Lesson Eight: Proving the Gospel

Lesson Eight: Proving the Gospel ⁽¹⁾

• While the existence and many attributes of God are “clearly perceived” in the creation (Rom. 1: 18-20), the gospel message is not visible in the world as such. The gospel must be proclaimed as such (Rom. 10:14-15).
• The Bible provides Explicit Arguments for the truth of the gospel message (1 Cor. 15:6). The Bible also provides implicit argument: Sometimes the Bible simply states these elements of gospel truth, but in such a way and under such conditions that the reader finds the statement persuasive.
• Why the Bible? Why doesn’t God reveal Himself solely through general (or natural) revelation?
  • If God, as absolute personality, cares about human behavior (and our moral argument implies that he does), we would expect him to present his case to man somewhere. The Bible is the only major sacred text that claims to fulfill that expectation.
  • Scripture tells us of our creation in God’s image, our fall (through Adam) into sin, and God’s free gift of his only Son to die an atoning death for our sin and to raise us up with him in newness of life.
• Drift toward Distortion.
  • With the Bible, we are faced with a choice between the wisdom f God and the wisdom of the world (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16). Even with the Bible, there is a human tendency to drift away from its message, toward a distortion of its message (e.g., cults, Islam, some forms of Congregationalism, etc.).
• Scripture’s Doctrine of Scripture
  • The Bible is, and claims to be, God speaking to us.
    • God is very much concerned not only that we believe in Christ, but also that we believe the Word that tells us about Christ, the very Word of God. If we find Scripture’s self-description to be credible, then at the same time, we will find the message of Scripture to be credible.
  • It is evident from biblical history that God intends to rule his church through a book. God’s church is to have a written constitution.
    • Covenant is a literary form of the ancient Near East, sometimes called the suzerainty treaty, instances of which have been found outside the Bible. In the suzerainty treaty, a great king imposes on a lesser king the status of a servant-ally. To violate the document is to violate the covenant, and vice versa.
  • Ten Commandments as covenant:
    • God speaks as author, giving his own name in the usual location for the name of the great king.
    • The passage strongly emphasizes God’s authorship, for the tables are written by God’s own finger (Ex. 24:12; 31:18; 32:15-16; 34:1; see also Ex. 34:32; Deut. 4:13; 9:10-11; 10:2-4).
    • Later, more such words are added. It is God’s song, and Moses writes it down (31:22).
    • The entire law is placed in the most sacred place of God, the ark of the covenant, as a witness against the people (Deut. 31:26).
    • It is holy because it is God’s own Word, and no one may add to or subtract from these words (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; cf. Josh. 1:7; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:19-20).
    • Psalm 119 and other Old Testament passages speak in reverent terms about God’s words. (See Psalm 56:4, 10).
    • When Jesus makes belief in Moses the prerequisite to belief in his own word (Matt. 5:17-19; John 5:45), and when he denies that Scripture should ever be broken (10:33-36), he is adding his witness to the teaching of the written old covenant.
  • The New Testament carries the same tone of authoritativeness. The New Testament records the “new covenant in my blood” (1 Cor. 11:25).
  • “Faithfulness” as followers of Christ renounces autonomy and listens faithfully to the wisdom that one finds on the pages of God’s book. The true disciple hungers and thirsts for more and more of God’s Word; he lives by every word of God (Matt. 4:4).
• But What about Biblical Criticism?
  • Historically, beginning with the so-called Age of Reason, traditions were jettisoned, human autonomy was lauded, and theories honored as much for their newness as for their truth.
    • Rationalists presupposed (without proof) that supernatural events never occur and that the human mind functions best independently of any purported divine revelation.
    • In the view of the scholarly establishment, the Bible should be studied under non biblical assumptions, assumptions that flatly contradicted the teachings of historic Christianity.
      • Still, archaeological and documentary evidence has forced many scholars to accept the historicity of at least the settings of the patriarchal accounts. And all the New Testament books are now generally admitted to come from the first century.
• Scripture’s Rationale for the Gospel Message
  • The Argument from Prophecy (Separate handout)
  • The New Testament Witness to Christ. Jesus speaks with amazing authority and wisdom, and he also claims to be God. In John 8:58 he takes upon himself the divine name “I am” (cf. Ex. 3:14), which the Jews consider too sacred to pronounce. His relationship to the Father is unique (John 5:18). He says that it is only through him that anyone else can become a “son” of God (14:6; 17:26). To see him is to see the Father (14:9). The Father has given him all things (Matt. 11:27), including a distinctive knowledge (John 5:26; 17:24). That he makes such claims, even claiming the power to forgive sins (Matt. 9:2-3; Mark 2:7; Luke 5:20-21), leads the Jews to accuse him of blasphemy. And when the high priest charges him with making such a claim, Jesus affirms it (Matt. 26:64).
  • Miracle and Resurrection. Throughout Scripture, God does wonderful works so that people will know that he is the Lord (Ex. 6:7; 7:5, 17; 8:22; 9:14; 10:2; 11:7; 14:4, 18; 16:12; 29:46; etc.). New Testament miracles are intended to show that Jesus is Lord (John 10:37-38; John 15:24), to confirm the apostles as servants of God (2 Cor. 12:12) and their message as God’s (Heb. 2:4).
    • Still, people saw the miracles of Jesus (including His resurrection) and did not believe. Some were hardened by God so that they could not see the truth (John 12:37-40).
• Conclusion: We can be persuaded of the credibility and certainty of the Bible by the Holy Spirit’s witness to us, reinforcing the credibility inherent in the text itself (1 Cor. 2:4; 1 Thess. 1:5).

1. Drawn from Frame & Torres, Apologetics (P&R Publishing, 2015), Chapter 6, “Apologetics as Proof: Proving the Gospel”