Jesus: fictional or real?

Though I have no trouble believing that Jesus was an actual historical person, I know that some are inclined to disbelieve in Jesus simply because of all the amazing things the Bible says about him. For those who need some form of proof outside the pages of the biblical text, I am glad to be able to state that evidence can be found to point to a historical person named Jesus from the same time period and location as that presented in the pages of the gospel accounts.
What makes this extra-biblical evidence even more reliable is that it comes from historians who were not, themselves, Christian believers. These are men who lived and wrote shortly after the time of Christ's 33 year life dating from about 4 or 5 b.c. to about 28 or 29 a.d. The other thing to understand about these writers is that their purpose was not to write about Jesus himself, but in the process of writing histories about either the Jews , Greeks, or the Romans, they mentioned incidents involving the followers of Jesus and briefly pointing back to the person who was the originator of what they described as a cult-like group. Without getting into great detail, I will just mention these writers by name and tell something briefly about what they wrote and what they said about Jesus:

• Tacitus was a Roman senator who was one of the best Roman historians. He lived from around 55 to 118 a.d. His final writing before his death entitled "Annals" included a biography of Emperor Nero who was suspected of burning a part of Rome and shifting the blame to Christians. In writing about this incident Tacitus, who despised Christians, wrote briefly about their founder "Christus" who had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. This brief statement inadvertently confirms the New Testament on certain details about Christ's death.
• Josephus started out as a Jewish priest but wound up in Rome during the reign of Vespasian. He wrote about the Jewish war against Rome and also wrote a work on Jewish Antiquities. Both histories were written in Greek. His Antiquities mentioned Jesus twice. One account mentioned Jesus as the brother of James and wrote, "Jesus, who is called Messiah" in order to identify which James he was writing about. A second mention about Jesus is a paragraph describing him as a "wise man" and telling about his death by crucifixion and the large group of followers who had not died out at the time of that writing.
• Pliny the Younger was a Roman governor who wrote derisively about people who worshiped Christ as though they were worshiping a god.
• Lucian was a Greek writer of satire including a work called "The Passing of Peregrinus." In that work he referred indirectly to Jesus by calling him, "that crucified sophist".
• Celsus was a philosopher who considered Jesus to be a magician.

We have five examples of historical writers who mentioned Jesus in one way or another, thus confirming that such a man existed in history. None of these writers were Christians. In fact, some of them were very derisive in what they wrote about Jesus or his followers. Still, this collection of writings confirms quite a list of details from the biblical accounts.  These extra-biblical writers may not confirm that Jesus is who he claimed to be in the gospels, but they help to eliminate the supposition that Jesus never lived. While the Bible is sufficient proof about Jesus Christ for me, it is reassuring to also point to the other proofs outside the Bible that Jesus was an actual historical person living during the first century.

You're Old Enough to Know

My wife has written a book designed for our grandchildren to read so that they will understand more about their relationship with God. Her original 4 books were custom designed for the grandchildren and have their names included. She also decided to redesign the book to make it more generic for any grade school child who would benefit from knowing more about their relationship with God and the indwelling presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Here is a link to the sight where her book is available:
http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/you-re-old-enough-to-know/213118

The Law was our Schoolmaster

Moses with the Law

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24, KJV). It is interesting to discover that God instituted the Levitical law for the purpose of walking us to the feet of Christ. It was never intended to be an eternal covenant by the simple fact that it was a conditional (if-then) covenant. Any covenant with conditions can be nullified by the person who breaks the terms of the covenant. And as Bible history clearly shows, the Jewish nation broke the terms of the covenant repeatedly.
But, as Paul explains in Galatians, the law was given for the purpose of showing wayward people their need for something better than the law. It was God's plan to provide grace as a gift at just the right time through his one and only Son and his finished work on the cross. In fact, I love Paul's words in Colossians concerning the written code of the law when he wrote in Colossians 2:14 (NIV) having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. We see then, that the law served the same function as the household slave who walks the children to school and deposits them into the presence of the teacher. That is what a "pedagogos" was; not the teacher himself, but merely, the slave who took the children to the place where they could be taught. The Levitical law walked us wayward children into the presence of Christ by revealing to us that we were ill equipped to keep the law in and of ourselves. In fact, attempting to keep the law was never anything other than an effort in futility. But until we tried and failed, we didn't realize how badly we were in need of imparted grace and imputed righteousness that only Christ could give. Praise God! The schoolmaster has finished its work. It has walked us up to the foot of the cross and deposited us at the feet of the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. The master has come, so the slave is no longer needed. Now we are justified by faith apart from the law!

The bliss of "direct-connect"

Though this may sound like an article about high tech gadgetry, it is actually theological in nature. I am glad about my solid and permanent connection with Christ himself, the Lord of the church, and the author of my salvation. He is my direct mediator to God the Father, the name through which I pray, and the one who gives me the power to live the life he has called me to live. I love my direct connection with my Lord. I need no back up system, no redundant systems, no wireless routers, no high speed modem, no second processor, no firewall, no virus protection. Jesus and I are connected, and if there are any dead zones between us they are of my own making.

When sharing the gospel with others my only task is to lift up the name of Christ and to speak up about my high regard for the Word of God which introduced me to Christ and allows me to introduce Him to others as well. I don't need to promote any specific flavor of Christianity or win people to any particular leaning or man-made affiliation. Though it is not my purpose to speak ill of denominations, theologies, dispensations, synods, bishoprics, or church associations, it is my intention to spend my energies promoting Christ and the Bible period! My hope is that others will also know the joy of their own direct connection to Christ. Just a thought.

Symbols of Baptism: Part 3 (of 3 parts)

3. Salvation:

For this symbol, the Apostle Peter supplies both the symbol and the meaning in 1 Peter 3:18-22 (NIV) 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
The Apostle Peter makes an interesting comparison between the ark built by Noah which saved 8 people from dying in the worldwide flood, and our baptism which he said “saves you also.” Lest we are inclined to make too much out of the action of baptism itself, he said “not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.”
There is much contention in theological circles these days about the importance of baptism and whether or not it is essential to salvation. The problem is that just like it was with circumcision in New Testament times, people are inclined to become legalistic on both sides of the baptismal argument. Some insist that baptism can not possibly save anyone because it is a “work” and the Bible declares that “works” cannot save us (Ephesians 2:8-9). Others point to this passage in First Peter or to where it says in Mark 16:16 (NIV) 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
I once preached a sermon on all the things the Bible says “saves” us and discovered that the Bible declares no less than 30 different things to have the ability to save us including Christ, grace, faith, preaching, hope, repentance, confession, baptism, obedience, enduring to the end, and even childbearing! (1 Timothy 2:15) The point is that fighting over baptism sidetracks people from the heart of the matter, which is what baptism can mean for the person who submits to baptism for the purpose of connecting with Christ.
In the First Peter passage we see a connection between the ark of Noah and the work of Jesus on the cross. It would be easy here to add the ark that saved Moses in the Nile river (Exodus 2:3-5) as yet another example of what we are talking about. The ark of Noah and the ark of Moses were both provisions of a loving God to intercede and provide a covering over the occupants of the ark and to save them through (or in spite of) the waters which would have otherwise drowned them all. The ark was a covering to provide salvation through water. In baptism, Jesus is provided to us as our covering who saves us. And this connection is made for us when we are baptized into Christ. We read in Galatians 3:26-27 (NIV) 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
If we see baptism as a connection point with Christ himself we are looking at the heart of the matter concerning baptism. Being baptized for any other reason, such as for the purpose of joining a church congregation, is to miss the mark.
Conclusion:
Though there is much more that could be said about baptism, this should be sufficient information for the purpose of identifying the meaning of baptism and the proper symbolism behind the act of baptism. If in our baptism we can see ourselves being buried with Christ and retelling his story (so to speak) in ours, and if we see ourselves participating in the sign of the new covenant which is a circumcision done without hands, and if we can see Christ as our covering and savior in our baptism, then we are looking at baptism as it was meant to be understood. Baptism is far from just a ceremonial washing. It is full of meaning in all the ways it connects us to Christ. I have tried to explain the meaning of baptism. So what does baptism now mean to you, and if you haven't been baptized yet, what are you going to do about it?