who is ninety. It matters not if you are a morally good person or if you have spent more time inside a jail than outside, you must believe or trust in Christ alone to save you. Perhaps you can identify with Nicodemus – you have always believed the way to heaven was by living a good life or by believing in Christ plus something else. But now you understand you were mistaken, and you want to trust Christ alone as your only way to heaven. Again, the promise is “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (3:15).  “Look” to Jesus alone in faith and you will “live” forever with Him in heaven when you die.

Urgency in Evangelism

“And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.” Numbers 16:48

After God judged Korah and his followers for rebelling against Moses and Aaron (16:1-40), the children of Israel still refused to submit to God’s will by complaining against Moses and Aaron, accusing them of killing the Lord’s people (16:41). Then the Lord sent a plague which began to kill the Israelites (16:42-45). As the plague spread, Moses instructed Aaron to take a censer and put fire and incense in it and go to the congregation to make atonement for them (16:46). So Aaron “ran into the midst of the assembly” and  “put in the incense and made atonement for the people” (16:47). Aaron loved his people so much that he “stood between” those who were already “dead” because of the plague and those still “living” to protect the living from the plague and make atonement for them (16:48a). Because of Aaron’s intercession for the people, “the plague was stopped” (16:48b). 

All of us have rebelled against God and deserve death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23a), but Jesus Christ loved us so much that He stood between us and death when He made atonement for our sins on the cross so that “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ has saved us from eternal death! 

We can thank Jesus by living for Him now (2 Cor. 5:15) and telling others about His great love for them. Like Aaron, we are to have a sense of urgency (“Aaron ran…”) and take the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to unsaved people so Christ can save them from eternal death the moment they believe in Him! If we do not go to the lost people in our lives with Jesus’ message of everlasting hope, then who will go to them!?! Let’s be passionate and intentional about rescuing people from an eternity separated from God. 

What is the Gospel?

What is the Gospel? In Mark 16:15,  Jesus cast a huge vision for Christians: “Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all people”[GNT]. Obviously if this vision is going to be fulfilled it must be understood. It is not too difficult to understand going throughout the whole world and preaching to all people. But what about the gospel? What is the content of the gospel? What do we tell non-Christians about Jesus Christ?

Many diverse opinions exist today among Christians on what the gospel is. For example, a gospel singer gave his testimony on the radio and said, “I was unloved, rejected, alone, and lonely. I suffered from an inferiority complex. I struggled with insecurity. Then I heard the gospel. I heard God loves me. God’s love changed my life.” Is that the gospel? 

A well-known Christian leader said, “A presentation of the gospel is simply this: you are calling on someone to turn from their sin and follow Jesus Christ. That’s it!” Is that the gospel? The World Council of Churches in Nairobi (1975) said, “The gospel always includes… the responsibility to participate in the struggle for justice and human dignity, the obligation to denounce all that hinders human wholeness.” Is that the gospel? 

If we are going to be effective in evangelism we must know what to tell non-Christians – i.e. we must know what the gospel is, so they can avoid Hell and get to Heaven. The gospel we are to preach today is the gospel of the grace of God. The apostle Paul states, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul defines the “gospel of the grace of God” in I Corinthians 15:1-8. 

In I Corinthians 15, Paul is addressing the issue of the resurrection of Christ. Some of the Corinthians denied the bodily resurrection from the dead. Paul understood that if there is no resurrection, there is no good news to preach. To begin his discussion of the resurrection, Paul emphasized the importance of the gospel. Paul “declared”the gospel to the Corinthians (15:1a). He said they “received” or embraced this gospel as being true (15:1b). Then he says they now “stand” or are absolutely convinced of this gospel (15:1c). 

Then Paul says, “the gospel which I preached to you…by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (15:1b-2). Is Paul doubting their salvation from hell? Is he saying if you backslide or fall away from the Lord you lose your salvation, or you are not saved in the first place? He is not doubting their salvation because he already affirms they “received “the gospel message (15:1b). Nor does he doubt that they hold fast to the gospel because he affirms that they are standing in it (15:1c). Nor is Paul doubting their future assurance because once you receive eternal life, you can never lose it or it isn’t eternal life.

So what is Paul saying here? When Paul says, “Unless you believed in vain” (15:2c), he is saying they would have believed in vain if in fact the gospel they received was not true. If Christ did not rise from the dead then both Paul’s preaching and the Corinthian’s faith were in vain (cf. 15:12-14). If Christ is still dead, then our faith is vain. It is empty. A dead Christ cannot save us. So if they do not hold fast to the gospel, i.e., if their current denial of the resurrection is correct, then Christ did not rise, which in turn means that they did actually believe in vain. If they are right about there being no resurrection, then everything is a lie, and they stop existing as believers altogether. 

Paul then assures them that they did not believe in vain when he writes, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received” (15:3a). The word “received” is the same word Paul used in Galatians 1:12, “I didn’t receive it or learn it from a human. It came through a revelation from Jesus Christ” [CEB]. Paul is saying, “I did not learn this gospel from having lunch with a pastor yesterday nor did I discover it at a Christian bookstore. The gospel I’m about to define came straight from God, to me, to you.” Let’s look now at the definition of the gospel (15:3-8). 

Paul uses four verbs to define the historical elements of the gospel by which we are saved. Let’s look at each one. “That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (15:3b). The word “for”means “instead of” or “in place of.” Christ died as our Substitute. Had He not taken our punishment, we would all bear it ourselves. Our sin deserves to be punished, but Jesus loved us so much He took our punishment.

Years ago there was a woman crossing the hills of South Wales on foot in the midst of a blizzard. She never made it to her destination. When they found her frozen body they did not understand why in that climate she was not wearing a heavy winter coat until they lifted up her body and found her coat wrapped around the body of her infant son, who remained alive and well. Her son, David Lloyd George, became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, one of the greatest statesman Britain has ever known. In other words, she died in his place. She saved him by dying for him. The Bible says when Jesus Christ came into the world He took your sin and my sin, placed it upon Himself, He died in our place and rose again the third day so that through trust in Him we could enjoy the gift of eternal life.

In verse 3 it says Christ died for our sins according to what? Yes, “according to the Scriptures.” Where in the Old Testament was Jesus’ crucifixion predicted? One place is Isaiah 53:5: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.” Paul wants us to know that Jesus’ death is exactly what Isaiah predicted hundreds of years earlier. You have not preached the Gospel if you do not preach Christ died for our sins.

The second verb is seen in the first part of verse 4: “And that He was buried” (15:4a). The proof thatJesus died was that He was buried. We do not bury a living person. We bury a dead person. Some religions deny that Jesus really died on the cross. But the biblical text tells us that professional executioners (Roman soldiers) determined Jesus was already dead when they did not break His legs to speed up His death (cf. John 19:32-33). But to add further evidence of Jesus’ death, “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). So the proof of Jesus’ death was His burial.

The third verb used to define the gospel is in the last part of verse 4: “And that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (15:4b). The idea in the Greek language (perfect tense verb) is that Jesus arose, and He is still living today. In other words, you will never hear a news report from Jerusalem saying they have found the dead body of Jesus Christ. He arose, and He is still alive today.

Notice the phrase “according to the Scriptures” appears again (15:4b). Where in the Old Testament was Jesus’ resurrection predicted? Psalm 16:10 says, “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.” After quoting Psalm 16 in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter said, “29Let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David…31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:29, 31-32). You have not preached the Gospel if you leave out the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The fourth verb that Paul uses to define the gospel by which we are saved is in verses 5-6: “5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” The proof that Jesus rose from the dead was that He was “seen” by over five hundred eyewitnesses! What’s the strongest testimony you can have in a court of law? Yes, eyewitnesses. Paul says, “Come into the courtroom and I’ll introduce you to all the people who saw Christ” (15:5-8). Stop and think about this for a moment! These were not people who did not know Jesus and therefore, might have mistaken Him for someone else. These were people who knew Him personally. So Paul is saying, “Christ arose. The proof is, He was seen.”

So the the Gospel by which we are saved from Hell is that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. What God asks non-Christians to believe is defined and expressed in I Corinthians 15:1-8. The Good News is Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.

When we communicate the death and resurrection of Christ to a lost person, we then must invite them to believe or trust in Christ alone for His gift of eternal life. Jesus said, “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16; cf. 6:40, 47; 11:26-26). When the Greek word for “believe” relates to salvation, it means to “trust” or “depend upon.” When we explain the death and resurrection of Christ to the unsaved who are facing an eternity separated from God, they must then believe or trust in Christ alone and His finished work on the cross to save them from hell and give them everlasting life (John 3:15-16, 36; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Now that we know what the Gospel is, so what? Let me share four implications taken from Larry Moyer’s book Free and Clear (1997, pp. 18-19):

1. The Gospel is objective. It focuses on what Christ has done, not what we may want Him to do in our lives. What happens when we become subjective and focus on our own desires? We try to convince the lost to come to Christ based on what they have seen in Christians. But what happens when they realize Christians sin, too? You may have heard someone say, “Christians are hypocrites.” Christians are to make the gospel attractive, but they never make it credible. Even if believers or churches lived near-perfect lives, people would still go to hell when they died. The gospel is that Christ died and arose. That is what makes Christianity credible. Christ asks the lost to trust Him based on His perfect behavior, not the imperfect behavior of Christians. The gospel has nothing to do with Christians, it has everything to do with Christ. 

2. The Gospel is finished. Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. It is finished. Jesus has already sacrificed Himself in our place. There is nothing left for you or me to do to pay for our sins. Only a holy sacrifice could be acceptable to God. We could never achieve that holiness on our own. So Jesus took our place because only He was the perfect and holy sacrifice. All that’s left for people to do is receive eternal life as a gift by believing in Jesus Christ (cf. John 3:15-16).  

3. The Gospel is proven historical Fact. Christ’s death and resurrection are a part of history. History tells us that Jesus was born, grew up, had friends, became a teacher, performed miracles, died on a cross, was buried, rose from the dead, and was seen. No other religion can claim a God who died for the sins of the world and rose from the dead. This is unique to Christianity and it is proven.

4. The Gospel is never-changing. Regardless of the time or culture, the message remains the same. But make sure you are telling the right message. If you tell people in New Delhi, India, that if they believe or trust Christ alone, their lives will be better, they will most likely think you mean they will never know poverty or starvation. Is that true? No. What is true? The clear Gospel – that Jesus took the punishment for their sins on the cross and rose again, so they may enjoy eternal life. They will come to understand that no matter how tough life is on earth, they can be with Christ forever in eternity if they believe or trust in Him alone for eternal life. If we lose the meaning of this objective, finished, proven, never-changing Gospel, the emphasis of our message changes. Why did Christ die on the cross? To mend broken marriages and fulfill individuals? No! These things can happen when people trust Christ, but broken marriages and unfulfilled lives are symptoms of a bigger problem – separation from God (Romans 6:23a).

Christ died on the cross for one reason – to bring everyone who believes or trusts in Him into a right standing with God. If we lose sight of that, we may neglect to tell people what they need most and not lead them to Christ at all. God could not have given us a simpler message: Christ died for our sins and arose! Keep it clear and simple and God will save people from Hell and take them to Heaven.