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Nathan Creitz

I help disciples make disciples.

Archives for April 2018

Jesus Was Crucified, Therefore He is God’s Son (Part Two)

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The resurrection of Jesus is hard for many skeptics to accept. Understandably so! After all, salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone. People don’t come back from the dead and you can’t use logic to make someone believe that Jesus did. Believing the claim that Jesus came back from the dead requires faith.

But it is also not unreasonable to believe in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. That’s why, in this short blog series, I’m starting with a hard look at Jesus’ crucifixion to perhaps invite someone to consider the claims of Christianity for the first time. When we consider what the cross tells us about Jesus’ identity, it will be much easier to see why many of us are convinced in our hearts of who Jesus really is.

In the first post, I started with the proposition that Jesus was crucified. Of course, Jesus’ followers believe, but you would have a hard time even finding a modern biblical scholar – even a non-believing skeptical scholar – who would deny that Jesus died on a Roman cross in first century Palestine. If you’re still on the fence, I want to encourage you to go back and read that post and then come back here for part two.

In this post, we will look at the second part of our proposition: “therefore, He is God’s Son.”

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Jesus Was Crucified, Therefore He Is God’s Son

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Proposition: Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross in the first century AD, therefore He is the Son of God.

The above proposition isn’t as universally accepted as “I think, therefore I am” but I believe anyone who considers the event of Jesus’ death will have to admit that the proposition is entirely reasonable.

Christians accept the proposition above by faith. We know Jesus went to the cross because He IS the Son of God.

But skeptics reject the proposition because it appears to be a “leap of logic,” a logical fallacy that doesn’t add up.

I admittedly accept the proposition on the grounds of faith, but I believe it is also reasonable to conclude that if Jesus died in the way He is said to have died, then it is also reasonable to conclude that He is who He claimed to be: the Son of God.

Let’s be clear: This is not an argument for the resurrection of Jesus or whether or not He is alive today. However, when we examine the death of Jesus, I think some skeptics will concede that Jesus could be the Son of God. Even the Roman centurion who was guarding Jesus on the cross saw all that happened to Him and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God”.

The proposition, that Jesus’ crucifixion identifies Him as the Son of God, can only be accepted by faith. Christians believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone. So, rather than use reason to try and prove what can only be accepted by faith, let’s revise the proposition so that perhaps reason can open the door for Jesus’ claims to be considered.

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