Is Reincarnation True? A Special Blog Posting for Easter (Resurrection Sunday)

Introduction

Cultic and occultic organizations are spreading their religious views about reincarnation.  Americans are susceptible to reincarnation.  The Christian response and answer to the alleged evidences of reincarnation is credible, true and believable.  The definition of reincarnation is apparently important for our understanding of it.  There is a difference between reincarnation and the Hindu doctrine of transmigration.  Transmigration is known as the doctrine of cyclic rebirth in different forms.  The Eastern belief of transmigration appeals to the Eastern mind.  Transmigration occurs with what is known as the law of karma.  Yet reincarnation is coming back on earth in a different human body.  The Western mind finds the Eastern thought of transmigration more difficult to apprehend, and believe.  Reincarnation from the Western mind is a redefinition of transmigration.  Transmigration is tainted with Eastern concepts, and portrayed as new.  The doctrine of reincarnation is an ancient doctrine described in a way that makes it attractive. Essentially, reincarnation and transmigration are to be understood as the same thing, but it manifests itself in “the Eastern mind and the Western mind.”[i]

The question arises is reincarnation true? if resurrection is a reality.  If reincarnation is true, then resurrection is false.  If resurrection is true, then reincarnation is false.  Resurrection and reincarnation cannot both be truth.  Either one is true or none is true.  The Christian Bible explicitly teaches the atonement, resurrection of Christ and eternal torment[ii] not reincarnation.  The atonement and resurrection of Christ has already been established from the divine Word.

Did Christianity teach it?

 Advocates of reincarnation like to say that Christianity has taught it in the past.  There is no evidence for this position.  Advocates of reincarnation also like to say that it solves the problem of evil.  Within the first life of the person, there is evil.  There is no life before the first life.  Since there is evil within the first life, there was no previous life to explain the evil in it.  Reincarnation does not solve the problem of evil.  Some say that evil is eternal.  But this complicates the problem of evil.  It does not solve it.

Elijah:  A Case of Reincarnation?

Advocates of reincarnation will use Elijah as proof of reincarnation.  The Bible teaches that Elijah was taken up into heaven, “As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven” (2 Kings 2:11 NASB).  The New Testament declares, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Heb. 11:5 NASB).

Does Born Again Mean Reincarnation?

                Advocates of reincarnation will refer to the New Testament language of being born again.  They will say it refers to reincarnation.  When the New Testament refers to being born again, it is not referring to reincarnation.  Rather, it is refers to regeneration.  When a person is regenerated it does not mean they are reincarnated.  Christ was the first person to declare the absolute necessity of being regenerate.  Regeneration comes before faith.  In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, a person must be born again.  Regeneration enables and changes the heart to actually believe.  This simply means that a person who is born from above will have spiritual life in this existence.  Regeneration is spiritual resurrection.  John 11:1-46 refers to the death and physical resurrection of Lazarus.  Non-born again people are like Lazarus.  Unregenerate people are spiritually dead.  But it is Christ who calls the dead to life, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43 NASB).  The resurrection of Lazarus supports the Reformed understanding of spiritual resurrection and physical resurrection.  The work of the Holy Spirit is accomplished upon the spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-10).  Non-born again people are regenerated from the will of the Living Father through His Living Son by His Living Spirit.  The Spirit of holiness recreates the heart.  He quickens the human being from spiritual death to spiritual life.  With regeneration there is an inclination for God in the heart of the believer.  God planets a true desire in the human heart for Himself.  This desire would be wholly absent if God did not plant it there.  Regeneration is God’s divine act in the salvation of the soul.  Thus Ezekiel 36:26 says, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (NASB).  Also 2 Timothy 1:9 says, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity…”  (NASB).

Exposing Recall

In reincarnation there is recall.  First, there is hypnotic recall.  There are presumptions and manifestations from hypnotic recall that are utterly unbiblical.  Second, there is intuitive recall.  The person has unclear impressions and recollections.  But impressions and recollections can be wrong.  People can be deceived from their own minds.  Third, there is spontaneous recall.  There was a case of Bridey Murphy.  This case seemed like a sure support for reincarnation.  But this person never existed at all.  This person read books and actually learned Gaelic from her grandmother at a young age.  When hypnosis took place, she recalled these things.  This case was thought to be proof for reincarnation but in actuality it was not.  Fourth, there is psychic recall.  This information is clairvoyant in nature.  Psychics tell a person they have lived before.  The spirits tell the person what life they lived.  Then the person begins to believe the information about living a past life.  But the spirits are wicked and must not be believed.  In short, recall is not logical or trustworthy.  It does not explain, indirectly or directly, reincarnation.  Rather, recall only demonstrates it is not a sound argument.[iii]

Who purges from sin?

                Advocates of reincarnation claim it purges us from sin.  The Christian Bible teaches that Christ Himself, and He alone, purges or cleanses His people from their sin.  2 Peter 1:9 proclaims that believers are actually purged from their sins:  “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (KJV).  Also the author of Hebrews 1:1-3 declares,

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.  When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…  (NASB).

The divine Lord Jesus Christ purged His people from their sins.  It was not reincarnation.  Reincarnation could never actually accomplish this.  Rather, it was and is the Incarnate King.  He alone has the power to cleanse from sin.  Anything apart from Christ Himself who claims to cleanse people from sin is a counterfeit.  The divine Lamb of God cleanses His people from their sin.  He has the divine ability to accomplish purging from sin.[iv]

God Alone Forgives and Cleanses From Sin

                Moreover, the divine Word provides His own with assurance of the forgiveness and the cleansing (Ps. 51:2) from sin when His people repent, “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin….If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7, 9 NASB).  Christ’s blood cleanses His people from dead works, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14 NASB).

The All-Sufficient Redeemer Paid It All

                There is no need to enter the process of reincarnation.  Rather, Christ Himself paid the debt that His people could not pay, and gained everlasting redemption.  The author of Hebrews 9:11-12 declares,

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (NASB).

Scripture declares, “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD… For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:12, 14 NASB).  Only by the actual blood of Christ are sins remitted.  There would be no remission of sin unless His blood was shed.  It was the Just for the unjust, the Righteous for the unrighteous, the Holy for the unholy, the Good for the bad and the Sinless for the sinner. Isaiah 53:4-5 NASB declared,

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

The atonement of Christ is vicarious.  He paid the debt for His elect only.  He is the actual Savior and Redeemer.  The gospel of the all-sufficient atonement of Christ is denied by reincarnation.  His ultimate sacrifice was offered once and for all.  Therefore, reincarnation is not necessary and must be rejected.[v]

Suffering In Vain

                Reincarnationists suffer for the sins of their previous life but people do not know the sins that are suffering for.  This denies that Christ alone provided atonement for sin of His people.  The suffering of sinners for their sin will not avail before God the Father.  Only the sinless God-man could bear the sins of His people and make sufficient atonement for them.  Full disclosure is not provided for the reincarnationist of their past lives.  Their suffering is in vain.  First, a sinner cannot atone for his own sins.  Second, the suffering is in vain since the past sins of the past lives are not manifested in the present life.  How can the law of karma perfect me if I repeat the same sin and are being punished for the same sin?[vi]  John 9:1-3 demonstrates that Christ Jesus did not hold to the law of karma, “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (NASB).  Note well:  this man did not sin or his parents.  Rather “…it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” 

                The Christian Bible addresses this matter to Christians, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58 NASB).  Moreover, “holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain” (Phil. 2:16 NASB). 

At Home with the Lord

                The destination of a Christian is heaven not cyclic rebirth.   Consider these verses from the Christian Bible:  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain…But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake” (Phi. 1:21, 23-24 NASB).  “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8 NASB).  “They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" (Acts 7:59 NASB).  “And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43 NASB).

Reject Reincarnation

                Reincarnation does not answer the problem of evil.  It does not deal with sin correctly.  Christianity has no favoritism towards reincarnation because it is simply untrue.  It is contrary to the divine Scriptures of the Old and New Testament.  It is not just nor does it accomplish justice.  It does not purge us from our sin.  Rather, it is foreign to the justice of God and it is alien to the Christian gospel of the bodily Risen Redeemer.  It is militantly opposed to the heart of the Christian gospel.  Therefore, it must be rightly rejected.

Fearing Death?

                Jesus Christ vanquished death; He conquered it.  Death is unnatural to life.  Do you fear death, or perhaps what may come after death?  Christ has victory over the grave.  All before Him were thieves and robbers.  Christ has shown Himself to be the Living One.  And, in terms of after death, where He is we shall be also!  May the Christian sing, “Jesus lives, and so shall I.  Death! Thy sting is gone forever!  He who deigned for me to die, lives, the bands of death to sever.  He shall raise me from the dust:  Jesus is my Hope and Trust.”[vii]

Turning to the Risen Christ

                Now we shall turn to the certainty of the bodily Risen Christ.  “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power” (1 Cor. 6:14 NASB).

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[i] Walter Martin. The Riddle Of Reincarnation (Vision House Publishers: Santa Ana, California, 1977), 5-7.  This endnote includes the entire paragraph.

[ii] The Bible teaches the doctrine of eternal hell.  This scriptural doctrine is unpopular today.  But it is still true.  Hell is taught in Matt. 8:12, 25:41, 46 and Rev. 19:20.  Those who reject the gospel are sent to hell.  The reality of the doctrine of eternal hell, which was taught by Christ Himself, shows that reincarnation is not true.  Therefore, reincarnation must be rejected, and the scriptural doctrines must be believed.

[iii] Martin, 18-20.

[iv] Martin, 24-25.

[v] Martin, 24-26.

[vi] Martin, 26.  Dr. Martin states, “Yet this so-called karma law of justice seems to be turning me over forever on some kind of reincarnational cosmic spit, until at length I arrive at the place where I have some kind of absorption into something.  This philosophy is classic monism, in which there is only one reality and in which evil is negated.  But Scripture tells us that evil is real and is the opposite of the eternal God.  Evil exists by His permission, but it is real….One of the questions the reincarnationists have difficulty answering is, “Why can’t I remember my past so that I can profit from it in the present, and won’t have to suffer for it in the future?”  This very reasonable question never seems to get a satisfactory.” (p. 27).

[vii] Trinity Hymnal Baptist Edition, (Georgia:  Great Commission Publication, 2000), 596.

My Jesus

We ought to fall at Jesus' feet and worship Him alone.  As Ruth Bryan said we are poor, weak, guilty, hell-deserving creature.  The Lord has redeemed us by His blood.  There is no other redemptive suffering save or except Christ alone. We suffer unto chastening but it is not redemptive.  No work can add to the work of Christ alone because He is God Incarnate. 


We ought to ask God to use us for His glory.  We ought to ask God to reveal more of Himself to us.  We ought to ask for gratitude for Him alone and love and embrace Him and our neighbor.  We ought to love and submit to Christ alone and others.  We ought to be patient and courageous.  God grants us all we need.  We must rely on the Lord alone who grants us things like belief and trust.  All that the Lord wants is a difference in our lives.  No one can take that away from us if we focus on Jesus.  The Holy Spirit gives us faith and focus because we cannot generate it from ourselves.  Let us love as Jesus loved.  Let us care as Jesus cares.  Jesus will never cast out anyone that comes to Him.  He gives us faith and Jesus gives us the victory.

May Jesus' love work through this small Reformed ministry blog to touch lives for His glory! 

Lessons for the Day of Judgment: Dunghill Covered with Jesus’ Righteousness, Pt 1

We must realize that we are all dunghills.  That is, we are totally depraved sinners or radically corrupt sinners.  We desperately need a covering from God.  That is, His covering is His very righteousness.  We must understand that we are no good.   We have nothing to offer God but filthy rages and garments of defilement.   We need His righteousness alone to save us because we cannot save ourselves.   We cannot commend our own dunghill.  In and of ourselves, we are spiritually corrupt and bankrupt.  In Christ we are spiritually set free and wear His righteous covering.  We must trust in His righteousness alone to save us.  Nothing else will do save His life and death alone.  Let us look at some Scriptures that teach us about the nature of man, and what to do about it after we discover the problem of man’s sin.  (It is good if we would seek to memorize where these key texts of Holy Scriptures are located).

Romans 3 KJV

⁹What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

¹¹There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

¹²They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

¹³Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

¹⁴Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood:

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways:

¹⁷And the way of peace have they not known:

¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.

¹⁹Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

²⁰Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Let us remember that the Lord promises to forgive contrite sinners.  To be contrite means to understand that we have offended God and injured His tender heart.  We are commanded by the Word of God to repent.

Acts 3:19 KJV
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Psalm 86:5 KJV
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

Jeremiah 31:34 KJV
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Psalm 51 KJV

¹Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

 ⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

¹³Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

¹⁶For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

The repentance that we do does not and cannot add to the unified work of Christ alone.  Let us mediate on the work of Christ alone that covers our dunghill.  We must make every effort to repent because we are all dunghills but made in the image of God.  Here are verses on the righteousness of Christ alone.

Romans 1 KJV

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

 ¹⁷For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 3 KJV

²¹But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

²²Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

²⁵Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

²⁶To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

²⁷Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

²⁹Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

³⁰Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Romans 4 KJV

¹What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

²For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

³For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

⁴Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

⁵But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

⁶Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

⁷Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

⁸Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

⁹Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

Philippians 3 KJV

⁹And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Galatians 2 KJV

¹⁶Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

¹⁷But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

¹⁸For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

¹⁹For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

²⁰I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 ²¹I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Psalm 71:16 KJV
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.

2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

James 2:23 KJV
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

The unified merit of Christ alone is so precious.  It is the cornerstone of all that is right and good in this fallen world.  We ought to memorize these Scriptures of Christ’s righteousness alone.  If we have troubled remembering them, we can at least remember where they are located in the Bible.  Our defense is from God and through Christ alone.  If we add something to Christ, we take away from the power of the Gospel.

Chapter 3: The Message and Mission of Jonah

Jonah 1:17 speaks of the Lord’s appointment within His blessed sovereignty concerning His creation, and it explicitly indicates God’s control and mastery of all creation.  Jonah was rescued through the instrument of a fish; freed from the terror of the depths of the sea (Jonah 2:2).  He remained in the belly of Sheol for three days and three nights.  Regarding the historicity of this unique and unusual event of Jonah, we must reflect on the actuality of the inerrancy of Holy Writ to rightly comprehend the reality of it being true.  Indeed, the Book of Jonah, as orthodox theologians maintain, is not only historical but prophetic.  Jonah was a particular character in history.  May we also consider the Lord’s rescue of a drowning man; He chose to save Jonah from death.  Indeed, God saves His people from the second death.  The Lord bestowed His beloved mercy upon a man who sinned and offended Him.  The whale was not to eat Jonah but to shield him.  This action of the God of nature; the very Author of nature, provides for us a remembrance of divine mercy; indeed, to come back and repent.  God orders what happens and what doesn’t happen in time for the benefit of His beloved elect and for His precious and blessed glory of Himself alone.

Jesus Himself spoke of Jonah’s story in the divine Scriptures (Matt. 12:38-41; Luke 11:29-32), thus indicating the narrative as actual history.  Contrary to understanding, the Book of Jonah is hardly a parable.  The immaculate Incarnate Savior comprehended the story of Jonah as a narrative grounded in historical actuality.  The fundamental denial of the Book of Jonah is presumptuous reasoning concerning God’s sovereignty in creation and in time.  God assuredly has the ability to divinely intervene.  The communication of Jesus in the New Testament regarding the story of Jonah was to speak God’s truth.  The Book of Jonah was spoken of by Jesus Himself to illustrate divine truths concerning His blessed message and mission.  Jesus Himself spoke of the sign of Jonah.  This sign was directed to the three days and three nights and the efficient proclamation of God’s message.  Concerning the three days and three nights of Jonah’s experience, is meant to be, a certain type of the Lord Jesus Christ, sufficiently foreshadowing His actual death, burial and bodily resurrection.  Thus, the sinless Christ proclaimed, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”  (Matt. 12:40 NKJV).  The burial of Jonah was a figure of the burial of Jesus Christ. As God appointed the grave of Jonah, so He appointed His Beloved Son.  The grave of Jonah was certainly new; so too, the tomb of the Father’s Son.  As Jonah brought repentance to Nineveh, Christ brought repentance to the world of Jewish and Gentile people.  Unlike Jonah, Christ directed helpless sinners to Himself as the only way to His Blessed Father.

Chapter 7: Disproving Atheism by the Prayers of Jesus: The Sinless God-man Worshiped God the Father

The very essence of prayer to God flies in the face of atheism. The nature of prayer is a call to God in Jesus Christ powered by the Holy Ghost. Within this chapter, we shall see the essence of prayer form the Lord Jesus Christ. We shall see the prayers of Jesus demonstrate God’s existence, God’s teaching, God’s communion with His Son, and God’s omnipresence and supports the explicit possibility and actuality of prayers of God’s people to the Triune God.  This is merely a brief presentation of the true reality of Christian prayer supported and confirmed by the King of Israel. 

The question arises, why did Jesus of Nazareth pray to the Father, if such a person did not exist? Moreover, why did Jesus of Nazareth communicate to the Father in prayer, if such a person, could not hear, comprehend and understand the mere prayer intentions of Jesus? If there is no justification for the prayers of Jesus, why would Jesus engage in them? Why would a man who claimed to be God Incarnate, and taught in accordance with God’s ancient commandments, and manifested perfect humility, lie or erroneously give the outward impression of praying to God, when such an activity of submission is genuinely bogus according to atheism? Is atheism right to claim, that Jesus did not communicate to a supernatural person? That the Gospel accounts in general are merely religious myth?

The Christian Scriptures are a collection of books; therefore it is not circular reasoning. Within the totality of the Christian Scriptures is an inspired special revelation from God through the work of holy man by the Spirit of truth: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV). Jesus Himself declared that His word is truth (John 17:17).  The burden of proof is upon the skeptic who denies the trustworthiness of Holy Writ.

                Atheists claim that the supernatural prayer or uncanny accounts in the New Testament Gospels are not genuinely true. If Jesus is not who He claimed to be, then the atheist has right to substantiate and cast serious reservation on the statements of Jesus opposed to His claims abut God’s existence, claims about Himself, prayer and other profound values of Christianity. However, if the claims of Jesus are true, the atheist ought to acknowledge the Truth. The atheist argues that morality can be known apart from God’s existence. If the atheist rejects Jesus, the chapter attempts to demonstrate that the atheist has betrayed his own principles, and thus shown by the face of reality itself to be inconsistent.  The prayers of Jesus speak to the reality of existence about prayer itself.  The atheist is inconsistent because he denies the reality of the Incarnate King.  The reality of Jesus is a plain and real reality that the atheist has no business rejecting because it is true based upon inerrant Scripture.

The prayers of Jesus reflect profound philosophical, theological and historical truth. Before we investigate the significance of the prayers of Jesus, we must turn to the examination of the identity of Jesus. For the identity of Jesus will demonstrate the validity, trustworthiness, legitimacy of His claims. What Jesus says is true because He is God incarnate.  The Holy Scriptures records significant essentials about the identity of Jesus. Christianity acknowledges the Hypostatic Union of Jesus refers to his two natures: human and divine in one person, Jesus Christ. In Christian thought Jesus is fully man and fully God. Jesus is not partially man and partially God. Jesus is entirely man and entirely God. Jesus is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  The theology of the Trinity is that, God is one in essence, three in person. The three persons are co-equal, co-existing, co-eternal. The three persons existed as Jehovah God. Jehovah refers to the being of God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In regards to Jesus, he always existed as God. There never was a time when Jesus was not God. Jesus entered into humanity through the Incarnation (John 1:1-4; 1:14 cf. Phil. 2:5-8). Jesus pre-existed before His birth in Bethlehem (Ps. 2:7; cf. John 8:58). Jesus took upon Himself the nature of man (Phil. 2:5-11). Jesus Himself acknowledged His own divinity (John 20:28-29). The apostles taught the divinity of Jesus (Col. 1:15-19 cf. Heb. 1:8). The testimony of Jesus about Himself is sinlessness. Jesus said: “Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?” (John 8:46 NASB). If Jesus is sinless, He is free from error, and if He is free from error, what He speaks is absolute truth.  His apostles proclaimed the sinlessness of Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21 cf. 1 Peter 1:19). Therefore if Jesus is fully God and fully man apart from sin or error; He must be acknowledged as possessing (divine truth without error) as totality of Holy Scripture possesses of which atheism objects.

                God the Son existed before man existed.   It is hardly inconsistent for the God-man to be submissive to the God the Father; for the God-man humbly submitted to His Beloved Father.  Within the family, a wife is submissive to her husband, yet both are equal in value.  So too, then, the God-man is co-equal with the Father yet submissive.  The Holy Spirit is submissive to the Father and the Son yet co-equal with the Father and the Son.  What a radical Christian thought it is for the God-man to converse to the Father!  If you wish to understand prayer, look to Jesus.  If you wish to comprehend how to pray, look to Jesus.  Why, oh man, do you deny His example?  Perhaps you call Him a good teacher, yet you do not follow His good ways.  How inconsistent!  Your ways of rejecting the gospel light is a sure indication of divine judgment.  This does not demonstrate three “Gods,” but One God Who is Eternally Self-Existent.  Jesus said “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30 KJV).  Jesus is of the same substance as God the Father.  He is the God-man who died and who lives forevermore.  God created the “heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). The Incarnate Son of Man demonstrates who he is by His divine words and actions. Jesus believed He was God in human flesh. Jesus believed in the existence of the Father (John 17) and in the Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2). Jesus spoke of God on many occasions. He was called Immanuel which means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23; cf. Is. 7:14). Jesus makes a plethora of statements of the pronouncement of God’s existence. In Mark 12, Jesus rebukes the religious leaders because of their bogus tradition, which was alien to Him, His teachings, the written Word of God. In accordance with what Jesus said, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mark 12:24 NIV).

                The New Testament exhibits unique circumstances of prayer by Jesus of Nazareth. The Holy Scriptures define prayer in basic terms, as a request and general communication to a heavenly God on behalf of the believing individual. The New Testament provides actual accounts of Jesus’ prayers. The New Testament demonstrates prayer by Jesus in connection with the existence of God. Jesus in the New Testament Gospels provides confident models of prayer of the existence of God and the legitimacy of prayer. The prayers of Jesus demonstrate that, communication between God and man is a genuine actuality. The prayers of Jesus displays further that, prayer is an opportunity to establish, possess, maintain a personal relationship with a transcendent God.

                The consistent demonstration of Jesus in the action of prayer exhibits Jesus’ commitment to a work of obedience. The nature of the prayers of Jesus are thanksgiving (John 11:41-42), adoration (Matt. 11:25-27) and intercession (John 17:1-26). If Jesus is God incarnate as the Gospels reveal, is it not true that the Father is real?  There is perfect unity between the Father and the Son.  Jesus prayed in the act of intercession for His people. The prayers of Jesus are always answered in accord with the will of the Father; for He always does what is pleasing to the Father (John 8:29).  Jesus is the Impeccable One; He did not have the capacity to sin or error.  His prayers represent perfect efficacious petitions.  Jesus committed Himself to the Father in righteousness, trustworthiness, high esteem. Jesus gave adoration to the Father. Jesus worships God as He Himself appropriately commands (John 4:23). Jesus also prayed at His baptism by John the Baptist (Luke 3:21- 22), previous to choosing the apostles (Luke 6:12-16), at Jesus’ transfiguration (Luke 9:28-29) and within Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36-42). Jesus prayed on a mountain (Matt. 14:23), in secret (Luke 5:16) and taught about prayer (Luke 11:1).  As Jesus prayed to the Father, Christians ought to pray to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

                Jesus believed and acknowledged the existence of God in recorded history in the New Testament. Jesus Himself believed to be God incarnate. His signs attested His divine identity in a sure divine fashion.  Jesus provided credible substantiation of His resurrected self, and spoke about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Jesus by His own testimony is sinless, free form error or mistake. His bodily resurrection guarantees His teaching about Himself and other profound religious matters are necessarily true. Ipso facto! Therefore all the teachings of Jesus about Himself and His overall teaching vitae are propositionally true. If the atheist truly holds to morality or ethics, the atheist cannot deny the truth for the reality of truth itself (i.e., the preponderance of Jesus’ evidence in Holy Scripture) and, ethics by which he claims to philosophically hold. Jesus Christ is Incarnate Truth.  Submit, then, to the King of truth!

                Dear atheist, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a message of good news.  The good news is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  His gospel is about grace, truth, forgiveness.  Repentance is turning from sin to Christ.  Confess your sins to God through Christ crucified:  “…repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15 NASB).  Will you surrender to Christ and give your life to Him?  Will you live a life of faithful obedience to Him?  Will you be zealous in constant and faithful repentance?  Does your life fall under the approval of Christ?  Is your thought life consistent with godliness?  Turn from your life of sin.  I rightly assume you are sinner.  We are moral creatures, and there will be a sure Judgment.  It approaches; the question is, will you be ready?  You stand now in the spiritual clothes of a sinner.  How shall you stand before a sinless, holy, just, righteous God?  Tell me, you suppose your scheme will avail before God if such a judgment is true?  No mere human argument conceived can get you out of His judgment.  You must turn to Christ, and be forgiven.  Do not think “I choose what to do with Christ.”  No, my friend, it is Christ Who will choose what to do with you.  But all of humanity has the sure responsibility to repent: “…repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15 NASB).

Godly Living

God wants every Christian to be a godly saint.  It is true that we are saints and sinners at the same time.  But the world wants us to “fit in” with it.  The Christian faith is often rejected and mocked.  Compromises are made to fit in with the culture.  How can we stop compromising in our secular culture?  We should use the apostle Paul as our example in stopping compromise and living rightly for Jesus Christ.

We should seek to live godly in an ungodly time.  Let no one think we should compromise.  People may try to force us to compromise but we rest in Christ alone and His truth in His written Word.  We should surrender our lives to Him alone because we are called to godly living.  Godly living should be the focus of our lives.  We should live godly lives as God calls us to because He has redeemed and ransomed us from all spiritual darkness and spiritual evil.  We ought to live in victory over sin when we sin by faithful repentance.  God’s ultimate plan for us is to know God and live for Him alone.

We ought to give control to God the Father over our lives and none else.  We no longer have the right to run our own lives but God now has the right to run our lives as we walk and talk with Jesus in the garden of our lives.  We ought to surrender our lives to Him and ask for pardon.  Our whole being should be yielded to God alone.

God calls us living sacrifices.  We ought to allow the Holy Spirit to live through us.  No child of God can be forsaken, condemned or damned.  The Holy Spirit seeks us to empower us so we live godly lives.  We should submit to His guidance and leadership.

We also ought to be holy sacrifices.  We are called to be set apart from the world.  Sanctification is a life-long process.  We ought to live acceptable lives before God alone.  We ought to be different because we are called to holiness.  The world goes on in its tyranny and wickedness but God loves us in and through Christ alone.

We ought to live a godly lifestyle.  This will attract good people to us and repel others who walk disorderly.  We ought to seek out believers if you are an unbeliever and seek the peace and joy of the Lord and learn from the Word of God.  However, no believer is superior to the Lord or equal with Him.  That means we should test all things by the written Word of God. 

If we live godly we will have conflict with the world.  It may cause us sometimes to compromise our convictions.  If we spend time with ungodly friends, we will sometimes fail if do not come to our senses.  The Bible warns us not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  The world cannot offer us a true happiness but only an evil happiness.  There is a happiness that is not a happiness.  We ought to fill our minds with the Bible.  We ought to put into practice what God alone says but the Word is for me and for you to do. 

We ought to practice the presence of the Lord.  We ought to beg Him to make Him more sensitive to His beloved presence.  We ought to ask the Holy Spirit to live for Him.  We ought to ask Him to live against temptation and be more Christlike.   We ought to fully surrender to the Lord.  We ought to give God complete control over our lives.  We ought to stand for the Gospel and live and stand for Jesus.  We ought to allow the Bible to set our example and values. 

Luther's Prayer on being a Pastor

Here is Luther's prayer on being a pastor: "Lord God, You have appointed me as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon You Word. Use me as Your instrument -- but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all."