It is claimed by some that Christ's body was not raised from the dead. Instead, it was merely a "symbol" for the fact that Jesus, after his death, "lived on," by virtue of his influence in the lives of his followers. Recently the TV reported of a group of "religious scholars" gathered together to try to determine if Jesus was truly resurrected. What kind of Bible "scholar" would even question such?
In II Tim. 3:16-17 we read: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God...". If that is not true then no scripture is given by inspiration of God! Either the Bible is true or it is not true. There is no middle ground. Either Christ was raised or he was not raised! If he was not raised then the Bible is false, and "we are of all men most miserable" (I Cor.15:19).
If Christ be not raised, why would the inspired Mark write: "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast out seven devils" (Mark 16:9).
If Christ be not raised, why would the angel say to the women in Mark 16:5-6. "Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him."
If Christ be not raised, why would the apostle Peter say: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus...Whom God hath raised up..." (Acts 2:22,24). "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of Lord Jesus..." (Acts 4:33).
If Christ be not raised, then Jesus could not have told Thomas to "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hand, and thrust it into my side," and Thomas would not have answered: "My Lord and my God" (John 20:19-31).
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the very foundation of the Christian faith. "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are in your sins" (I Cor. 15:17).
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; {2} By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. {3} For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; {4} And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" (1 Cor 15:1-4). The very heart of the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Paul says that gospel is the power "By which ye are also saved."
"Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen" (I Cor 15:12-13).
Paul's reasoning continues in verse 29: "Else why shall they which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they baptized for the dead?" He states in Rom.6:2-6, that those that were "dead to sin...were baptized into his death...that like as Christ was raised up by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life." One is baptized, not for the benefit of this physical body but in order to be prepared for the resurrection when the Lord returns. When one obeys "from the heart that form of doctrine" (the death, burial, and the resurrection of Christ), he will be "then made free from sin" (Rom. 6:17-18). One cannot obey the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, but he obeys "that form," in baptism.
"If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God" (I Pet.4:11).
Don H. Noblin
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