 Bible Basics
Christ's Sacrificial Death
The first gospel sermon
preached by Peter on Pentecost contains the following facts: Jesus Christ
died, was buried, was raised from the dead, ascended into heaven after His
resurrection and was “exalted at the right hand of God” (Acts 2:14-36). In
spite of these facts, throughout the centuries many have claimed that Jesus
did not actually die and certainly was not raised from the dead. For
instance, Basilides, an Egyptian Gnostic of the 2nd century A.D.,
was a philosopher that taught Jesus never actually died. Another Gnostic
movement, known as the Docetists, denied that Jesus ever actually existed in
human form and did not die as a man. But the denial that is, perhaps, most
pertinent today is Islam’s Qur’an which declares that Jesus was “raised up”
unto God, that He was not crucified and He did not die on the cross, but His
death was only “made to appear” as such (Sura IV. 157-158). Why does Islam
repudiate the death of Christ? It comes from an aversion of the biblical
doctrine that Jesus died to atone for our sins (Ali, p.230). The atonement
of the blood of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world is at the very heart
of the gospel, and any religious system that denies this fact is hostile to
the Christian’s faith. In the next few weeks we will explore evidence of the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
-- Clark Dugger
Bible Basics
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