Article #367
by Bill Nugent
Jesus preached a message of peace, love and forgiveness. He told us to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us. Today, in the 21st century, we reflect on that message as a message that brought hope and reconciliation to the world. In the first century however, this message was an abrupt rebuke to a highly patriarchal, self-assertive culture.
When Jesus gave The Sermon on the Mount by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the people there did not expect him to say “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3) and “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” Matt. 5:44). Many, if not most of them expected the Messiah to say “Let’s be strong and be ready to fight the Romans.” “Each of us must take a farm implement and Hammer it into a sword and be ready to ride against the Roman Garrison in Jerusalem!”
Many of the people were disappointed, dismayed or even hostile to Christ’s message of peace and love. Jesus confronted the sins of the people. Deliverance and redemption from sin was far more important than deliverance from the Roman oppressors of Israel.
How and why did the Christian faith spread so far and wide in a hostile world in the early centuries of the church age? I will explain this.
The Contra Mundum Doctrines
There are several doctrines that comprise the Gospel of Jesus Christ that are what we can call “contra mundum” which is Latin for “against the world.”
Here is a list of Christian doctrines that were especially offensive to the extremely violent, elitist culture of the first century:
1) Jesus Taught Us to Love Our Enemies.
(Matthew 5:38-48)
Jesus taught us that we should turn the other cheek and go the extra mile and pray for those who abuse us and persecute us. (However, Jesus did permit Christians to defend themselves under certain circumstances. See Luke 22:36.)
2) You Can’t Earn Heaven By Good Works.
(Matthew 20:28; Romans 9:11,32; First Timothy 3:9; Titus 3:5)
The teaching that a person can’t earn heaven by good works was an offense to people who thought that they were good enough to enter into heaven on their own merits without the benefit of the Savior. The Pharisees were especially offended.
In the Bible in both the Old and New testaments there is a sacrificial system to atone for sins. In the Old Testament animals were sacrificed and burned on altars in order for people to receive atonement and forgiveness of sins. The animals died in place of the people. The animal sacrifices were a prophetic picture of the coming of Christ to die for our sins.
The sacrificial system itself was a signpost that said people’s good works aren’t enough to qualify them for heaven. If people could be good enough on their own, why the requirement to offer sacrifices?
In the New Testament we see the fulfillment and making obsolete the old animal blood sacrificial system. Christ himself suffered and died on the cross and took the penalty of our sins upon Himself and then was raised from the dead conquering death and opening the gates of heaven.
This was an offense to people who thought that they were good enough to just enter into heaven on their own without the benefit of the Savior. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and others for their self-righteousness. The tax collectors and prostitutes knew that they were sinners and they gladly turned to the Savior to receive forgiveness of sins. They received forgiveness of sins on the basis of Christ’s work of atonement, not by relying on their own righteous works.
3) Jesus Christ is the Only Way to Heaven.
(John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
Jesus Christ is the only One who died for our sins. Christ alone took the penalty of our sins upon Himself in His suffering and death. Christ was raised from the dead. Jesus taught us that He is the only way to God. Many people regarded this as closed minded or arrogant.
When you consider that Jesus died for our sins, the claim that Christ is the only way to heaven naturally follows. Buddha did not die for our sins. Brahma did not die for our sins. Vishnu did not die for our sins. Only Christ died for our sins and actually saves us from our sins. The Christian faith is the only faith that has a Savior that actually saves us. All other religious faiths really teach and exhort people to be good enough to earn heaven on their own good works.
4) The Dead Will Be Resurrected, Not Reincarnated.
(John 6:39,40,44; Acts 26:8; Romans 4:17)
The ancient Greeks and even some Jews (the Sadducees) were offended by the concept of the resurrection of the dead. The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is taught in the Old Testament in a few places. In the New Testament, which is a fulfillment of the Old Testament, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is much more prominent.
In Hinduism there is a doctrine of transmigration of the soul in which a person is reincarnated over and over again and tries to live a life of good deeds and self-mortification in order to be perfected by his own good works and eventually enter into some sort of paradise. That of course is very different from the biblical doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The Bible teaches that each person lives one life and then dies and enters into judgment before God in the afterlife. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27).
The ancient Greeks were offended by the concept of the resurrection of the dead. In Acts 17:16-20, Paul, the apostle, spoke about the resurrection of the dead among the Greeks. Paul was was criticized for it by Epicureans and Stoics.
Pagan religions tend to despise the material world. In Hinduism the material world is considered to be an illusion called “Maya.” The ancient Greek Olympian religion which has some points in common Hinduism had a low view of the material world. Among many ancient Greeks, the body was considered to be the prison House of the soul.
In the biblical faith, by contrast, the material world is being redeemed by God. Our bodies are being redeemed. God will make all things new, including the earth and the heavens.
5) Jesus taught Much About Hell.
(Matt. 25:41; Mark 9:48-49; Luke 13:28; Revelation 19:20; 20:10,14-15; 21:18)
Another doctrine that Jesus taught that offended people then and now is the doctrine of hell.
People have a hard time considering that there is judgment in the afterlife and accountability to God. The Bible teaches that there’s punishment for those who sin against God and refuse to accept his offer of forgiveness through Christ who died for our sins.
Many people seem to be content to implicitly believe that murderers and rapists got away with it all. They seem to think that everybody goes to heaven and that everybody’s good enough to go to heaven. Jesus spoke about hell many times. Jesus taught more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. This is probably because Jesus took our hell upon Himself when He suffered the penalty of our sins upon Himself when He died for our sins.
6) The Saddest Words of the Bible.
(Matthew 7:13-14)
One other doctrine that offends people greatly, that Jesus taught, is summed up in the saddest words in the Bible. The saddest words in the Bible are contained in Matthew 7:13-14.
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
These are the saddest words of the Bible because it says that few people will actually receive forgiveness of sins through Christ and enter into heaven in the afterlife.
How Did the Christian Faith Spread so Fast in a Hostile World?
This brings us to the question that many theologians and philosophers have pondered for centuries. This question is how could the Gospel of Christ, the doctrines of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness, have spread so far and wide in the first century and every century since in a patriarchal, war-like, brutal world? Christianity is a religion of peace in a warring world!
Christianity is not a religion of the sword. It was not forced on people like Islam would be centuries later. Missionaries went forth and taught the peaceful, loving Gospel of Christ to people throughout the world.
The Bible gives the answer clearly as to how the Gospel of the teachings and atonement of Christ spread so far and so quickly. It’s because of the signs, wonders and miracles! Jesus worked miracles in front of eyewitnesses. He raised the dead. Christ opened the eyes of the blind, even a man who was born blind (John 9:1-38).
Jesus did greater miracles than the miracles of any pagan faith. The apostles who were sent by Christ also worked signs, wonders and miracles (Acts 2:43; 5:12; Hebrews 2:3-4). Down through the centuries, millions of Christian people have seen miracles which have occurred in answer to Christian prayer.
Jesus sent the disciples out as “sheep among wolves” (Matt. 10:16). They worked miracles and preached the Gospel truth with boldness. The Holy Spirit convicted the world “of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8) and brought sinners to repentance.
The Love of God is a Uniquely Biblical Concept
God loves people. The pagan gods don’t love people. Brahma doesn’t love you. The ancient Greek pagan god, Zeus, doesn’t love you. The spirits of modern Wicca don’t love you. The only God who loves you and redeems you is the biblical Judeo-Christian God!
People are taking a new look at Christianity. They reflect on the fact that Jesus came in fulfillment of over 300 Old Testament prophecies. They have read about the miracles of Christ. They may have experienced or witnessed miracles performed in the name of Christ in answer to Christian prayer.
Jesus Christ died for our sins. Jesus took the penalty of our sins upon Himself when He suffered and died upon the cross. Isaiah the prophet predicted this hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus Christ rose from the dead to offer forgiveness of sins to all who turn to him in repentance. I invite you to turn to Christ today to receive forgiveness of sins.
Steps to salvation:
Jesus said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
1) Believe that God loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2) Believe that Jesus Christ came to die for you, to take upon Himself the penalty of your sins (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18).
3) Repent of your sins and call on Jesus Christ to ask for forgiveness of sins (Romans 10:13).
4) Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth (John 1:12, Acts 2:38).
5) Follow Jesus Christ as Lord and be baptized (John 14:15, Acts 2:38).
Prayer to receive salvation:
To receive the salvation which Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I’m a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask you to forgive me on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart, then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!
Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
(C) 2022 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish for Christian outreach.
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Steps to salvation:
Jesus said “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
Prayer to receive salvation:
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:
“Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner. I repent of my sins and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!