The Resurrection¶
We've crafted an unofficial, source-cited, non-commercial index of Dr. R.C. Sproul's publicly available teachings, weighted by how many independent sources corroborate each point. The content is authored by Dr. R.C. Sproul and published by Ligonier Ministries (a few items are third-party YouTube re-uploads); see the Methodology & Rights page for more info. Quotations are brief, linked to their source, and reproduced for study under Ligonier's Copyright Policy (ligonier.org/copyright-policy). This site is humbly offered for personal use only, out of love and respect, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ligonier Ministries or St. Andrew's Chapel.
320 positions — 21 corroborated across multiple sources.
Well-attested positions¶
Independently stated in two or more of his messages.
Paul states that Christ's resurrection is imputed to us who believe, noting that Christ was raised for our justification.
Paul introduces the idea of the resurrection at the end of the fourth chapter, saying, “It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead”—there is the introduction of this matter of the resurrection—“who was delivered up because of our offenses [as our substitute], and was raised because of our justification.”
Corroborated across 7 sources: Resurrection and Justification (Ligonier article) · What Happened on Saturday? (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 4:23 · Christ and David (Ligonier) · Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 1) (Ligonier) · Faith Triumphs in Trouble (Part 1) (Ligonier) · Introduction (Ligonier)
The resurrection of Christ is a foundational tenet of the Christian faith, and its denial renders hope and faith meaningless.
The resurrection of Christ is at the heart and soul of the Christian faith, as the Apostle tells the Corinthian church: “If Christ is not raised, our hope and our faith are in vain, we’re false witnesses of God, and we, of all people in the world, are the most to be pitied.”
Corroborated across 4 sources: The Certainty of the Resurrection (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 0:27 · R.C. Sproul @ 0:08 · Peter's Sermon - Part 2 (Ligonier)
Christ's death and resurrection provide forgiveness and freedom from condemnation for those who are in Him.
He died our death so that we may live. He suffered the penalty we should have suffered. He took on our sins so that we might know forgiveness. He gave His life so that we might be accepted before God.
Corroborated across 3 sources: The Quest for Glory (Ligonier article) · Faith Triumphs in Trouble (Part 1) (Ligonier) · God's Everlasting Love (Ligonier)
Baptism signifies participation in Christ's death and resurrection.
You are baptized, and you are given the sign not only of all the promises of salvation that come with the sign of baptism, but of your death in Christ, and a sign of your resurrection as well.
Corroborated across 3 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 3:26 · The Cost of Discipleship (Ligonier) · The Widow's Son (Ligonier)
The apostles' testimony about Jesus' life and resurrection was based on direct, firsthand experience.
We declare unto you not cleverly devised myths but that which we’ve seen with our eyes and heard with our ears. This is not a conjured-up philosophy of life. This is not a brilliant idea someone had. No, we are declaring to you what we saw. We were there. We saw Him. We heard Him.
Corroborated across 3 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 1:32 · Cornelius' Household (Ligonier) · The Resurrection (Ligonier)
Paul teaches that believers will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible at the last trumpet, resulting in the resurrection of the dead.
Now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 3:32 · R.C. Sproul @ 3:41
It is very difficult to spiritualize the bodily resurrection of the saints without denying its physical nature.
It's very difficult to spiritualize the bodily resurrection of the saints without at the same time actually denying the bodily resurrection of the saints, because if it's only a spiritual resurrection then manifestly it's not a physical resurrection.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 11:38 · R.C. Sproul @ 13:18
The dead in Christ will rise first, and those who are alive at Christ's coming will also be taken up to join the Lord.
The dead in Christ will rise first." And they will be taken up into the air, and we who are alive at His coming will also be taken up to join the Lord, or "to meet the Lord" as the language of the Apostle Paul says, "in the air," as He descends with the trumpet sound and that sort of thing.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 17:35 · R.C. Sproul @ 16:50
The miracle of the Eucharist is twofold: the substance changes to Christ's body and blood, but the physical characteristics (accidens) of bread and wine remain.
While the substance of the bread and wine are changed to the body and blood of Christ, nevertheless, the accidens of bread and wine remain the same. That is, before the miracle occurs, the bread and wine look like bread and wine, taste like bread and wine, and feel like bread and wine. After the miracle of their transformation occurs, they still look like bread and wine, feel like bread and wine, and taste like bread and wine.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Battle for the Table (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 10:55
Christ's work is seen as the conquest over death, which is the last enemy.
When the contrast between the first Adam and the last Adam, Jesus Christ, is worked out in the New Testament, we see in the work of Christ the conquest over the last enemy — death.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Death Does Not Have the Last Word (Ligonier article) · The Last Enemy (Ligonier article)
The resurrection is essential for both the vindication of Christ and the justification of believers.
But the New Testament declares that His resurrection is as the firstborn of those who, you know, firstfruits of those who have died. So that we are promised that we will participate in the resurrection of Jesus, and not only that, the resurrection is God's sign and indication that He has received the atonement of Christ and He is raised as the Bible says for our justification.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Certainty of the Resurrection (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 23:05
The resurrection of Jesus was unique because it was tied to His sinlessness, which was necessary to prevent God from violating His own righteous character.
The uniqueness of Jesus’ resurrection was tied to another aspect of His uniqueness. It was tied to His sinlessness, a dimension of the person of Jesus that would be even more unique if uniqueness were capable of degrees. For God to allow Jesus to be bound forever by death would have been for God to violate His own righteous character.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Certainty of the Resurrection (Ligonier article) · Perfectly Human (Ligonier article)
The resurrection of Christ is linked to our justification, as Paul states that Christ was raised because of our justification.
Paul introduces the idea of the resurrection at the end of the fourth chapter, saying, “It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead”—there is the introduction of this matter of the resurrection—“who was delivered up because of our offenses [as our substitute], and was raised because of our justification.”
Corroborated across 2 sources: Resurrection and Justification (Ligonier article) · Faith Triumphs in Trouble (Part 1) (Ligonier)
Christianity teaches the redemption of the body, contrasting with the Greek view of redemption as liberation from the body.
This is what differentiates the Jew and the Christian from the Greek; the Greeks saw redemption as being redemption from the body. In the old platonic categories where the body was what’s wrong with man. The body is the prison house of the soul, and death then liberates the soul or the spirit of man from that prison house. But the Christian doesn’t believe in redemption from the body, but redemption of the body.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Origin of the Soul (Ligonier article) · R.C. Sproul @ 20:46
The resurrection proves that death could not hold Jesus, making it impossible not to believe in it.
People in the secular world today say about the resurrection: “How can you believe in that? That’s impossible.” But I say: “How can you not believe it? It’s impossible that death could hold Him.”
Corroborated across 2 sources: What Happened on Saturday? (Ligonier article) · Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The phrase 'passing away' should be interpreted as a period of time, not necessarily referring to the physical death of the people alive at the time.
Now, again this business of passing away we're assuming that it refers to the death of those who are alive.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 9:17 · R.C. Sproul @ 5:43
During the thousand-year period, those who are faithful will live and reign with Christ, while the rest of the dead will not be resurrected.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 3:23 · R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
Being in Christ means that God resurrects the individual, bringing them to life through the power of His creation.
What God did for you, if you're in Christ, is that after you went down the third time and you were stone cold dead at the bottom of the sea, God the Holy Spirit dove into the water, picked you up out of the water, took you up on the shore and resuscitated you and brought you alive again through the power of his creation.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 42:07 · Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Human life originates not spontaneously or by chance, but through the breath of God.
I am alive because of the breath of God. You are alive because of the breath of God. The humanist never gets us out of the dirt. He says we emerge spontaneously, by chance, from the dirt, and from that dirt we come and to that dirt we return.
Corroborated across 2 sources: R.C. Sproul @ 22:46 · The Prologue of John's Gospel (Ligonier)
Jesus pointed to the resurrection of the Son of Man from the dead as the ultimate and most significant sign.
He was pointing to the ultimate sign, the supreme sign, the most significant of the works God did in Christ—raising Him from the dead.
Corroborated across 2 sources: Cleansing of the Temple (Ligonier) · Seeking a Sign (Ligonier)
Jesus' resurrection was a supernatural event involving a cosmic burst of creative power that restored his life.
Early this morning, a cosmic burst of creative power supernaturally came upon Me and returned My soul to My body. My brain waves began to operate anew. My heart began to beat and pulsate with blood driving through My veins and arteries and I opened My eyes.
Corroborated across 2 sources: The Resurrection (Ligonier) · The Road to Emmaus (Ligonier)
Further positions¶
Drawn from a single high-trust (official transcript) source.
Islam does not recognize the Trinity, specifically lacking the second person who becomes incarnate and the third person who applies redemption.
Here is a crucial difference between the Muslim understanding of God and the Christian concept: The term “god” does not refer to the same being in each religion because Allah is clearly not triune. For Islam, there is no second person of the Trinity who becomes incarnate and effects our salvation and no third person of the Trinity who applies that redemption to us.
Source: A Rose Is a Rose (Ligonier article)
Throwing a young man into a pit without water in the hot desert environment was a guaranteed death sentence.
To throw a young man into a pit that is exposed to the beating sun and not provide him with any water is to guarantee his certain death.
Source: A Sin Concealed (Ligonier article)
Sophism is a school of thought that concluded ultimate truth is unknowable, leading them to focus on practical living rather than the search for truth.
The conclusion that this new school came to was not only that we cannot know ultimate truth, but that even to search for ultimate truth is a fool’s errand. The only knowledge we can possess is the knowledge of what we can see, taste, smell, touch, and hear.
Source: Against the Sophists (Ligonier article)
Modern scholars believe the Athanasian Creed was written after Athanasius's death.
Though the name “Athanasius” was given to the creed over the centuries, modern scholars are convinced that the Athanasian Creed was written after the death of Athanasius.
Source: The Athanasian Creed (Ligonier article)
A person's ability to answer 'Yes' to the question of whether they have an affection for Christ indicates that the Holy Spirit has performed the work of regeneration in their soul.
So if a person can answer “Yes” when I ask whether he has an affection for Christ, even though he may not love Jesus as much as he ought to (I.e., perfectly), that assures me the Spirit has done this transforming work in his soul.
Source: Can I Be Sure I’m Saved? (Ligonier article)
Before regeneration, humans are incapable of having genuine affection for God because they are in the flesh, which cannot love the things of God.
Before regeneration, we are cold, hostile, or indifferent (which is the worst kind of hostility) to the things of God, having no honest affection for Him, because we are in the flesh, and the flesh does not love the things of God.
Source: Can I Be Sure I’m Saved? (Ligonier article)
Humanity requires a covering because, in a fallen state, we are naked before God.
It’s a covering because in our fallen condition we are naked before God. We’re unclothed, and we require a covering that is acceptable to Him.
Source: A Consuming Fire (Ligonier article)
Scripture does not explicitly teach that the original creation was marred and then reconstituted.
However, Scripture nowhere explicitly teaches that the original creation was marred and then after many years reconstituted.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
Macroevolution is incompatible with the Bible and purposive creation because it suggests life developed from a single cell through chance collision.
The day-age theory tends to accommodate a theory of biological macroevolution that is incompatible with the Bible and purposive creation—the creation of all living things by the immediate agency of the sovereign God.
Source: The Creation Doctrine in Reformed Theology (Ligonier article)
While Adam and Eve did not experience physical death immediately after sinning, they did experience spiritual death.
But the record goes on to say that the day Adam and Eve disobeyed their Maker, they did not experience the fullness of what the Greek translation of the Old Testament calls thanatos —physical death. Because of this, some have argued that the death that God promised was not physical death but rather spiritual death. To be sure, spiritual death set in the very day that Adam and Eve sinned.
Source: Death Does Not Have the Last Word (Ligonier article)
Every human being born into the world is spiritually dead upon arrival, living under the death sentence imposed by sin.
Since the fall, every human being born into this world as a natural son of Adam arrives “DOA.” He is “dead on arrival” in a spiritual sense when he is born. But this spiritual death is not the same as biological death, though biological death is also the inevitable destiny of every sinning person.
Source: Death Does Not Have the Last Word (Ligonier article)
For believers, death is not a curse but a gain, representing a continuation of personal consciousness and an awakening to glory.
Yet for those who put their trust in Christ, that curse is removed, so that now, for all who are in Christ, death is no longer a curse. Its sting has been removed. The mockery of the grave has been silenced and now death is merely a transition from this life to the next.
Source: Death Does Not Have the Last Word (Ligonier article)
The value of life increases when one confronts death.
The value of life grows in magnitude when we stare death in the eye.
Source: Death Is No Stranger (Ligonier article)
True revivals are initiated by the sovereign work of God through the Holy Spirit, not by human planning or programs.
True revivals are provoked by the sovereign work of God through the stirring of His Holy Spirit in the hearts of people. They happen when the Holy Spirit comes into the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37) and exerts His power to bring new life, a revivification of the spiritual life of the people of God.
Source: Fueling Reformation (Ligonier article)
A person cannot be a Christian in the biblical sense without affirming the resurrection.
One can certainly be civilized without affirming the resurrection, but one cannot then be a Christian in the biblical sense. The person who claims to be a Christian while denying the resurrection speaks with a forked tongue, and we should turn away from such.
Source: The Certainty of the Resurrection (Ligonier article)
The claim for the resurrection is based on empirical historical data, not on logical deduction or speculation.
The claim is based not on speculation but on empirical data. They saw the risen Christ. They spoke with Him and ate with Him.
Source: The Certainty of the Resurrection (Ligonier article)
A Christian is defined not by skepticism, but by having a heart set aflame with certainty regarding the resurrection.
A Christian is not a skeptic. A Christian is a person with a burning heart, a heart set aflame with certainty of the resurrection.
Source: The Certainty of the Resurrection (Ligonier article)
Feelings are not the same thing as thinking, even though thoughts can evoke feelings.
But feelings are not the same thing as thinking. The sensuous has become so exaggerated in our culture that we talk about “feeling” ideas instead of “thinking” ideas, about “feeling” thoughts instead of “thinking” thoughts.
Source: What Is Hedonism? (Ligonier article)
The life of Christ progresses from humiliation in His birth to His exaltation in His resurrection, ascension, and return.
The progress, as the New Testament traces it, is one that moves from humiliation in the birth of Jesus to His exaltation in His resurrection, ascension, and return.
Source: Humiliation to Exaltation (Ligonier article)
Christian belief affirms the continued conscious existence of the soul after the body dissolves, which is the true essence of life after death.
The Christian affirmation of life after death asserts the notion of the continued conscious existence of the soul after the dissolution of the body (as articulated by Charles Hodge). This continuity of personal, conscious existence is the very essence of life after death.
Source: "I Believe in the Life Everlasting" (Ligonier article)
Reincarnation is flawed because it assumes ongoing life without the necessary continuity of consciousness.
The folly of reincarnation is that it assumes on-going life without continuity of consciousness. It is the eternal recurrence of the amnesiac.
Source: "I Believe in the Life Everlasting" (Ligonier article)
True life after death requires the continued conscious existence of the soul, not an impersonal or unconscious continuation.
If we “continue” in an impersonal manner (lost in the oneness of the “all” of the universe), or in an unconscious state (soul-sleep), then our “continuation” is not what the Scriptures teach about life after death.
Source: "I Believe in the Life Everlasting" (Ligonier article)
The state following death is an intermediate state for bodiless souls, which is far better than the present life and precedes the final resurrection.
Thus Paul avers that the state that follows death is “far better” than that which we presently enjoy. This comparative state is called “the intermediate state.”
Source: "I Believe in the Life Everlasting" (Ligonier article)
Personal memories will continue and be enhanced after death, allowing individuals to cherish past relationships forever.
My memories of “Beechie” and my childhood friends will not cease at death. Indeed they will be enhanced as the muddled memories of this present body will give way to unconfused recollections of the past that I will be able to cherish forever.
Source: "I Believe in the Life Everlasting" (Ligonier article)
The concept of anything creating itself is logically absurd because it would require the entity to exist before it existed.
To assert the self-creation of anything is to leap into the abyss of the absurd because for something to create itself, it would have had to exist before it existed to do the job.
Source: In the Beginning God (Ligonier article)
True understanding of God's plan requires considering the entire scope of Christ's life, death, and subsequent work.
Only when we look at the whole picture, taking into account the cross, the resurrection, the ascension, and the outpouring of the Spirit at the Day of Pentecost, do we begin to see the depths and the riches of all that God was communicating through the announcement of His messenger, who said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Source: Jesus Christ: The Lamb of God (Ligonier article)
The uniqueness of Christ should be remembered when celebrating his death and resurrection.
As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, it is good for us to remember the uniqueness of Christ.
Source: Jesus: The Only Savior (Ligonier article)
Outward conformity to God's laws does not prove that a person is a regenerate Christian.
We can’t go out to a highway and determine who is a Christian and who isn’t by noting who’s keeping the speed limit.
Source: Love Beyond Performance: Why Virtue Without Love Is Worthless (Ligonier article)
The Christian life involves seeking to love God more with our minds, which is achieved through the renewal of the mind.
The whole pilgrimage of the Christian life in our sanctification, then, is one in which we are seeking to love God more and more with our minds. Jonathan Edwards once said that seeking after God is the main business of the Christian. And how do we seek after God? By pursuing the renewal of our minds.
Source: Loving God with Our Minds (Ligonier article)
The most important question regarding Christ's death is not the historical facts, but its ultimate meaning.
However, once we agree on the facts (or agree to disagree), we are still left with the most important question we can ask: What is the meaning of the event?
Source: Obscene, yet Beautiful (Ligonier article)
Sartre's pessimistic conclusion is that human life is meaningless because our deepest concerns are futile and empty of significance.
Sartre's grim conclusion is that all of our caring, our concerns, our deepest aspirations are empty of significance. Human life is meaningless.
Source: Pessimistic Existentialism (Ligonier article)
Existentialist thought, particularly Zen Buddhism, leads to the conclusion that life is irrational and cannot be found in orderly systems.
Yet this awareness yields the conclusion that life is irrational. It cannot be found in orderly systems.
Source: Pessimistic Existentialism (Ligonier article)
Modern art, such as cubism, attempts to flatten and compress life so that all of life can be understood on a horizontal level.
Context: Quoting an artist's response.
The artist would respond by saying, "That's because I'm compressing life and flattening it so that we understand that all of life must be understood on the horizontal level."
Source: Pessimistic Existentialism (Ligonier article)
Pessimistic existentialism views life as hopeless and meaningless, leading the individual to exercise absolute freedom.
"Authentic man" looks into the pit of despair, into the black void of nothingness, and sees that life is hopeless and meaningless. Nevertheless, he chooses not to succumb to it or surrender to it by seeking the safety of the group and its conventional values and institutions.
Source: Pessimistic Existentialism (Ligonier article)
The ultimate and true home for Christians is the city of heaven, not the United States or any earthly location.
At the end of the day, the United States is but an inn, a place to rest on the way to my true home—the city of heaven.
Source: A Pilgrim People (Ligonier article)
If truth is destroyed by relativism, then values and purposes lose their meaning, making life impossible.
Once you realize that you have destroyed truth, even truths are not true, values have no value, purposes have no purpose, and life becomes impossible.
Source: Pluralism and Relativism (Ligonier article)
Abortion is considered murder and is not a private choice for a Christian who understands the sanctity of life.
Abortion is not a matter of private choice--not for the Christian who understands anything about the sanctity of life. The first century church made it very clear in their day, explicitly stating that abortion is murder.
Source: Principles for Voting (Ligonier article)
The Christian life involves embracing suffering, which is temporary and ultimately overcome by Christ's resurrection.
The Christian life is a life that embraces the sacrament of baptism, which signifies, among other things, that we are baptized into the death, humiliation, and the afflictions of Jesus Christ. We are warned in Scripture that if we are not willing to embrace those afflictions, then we will not participate in Jesus’ exaltation.
Source: The Problem of Pain (Ligonier article)
Regeneration is merely the start of a process, and the capacity for evil remains significant even in a regenerated person.
Regeneration is just the beginning. But it’s not only just the beginning—it is the beginning.
Source: Regeneration: The Most Significant Beginning (Ligonier article)
The resurrection of Christ was necessary because without it, His redeeming work would not have been acceptable to God.
Had Christ not been raised, we would have a mediator whose redeeming work in our behalf was not acceptable to God.
Source: Resurrection and Justification (Ligonier article)
Human life has meaning because it has an origin and a destiny that are grounded in God, not merely limited to the present moment.
Our Christian assertion is that there is more to our lives than “now.” If there is not, then even the “now” is meaningless. But we say now counts . Why? Now counts because we are creatures who have an origin and a destiny that is rooted and grounded in God.
Source: Right Now Counts Forever (Ligonier article)
Death is a vocation from God, and God retains ultimate authority over it, contradicting views that attribute death solely to Satan.
But we all share in the vocation of death. Every one of us is called to die. That vocation is as much a calling from God as is a “call” to the ministry of Christ.
Source: Satan Does Not Hold the Keys of Death (Ligonier article)
Contemporary Christian art is often superficial, lacking depth, and is sometimes boring.
What I find in so-called Christian art today is that which is not only superficial and cheap--but what is also boring.
Source: The Christian and Art (Ligonier article)
Satan's authority over death is merely delegated and is ultimately taken away by Christ.
The connection between Satan and death is important: Here it is declared that the devil had the power of death until that power was wrenched away from him by Christ.
Source: The Last Enemy (Ligonier article)
Death is a friend to believers because it leads them into the presence of Christ, but it remains an enemy due to the suffering associated with the process of dying.
For believers, death is a friend insofar as it ushers us into the immediate presence of Christ. But insofar as it is still coupled with much suffering, it remains the last enemy that must be totally vanquished.
Source: The Last Enemy (Ligonier article)
The true problem Christians face is not death itself, but the process of dying.
However, our problem with death is not with death itself but with the process that leads up to it.
Source: The Last Enemy (Ligonier article)
Paul compares life and death not as a contrast between good and bad, but as a comparison between the good and something far better.
It is not a contrast between the good and the bad. Neither is it a comparison between the good and the better. It is a comparison between the good and the far better .
Source: The Last Enemy (Ligonier article)
Nothing, not even death, has the power to separate a person from the love of Christ.
In this same passage, Paul answers his own question about what shall separate us from the love of Christ: nothing can do that, not even death.
Source: The Last Enemy (Ligonier article)
In the new heaven and new earth, the light will come from the Lamb's radiance and glory, not from celestial bodies.
There will be no sun, moon, or stars, or any artificial light, because the Lamb’s radiance and refulgent glory will supply the light for heaven.
Source: The Midnight Trial (Ligonier article)
The body cannot live without the soul, but the soul can live without the body.
The soul of man can live without the body; the body cannot live without the soul.
Source: The Origin of the Soul (Ligonier article)
Rhetoric, when divorced from truth, emphasizes political persuasion rather than discerning truth through argument and debate.
Rather, rhetoric stressed the importance of political persuasion. Whatever is persuasive is true.
Source: The Politization of Truth: The New Sophism (Ligonier article)
While everyone longs for reunion with loved ones, the ultimate hope for Christians is to see the resurrected Christ in His Father’s house.
Every single person, Christian or not, longs to be reunited with loved ones who have died, but the Christian longs to be with Christ.
Source: Thinking of Home (Ligonier article)
The speaker recounts the physical experience of the train crash, detailing the suddenness and force of the impact.
At three in the morning, I awoke flying through the air, a human projectile experiencing the law of inertia. The train had crashed while it was going seventy miles an hour. Now, when you are in a vehicle that is going seventy miles an hour, and it stops, you continue to go seventy miles an hour.
Source: Never Safe, Always Safe: The Paradox of God’s Providence (Ligonier article)
God's power is necessary for both the initial creation of life and the subsequent rebirth of the soul.
When God created you, He brought you into existence. You didn't help Him. It was His sovereign work that brought you to life biologically. Likewise, it is His work, and His alone, that brings you into the state of rebirth and of renewed creation.
Source: TULIP and Reformed Theology: Irresistible Grace (Ligonier article)
Since humans are dead in sin and captive to their flesh, salvation must be entirely a work done by God for and in us.
If, indeed, we are dead in sins and trespasses, if, indeed, our wills are held captive by the lusts of our flesh and we need to be liberated from our flesh in order to be saved, then in the final analysis, salvation must be something that God does in us and for us, not something that we in any way do for ourselves.
Source: TULIP and Reformed Theology: Irresistible Grace (Ligonier article)
To be conformed to the image of Christ requires renovation from the inside, which necessitates being regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
So what is required for us to be conformed to the image of Christ is not simply some small adjustments or behavioral modifications, but nothing less than renovation from the inside. We need to be regenerated, to be made over again, to be quickened by the power of the Spirit.
Source: TULIP and Reformed Theology: Total Depravity (Ligonier article)
The process of renewing the mind is a lifelong endeavor that can be aided by focusing on passages of Scripture that are difficult or disliked.
The renewing of our minds is a lifelong process. We can accelerate this process by focusing on those passages of Scripture that we don't like.
Source: The Value of Scripture (Ligonier article)
The propositions found in Scripture are essential and necessary for defining the Christian life.
Thus, to say Christianity is not about propositions but about relationships is to establish an extremely dangerous false dichotomy. It is to insult the Spirit of truth, whose propositions they are. These propositions should be our very meat and drink, for they define the Christian life.
Source: We Cannot Love God if We Do Not Love His Word (Ligonier article)
The argument that the willingness of New Testament writers to die for their beliefs proves the resurrection is flawed and insufficient.
He follows an age-old argument that the truth claims of the writers of the New Testament concerning the resurrection of Jesus are verified by their willingness to die for the truths that they espoused. And the question is asked: Which is easier to believe—that these men created a false myth and then died for that falsehood or that Jesus really returned from the grave? On the surface, the answer to that question is easy.
Source: The Weight of Glory (Ligonier article)
Abortion does not promote the life of the unborn child, regardless of what other benefits it might claim to provide.
Although some people will argue that abortion promotes the quality of life of those who do not desire offspring, it does not promote the life of the subject in question, the developing unborn child.
Source: What Do We Mean When We Speak of the “Sanctity of Human Life”? (Ligonier article)
Ex nihilo means that there was no substantive or physical reality, but God's spiritual reality always existed.
Ex nihilo means that there was no substantive or physical reality, but obviously there was always God Himself and His spiritual reality.
Source: What Does “Ex Nihilo” Mean? (Ligonier article)
A clean heart can only be created by God through divine re-creation, which involves blotting out sin.
The only way to have a clean heart is by a work of divine re-creation. I am incapable of creating that in myself. Only God can create a clean heart, and He does create clean hearts by blotting out our sin.
Source: What Does Repentance Look Like? (Ligonier article)
Jesus' body was carefully laid in the tomb after being wrapped in linen and anointed with spices.
Jesus’ body was carefully laid in this grave after being wrapped in strips of linen and anointed with a hundred pounds of spices.
Source: What Happened on Saturday? (Ligonier article)
The women discovered the tomb empty, finding angels inside and the stone rolled away.
When they looked into the tomb, Jesus was gone. But there were angels inside the tomb, one at the head where the body had lain, and the other one at the foot.
Source: What Happened on Saturday? (Ligonier article)
Angels were present in the tomb at the time of the resurrection, suggesting they were there before the women arrived.
But there were angels inside the tomb, one at the head where the body had lain, and the other one at the foot.
Source: What Happened on Saturday? (Ligonier article)
The purpose of the dead rising and the living being caught up is not to leave the world but to meet Jesus during His triumphant return.
Here we see that the purpose of the dead rising and our being caught up into the sky is not to go away but to meet Jesus as He is returning.
Source: What Is the Rapture? (Ligonier article)
Believers, both dead and alive, will be caught up in the air to meet Christ and participate in His triumphant return.
He was saying that when Jesus comes back in conquering power, believers, both dead and alive, will be caught up in the air to meet Him, not to stay up there, but to join His return in triumph, to participate in His exaltation.
Source: What Is the Rapture? (Ligonier article)
Paul assured the Thessalonians that those who died in Christ will not miss the return of Christ, but will actually be resurrected first.
Paul assured them that the dead in Christ will not miss His return at all. In fact, they will be there first. The dead will rise first, and then those who are still alive and are Christ’s will be caught up together with this whole assembly to come to the earth again in triumph.
Source: What Is the Rapture? (Ligonier article)
An unregenerate heart is characterized by a lack of affection for Christ, being both lifeless and loveless.
An unregenerate heart is without affection for Christ; it is both lifeless and loveless.
Source: What Is Saving Faith? (Ligonier article)
The speaker believes that the entire Bible should be considered the 'life verse' rather than a single passage.
in my view, the whole Bible is our life verse.
Source: What Was the Burning Bush? (Ligonier article)
Luther insisted on the corporeal presence of the body of Christ during the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Luther insisted on the corporeal presence of the body of Christ in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and he just took his fist and began to bang on the table over and over again. "Hoc est corpus meum. Hoc est corpus meum,"
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:09
When the Bible uses human terms like 'repents' to describe God, it is using anthropomorphic language, not stating a literal change in God's nature.
First of all, it’s using what we call anthropomorphic language. The Bible is using human terms to describe God and describing God from a human perspective when it talks about God repenting.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:47
Sproul asserts that hell is fundamentally separation from God, not a literal lake of fire.
I say, “Well, I think it’s separation from God.”
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
At the Second Coming, the graves of the dead will be opened, and there will be new life.
As the trumpet is sounded and our Lord appears in Shekinah glory, in an instant, the graves of our loved ones will be opened. There will be new life.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:08
While memories can be cherished and celebrated, the past cannot be physically retrieved or brought back.
I can dream about it and I can remember it, and I can savor those memories, but I can't go back. What is past is over. We can memorialize it, we can celebrate it, but we can't bring it back.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:15
God has categorically and immutably promised that those who are in Christ will rise from the dead.
My dear friends, he has promised, categorically and immutably, that the dead in Christ shall rise.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 6:00
God is the ultimate source of life, possessing the power to bring life out of death and create something from nothing.
He is the one who holds the keys of death. He is the one and the only one who has the power and the ability to bring something out of nothing and to bring life out of death.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 7:23
The resurrection of Christ is an essential precept of Christianity; denying it means one has denied Christianity itself.
Such statements as the resurrection of Christ. You deny the resurrection of Christ as a supernatural event; you have denied Christianity. If you seek to construct Christianity without the resurrection, you have a religion, if you will. You may have an interesting ethical system, but what you have is neither historic nor biblical Christianity.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 27:01
Human life is temporary, comparing it to grass that withers and flowers that wilt.
We're like the grass that when the arid weather comes, withers. We're like the flower that blooms with its glory and beauty, but wilts away.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
God created woman from a rib taken from man while he was asleep.
God takes from his side a rib, and He fashions that and creates a woman.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:51
Regeneration is an act of God that makes a person alive while they are still spiritually dead in sin.
That God has made you alive. He’s quickened you. That’s the biblical language for regeneration. It is God who has made you born again.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:33
Regeneration occurs while a person is still in a spiritually dead condition, not after they have changed their lifestyle.
No, while you were dead in sin and trespasses. While you were still following the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and obeying the lusts of your flesh, just like everybody else.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:52
Christianity is not fatalistic, and fatalism does not mean that human lives are controlled by blind, impersonal forces.
if there’s one thing Christianity is not, it is not fatalistic. “Fatalism” means that the destiny of human beings is controlled inexorably and ultimately by the whimsical games and pranks of these little semi-gods or junior-grade deities called the Fates. Or it has come to mean that our lives are controlled by blind impersonal forces, mechanistic unseen cause. That’s not what we mean when we speak of Christian freedom and God’s sovereignty.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:24
The resurrection of Christ signifies a cosmic victory over death and the ultimate enemy of humanity.
What every one of the disciples saw, handled, heard, and died for was the victory of one Man over death with the New Testament declares was not an isolated incident, but that this was the down payment for the human race, that this is the firstborn of many brethren, that this represents a cosmic victory over the ultimate enemy of our humanity.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:49
The Holy Spirit is the sole agent who raises believers from the dead and brings them to eternal life.
But what the New Testament teaches us is that it is the Holy Spirit, again, who alone raises us from the dead. And He raises us unto eternal life.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 16:48
Repressed knowledge does not annihilate memory; instead, it remains and eventually resurfaces in disguised forms.
But what modern psychiatry understands is that no matter how much I seek to hold it down, to hinder it, to incarcerate it, to suppress it, or to repress it, that repressed knowledge does not annihilate the memory.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 44:52
Loving God, Christ, and the church requires loving the truth that defines the Christian life.
If we love God, if we love Christ, if we love the church, then we must love the truth that defines the very Christian life.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:58
The initial step of being made alive from death is accomplished solely by God, not by man.
That's what the Bible is saying about the divine initiative, that that first step of quickening from the dead, from the flesh unto spirit, transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light is accomplished by God, not by man.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:03
Augustine was converted to Christianity after reading a specific passage that addressed the conflict between the flesh and the spirit.
And when he read those words, it was as if each word of that text were an arrow that pierced his soul, and his conscience was so agitated by it that on the spot he was converted to Christianity.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:00
The flesh refers to the old fallen nature.
So what I’m trying to get at is this: that the flesh refers to the old fallen nature.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 23:51
The death of the old self is not instantaneous but is a daily process of struggle and resistance.
It has been put to death, but its death is not instantaneous. It dies daily. Oh, but the squawking it puts up before it succumbs ultimately! It's going to fight and resist against that newborn principle in you all of your days, and just when you think you've mastered the power of the flesh is when it manifests itself in its most destructive force.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:42
Christmas is holy because it is the night God came in the flesh.
But it certainly was holy because that’s the night God came in the flesh.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
A mystery is something that is affirmed as true, but which we do not fully understand.
A mystery is something that we affirm is true, but we don't understand all the ramifications of it.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:14
Saving grace is not offered to people who are sick unto death in a hospital room, but rather administered to those who are already spiritually dead.
I don't find saving grace being offered to people who are sick unto death in a hospital room. That saving drug is given and administered to a corpse, ladies and gentlemen, who is already pronounced dead, who cannot on his own strength even respond to the gospel.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 41:37
Contradictions are characteristic of lies, not truth.
From the Bible's perspective, friends, and please don't ever forget this, the contradiction is not the hallmark of truth; the contradiction is the hallmark of a lie.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:56
A meaningful Christian faith is impossible without the resurrection.
Is it conceivable, remotely conceivable, that we could have a meaningful Christian faith apart from resurrection?
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 19:51
For Paul, removing the concept of resurrection eliminates the core tenets of Christianity.
But again the point is, that for the Apostle Paul, take away the resurrection, you take away Christianity.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 21:55
If Christ is not resurrected, then human faith is useless, preaching is futile, and believers become false witnesses.
If Christ is dead and there is no resurrection from the dead then what are the implications of that, and he spells them out, the implications are what? You're still in your sins, your faith is in vain, your faith is useless.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 20:55
The final chapter of redemptive history involves Christ returning from his current location to judge the living and the dead.
He will come from that same place, from whence He shall come. There's a final chapter to be written, the last page of redemptive history is still not yet fulfilled, He will come from there to judge the quick and the dead.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 26:57
The existential school of thought is dangerous because it treats the Bible as a mere vehicle for personal experience, which undermines the text and the truth of Christ.
But the Bible simply becomes a vehicle for this existential experience that takes place, and so in this sense, we are approaching very rapidly the idea of the Bible being what modern art is -- Luke wrote it, but we interpret it, freewheeling, according to our own existential situation.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 24:39
The core content of Christianity involves key historical and theological points about Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection.
So that when the Apostles went out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, they gave a summary of key points about the person of Jesus and about the work of Jesus—how He was born according to the Scriptures, how that He suffered on the cross for their sins, how He was raised from the dead, and so on.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:00
Sin results in spiritual death, which is described as being dead to the things of God.
We are dead in sin," the Bible says. We are dead to the things of the Spirit, to the things of God unless we are reborn from above, unless God the Holy Spirit quickens new life within us.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 24:53
God ensures that humanity does not forget the death of Christ, even across time and space.
And I realized that not one second passed on the clock, but that somewhere in the world, somebody is celebrating the Lord’s Supper, that there’s a certain sense in which God is saying, “I will not let you forget what happened on that day when Christ was killed.”
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 6:53
The capacity to love in the manner described by John is an indispensable sign that a person has been regenerated by the Holy Ghost.
Without the transforming power of the Holy Spirit no person has this capacity for love. That’s the one side. The other side of it is if a person does have that ability to love that is a clear indication that they have been born of the Holy Ghost.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 8:36
God promises not only a stored soul or peace of mind, but also a new, glorified, immortal, and indestructible body.
God doesn’t just promise me a stored soul or peace of mind, which in and of them selves are the Pearl of Great Price. But He promises us a new body. And there are lots of times when I think ‘Hey, you know that’s what I need, a new body because the old one is wearing out. And the old one is falling apart. You know? But God says that we will be given new bodies in the resurrection. Glorified bodies, bodies that are immortal, bodies that are indestructible.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 19:24
Believing in the resurrection of the body means affirming the resurrection of our own physical bodies, not just the resurrection of Christ.
No, when we say we believe in the resurrection of the body, whose bodies are we talking about? Ours, our own body, that that’s the result of the resurrection of Christ and it’s a bodily resurrection of Christ that’s why we look for a resurrection of our bodies.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 20:28
Consciousness of living life before God (Coram Deo) encourages one to honor God with their actions.
If we are conscious of living our life Coram Deo, and that we are aware that everything that we're doing, we're doing in the name of Christ, and in the presence of Christ, then we'll be a little bit more conscious of seeking to honor Him with our lives.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 29:26
The fallen state does not eliminate the capacity to choose, suggesting a similarity between Augustine's and Edwards' distinctions.
But even that fallenness does not eliminate the faculty of choosing. So there's really no difference here between what Augustine is calling when he says, "We still have free will, but not liberty," is the same distinction that Edwards is making between moral ability and natural ability.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 29:34
The concept of 'true truth' was Schaeffer's way of referring to objective truth or objective reality.
Schaeffer meant by true truth, objective truth—objective reality.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 10:19
Christians believe that in the resurrection, they will possess incorruptible and immortal bodies, not merely be disembodied spirits.
But there will come a time when we -- our souls will be reunited with our bodies, our bodies will be raised, and the new bodies that we will enjoy will be incorruptible and immortal, so to speak.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 6:34
Paul's inclusion in the resurrection is guaranteed regardless of whether it happens in the first century or the third millennium.
And certainly Paul would be included in the resurrection whenever it would take place, whether it was in the first century or in the third millennium; who knows?
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:44
The term 'personae' refers to masks used in ancient times to indicate different roles or different persons.
And that was a throw back to antiquity when these masks were used to indicate different roles or different persons. That's why they were called in the plural, personae.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 7:05
The death of King Uzziah marked a turning point in Jewish history, signaling a serious decline in the spiritual life and vibrancy of the nation.
But when he died, it sort of signaled a turning point, a watershed in Jewish history where from that day on the spiritual life and vibrancy of the Jewish nation went into a serious decline from which it never recovered.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:09
Practical atheism is defined as living as if God does not exist.
Practical atheism means to live as if God did not exist, to live as if God does not exist.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 14:15
Eli died immediately after hearing that the ark of the covenant had been taken into the camp of the Philistines.
It came about when he mentioned the ark of God that Eli fell over backward from his seat backward beside the gate, his neck was broken, and he died.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 9:00
The message announcing the resurrection was simple, brief, and to the point, specifically stating, 'He has risen.'
And so, I settled on this simple message: “He has risen.” He has risen indeed.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 3:54
The speaker cautions that drawing absolute conclusions about the status of potential life requires piecing together evidence from the total body of Scripture.
Those are things we must piece together from the total evidence of the Scripture.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 8:34
Humanity is in a state of spiritual death and bondage to sin, requiring divine power to be drawn out.
We're buried in the water, and we need to be drawn out by somebody else's power, not by our own.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 12:42
A prerequisite work by the Holy Spirit is necessary to raise humanity from spiritual death.
That there is a prerequisite--a sine-qua-non that has to happen to us as a work of God the Holy Spirit by which He raises us from the state of spiritual death
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:23
The molecular structure of Jesus' resurrection body was significantly different from the physical world we inhabit, allowing it to pass through solid objects.
one of the conclusions he reached was that the molecular structure of Jesus' resurrection body was so different from what we experience in this physical world in which we live now -- that Jesus' glorified body would have the ability to pass through solid objects.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 4:57
Historically, some critics, like Bertrand Russell, have doubted whether Jesus of Nazareth actually lived.
Context: Referring to Bertrand Russell's criticism.
And he said that he thinks that it was doubtful if there ever was a Jesus of Nazareth. That is, from a historical perspective, Russell doubted whether Jesus ever lived.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:25
The Principle of Self-Preservation is a principle found in biology, evidenced by the universal struggle for life and against death.
And one of the principles that we find in biology has been called, through natural lawyers, the Principle of Self-Preservation, and this can be seen in many, many ways. There is an obvious apparent universal struggle for life and struggle against death in the biological world.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 19:45
The burden of proof rests on those who claim that a fetus is not an actual living human being.
I urge you to consider that the burden of proof is on the one who says it isn't an actual life, because, ladies and gentlemen, before we pick up a sword and enter into a military war, we better not be saying "My country right or wrong my country" because my country may be wrong.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 30:12
Abortion is the destruction of a living human person and constitutes a form of murder.
I am totally convinced through the evidence that I have tried to set before you in our discussions that abortion involves the destruction of a living human person, that it is a kind of murder.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:25
True mourning, as exemplified by the poor in spirit, involves grieving one's own sin, not merely the loss of loved ones.
And the idea that is communicated there, that the poor in spirit are those who have been brought low, those who are humble, those who approach God in the same spirit that David is speaking about here and who are mourning, not simply for the loss of loved ones to death, but they are mourning their sin.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 20:55
The church's faith in the resurrection of Jesus is based on the witness of Scripture, not on speculation derived from an empty tomb.
It is not simply that people found an empty tomb and then made the gratuitous assumption that the only reason that could explain the emptiness of the tomb would be that Jesus had been raised from the dead. No, the faith of the church does not rest on that kind of speculation, but it rests upon the witness of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, of the authors of the New Testament, who said that they are proclaiming for us what they have seen with their eyes and heard with their ears.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 0:25
The evidence for the resurrection includes the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to various groups of people.
It is not simply the empty tomb, but it is the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, where Paul tells us He appeared to the women. He appeared to the Twelve. He appeared to Thomas, who was skeptical. At one occasion, He appeared to five hundred people at one time.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 1:06
God must initiate the work of re-creation in the soul before a fallen person has the moral power to accept the Gospel.
Or is it necessary for God to do the initial work of re-creation in the soul before the fallen person has the moral power to say yes to the Gospel.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 8:10
Jesus taught that a person must be reborn by the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.
Source: R.C. Sproul @ 11:54
Physical decay is a natural process that affects all human bodies, leading to decomposition in the grave.
When we die, the tissue of the body begins to decay, and we rot in the grave—until that day of resurrection, when we will receive a new body that is imperishable and incorruptible.
Source: Christ and David (Ligonier)
Unlike other resurrections, Christ's body did not undergo decomposition in the tomb, remaining solid as it was when buried.
In fact, in the time that Jesus spent in the tomb, from the end of His life on Calvary’s hill, there was not the slightest bit of decomposition in His body. His flesh was as secure and solid on the day of resurrection as it was on the day they buried Him.
Source: Christ and David (Ligonier)
The physical decay of the body is intrinsically linked to the moral decay of the soul.
It is because the physical decay of our body is inseparably related to the moral decay of our souls. That is why the body of Jesus did not decay physically, because there was no corruption in Him that would justify the corruption of His flesh.
Source: Christ and David (Ligonier)
The remembrance of Christ's death is shown forth when believers participate in the elements of the Lord's Supper.
As often as you come together and drink of the cup and eat of the bread, you show forth My death until I come.
Source: Christ and David (Ligonier)
Christ died for humanity while we were still in a state of spiritual death and without strength.
No, while we were still in this state, as Paul later describes in his letter to the Ephesians as spiritual death, while we were dead in sin and trespasses, Christ died.
Source: Christ in Our Place (Ligonier)
Sproul does not believe that Christ died for all the ungodly.
I do not believe for one moment that Christ died for all the ungodly.
Source: Christ in Our Place (Ligonier)
The primary purpose of returning to God after being healed is to give honor and praise, not merely to report the healing.
Yes, but you came back to say thank you. You came back to give honor. You came back to praise God.
Source: Cleansing of the Leper (Ligonier)
The true temple is Christ himself, and the rebuilding of the temple refers to His resurrection.
Do you not realize that the temple has already been rebuilt? Christ is the temple, and the rebuilding of the temple took place on the day of His resurrection.
Source: Cleansing of the Temple (Ligonier)
The new, eternal temple is established through the resurrection of Christ, who is the temple itself.
But the way in which God establishes His new church is through raising Christ from the dead. He is the temple.
Source: Cleansing of the Temple (Ligonier)
Christ was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead, and belief in Him leads to remission of sins.
Context: Quoting Peter's speech in Acts 10:36.
And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.
Source: Cornelius' Household (Ligonier)
The resurrection of Christ was a public event, not a secret or private revelation.
As Peter proclaimed, the manifestation of the resurrected Christ was public. It was open. It was not to everybody or fifty thousand people at once, but neither was it to one or two people.
Source: Cornelius' Household (Ligonier)
Living without Christ results in a state of hopelessness, even if one is having fun or enjoying life.
The Bible says that without Christ, you are without hope. You are hopeless. You are living in a state of hopelessness.
Source: The Cost of Discipleship (Ligonier)
Jesus taught that the day a person dies is the very day they enter into the presence of the Lord.
We do not have to be crucified to know that the day we die, the day our souls leave our bodies, will be the very day that we enter into the presence of the Lord of glory.
Source: The Crucifixion (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Baptism symbolizes the believer's union with Jesus, specifically their participation in His death and resurrection.
I mentioned in our study last week that our baptism symbolizes, among other things, our union with Jesus, our participation with Him in His death and resurrection.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Humans are spiritually dead at birth and are slaves to sin, which is described as their master.
By nature, we are born into this world biologically alive but spiritually dead on arrival. We have no inclination whatsoever in our souls towards the things of God—no interest, no passion, no love, no inclination. We are dead.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Conversion involves a spiritual resurrection and is a supernatural work of God, not a joint effort by the individual.
But something radically new has happened in conversion. We have gone through a spiritual resurrection.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Regeneration is a spiritual rebirth that results in a complete change from spiritual death and bondage to spiritual life and freedom.
You have changed from spiritual death to spiritual life, from bondage to freedom: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Paul's reference to the 'body of sin' likely refers to the entire mass of sin that must be dealt with, rather than the physical body.
I am not completely sure what Paul means by “this body of sin,” but most likely, he is just talking about the mass of sin with which we have to deal, and which may be done away with.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Paul instructs believers to actively consider or deem themselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.
Paul is saying: “Consider yourself”—that is, “deem yourself” or “think of yourself as being dead to sin. Think of yourself, reckon to yourself the life that is yours in the power of the gospel and the Spirit of God, because now you are made alive by Christ and for Christ and unto Christ.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The life given by Christ is eternal and not temporary, contrasting it with things that pass away.
The life that He lives and the life that He gives is not over in a moment. It is not like a vapor that passes away. The Christ who is alive lives forever .
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The reign of sin refers to its power and authority, which is most visible in the face of death.
Rather, he is talking about sin’s reign , where it exerts its power and authority. Do you want to see where the reign of sin may be found? Look in the face of death, because in death, you will see the exultation of sin, the empowering of sin, and the invasion of the power of sin into the world.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 1) (Ligonier)
The process of baptism, particularly immersion, powerfully symbolizes burial and resurrection.
Why? Because it carries so brilliantly that symbol of burial and resurrection.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 1) (Ligonier)
Paul teaches that those who are baptized into Christ are also buried with Him and resurrected with Him.
Paul says that if you are a believer, if you have received the grace of justification, you remember that in your baptism, you were marked for your union with the death of Christ. Not only were you marked in your union with the death of Christ but also with the burial of Christ that follows His death.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 1) (Ligonier)
Believers are already participating in Christ's resurrection and have died and been buried with Him.
In a very real, ultimate sense, we have already died, already been buried, and we are already participating in the resurrection of Christ.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 1) (Ligonier)
A person who is in Christ and participates in His resurrection power cannot continue in sin.
How can a person who is in Christ Jesus, who participates in the power of His resurrection, continue in sin that grace may abound? It is not possible.
Source: Dead to Sin, Alive to God (Part 1) (Ligonier)
The reconciliation Paul speaks of is a substantive reality and a gift from God, resulting from the death and resurrection of Christ.
As if it were a concrete noun, the reconciliation of which Paul speaks is a substantive reality. It is a gift that God has given to His people because of the death and resurrection of Christ.
Source: Death in Adam, Life in Christ (Ligonier)
A person can be held legally accountable for a crime committed by a hired killer, even if the person was physically absent at the time of the crime.
My hired killer was carrying out my will, and I am held accountable for the conspiracy to commit murder. We see the clear justice of that.
Source: Death in Adam, Life in Christ (Ligonier)
Worrying is pointless because it cannot change one's physical stature or extend one's life.
Worry all you want; you will not add an hour to your life. Worry all you want; you will not add an inch to your height.
Source: The End of Anxiety (Ligonier)
A regenerated person should not find the Word of God boring.
I cannot see how it is possible to have been regenerated by God the Holy Spirit, raised from spiritual death to spiritual life, and be bored by the Word of God.
Source: Eternal Appointment (Ligonier)
The invisible church consists of all individuals who have been truly regenerated by God the Holy Spirit.
The invisible church is made up of all who are truly regenerated by God the Holy Spirit.
Source: Eternal Appointment (Ligonier)
Justification is a completed act that occurs immediately upon belief, not something that requires waiting for a place like purgatory.
It is something that has already taken place the moment that we believe, not something that we must wait for purgatory to accomplish.
Source: Faith Triumphs in Trouble (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Humans are naturally hostile toward God and are spiritually dead.
The Scriptures tell us that in our natural condition we do not want to have God in our thinking and by nature we are at enmity with God.
Source: Faith Triumphs in Trouble (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Through Christ's resurrection, believers now have direct access to God's presence in the heavenly sanctuary.
Then when He rose from the dead, He entered into the heavenly sanctuary, to the heavenly Holy of Holies, where He gives us access to God. When we come together for worship on Sunday morning, as the author of Hebrews tells us, we no longer come to the mountain that was shaking and hidden in clouds and thunder and lightning that no one could touch. Every time we come into worship, we come into the heavenly sanctuary in the presence of Christ, in the presence of angels, archangels, and spirits of just men made perfect—the general assembly on high—to the presence of God. We have access to His presence. There is no more veil.
Source: Faith Triumphs in Trouble (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Christian life requires walking according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Source: Free from Indwelling Sin (Ligonier)
Fixing one's mind on the things of this world inevitably leads to death.
If we set our mind on the things of this world, there is an inescapable consequence to that. The only possible consequence is death.
Source: Free from Indwelling Sin (Ligonier)
The life lived according to the flesh is characterized by opposition to God, not neutrality.
The life of the flesh is life lived not in neutrality before God, but in opposition to God. This is what the Apostle is saying.
Source: Free from Indwelling Sin (Ligonier)
To be a Christian, one must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, which involves the Spirit entering and dwelling within the heart.
You cannot be a Christian unless the Holy Spirit regenerates you, unless God the Holy Spirit changes your heart of stone into a heart of flesh, unless that supernatural work is done.
Source: Free from Indwelling Sin (Ligonier)
A person who is in Christ is spiritually dead, meaning the law cannot govern or condemn them.
When you are dead, there is no more sin. Dead people do not sin. The law does not reign over corpses. In Jesus Christ, you are a corpse. You are dead.
Source: Freed from the Law (Ligonier)
Nothing—neither death, life, angels, nor any other created thing—can separate believers from the love of God found in Christ Jesus.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Source: God's Everlasting Love (Ligonier)
For a Jew, being diagnosed with leprosy was considered a form of living death and rendered one unclean.
For a person to be diagnosed with leprosy was not only a sentence of a miserable illness, but it was considered among the Jews to be a kind of living death. One who was diagnosed with leprosy was not simply confirmed to be ill, but considered to be unclean.
Source: Healing of the Leper (Ligonier)
The resurrection and the power of Pentecost were the sources that galvanized the faith and boldness of the early church.
What happened? Two things: the resurrection and Pentecost. The resurrection galvanized the faith of the early church. When they saw the risen Christ, when they saw His victory over death and His enemies, when He burst alive out of the tomb, a faith was born in the breasts of the Apostles and disciples that the world could not extinguish.
Source: Holy Boldness (Ligonier)
The battle in the Christian life is between the old, fallen person and the regenerated person who lives by the Spirit of God.
We still battle with the flesh, and it is not a battle with our physical bodies. It may include our physical bodies, but the battle between flesh and spirit is the battle between the old man—the fallen corrupt person—and the regenerated person, who now lives by the Spirit of God.
Source: Introduction (Ligonier)
A person cannot be justified by merely stating that they require physical evidence of Christ's resurrection.
You will not be justified by saying that to God on judgment day, who has manifested the reality of Jesus through the power of the resurrection.
Source: Introduction (Ligonier)
It is equally impossible for any human being, by strength of his own virtue or righteousness, to bring Christ back from the dead.
It is equally impossible for any human being, by strength of his own virtue or righteousness, to descend into the pit of hell, into the depths of the abyss of death, and bring Christ back from the dead.
Source: Israel Needs the Gospel (Ligonier)
Salvation requires both confessing the Lord Jesus with the mouth and believing in the heart that God raised Him from the dead.
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Source: Israel Needs the Gospel (Ligonier)
God does not create fresh evil in the reprobate; rather, they are judged based on the evil already present in them.
He does not intrude into their lives to create fresh evil. In this understanding, you have a mass of fallen humanity, all of whom are dead in sins and trespasses. God intervenes for those who receive His saving grace to rescue them from their sinful condition, and He passes over the rest. Those whom He passes over are not elect. They are the reprobate. But they are judged because of the evil that is already present in them, and that is what is in view in this portion of Romans 9.
Source: Israel's Rejection & God's Justice (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The image of 'life from death' is rooted in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, specifically the vision of the valley of dry bones.
When Paul says, “What would this be but life from death,” the image has its roots in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, when the vision is given of the valley of the dry bones, in which God says to His prophet: “Look. And what do you see?”
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 1) (Ligonier)
The speaker interprets the dry bones vision as an image Paul uses to illustrate that Israel's acceptance will bring life, much like the bones coming to life.
I think that is the image Paul has in view here when he says that if Israel’s rejection brings salvation, how much more will their acceptance bring? It would be like life from the dead.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 1) (Ligonier)
The destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem occurred after Jesus' resurrection and ascension, specifically in AD 70.
Both were destroyed after Jesus died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. We know that Jesus’ forecast of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem took place several decades—about forty years—before the actual events took place in the year AD 70.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The speaker asserts that truth is defined as that which accurately describes a real state of affairs.
We read, for example, in the theological dictionary of the New Testament, a lengthy entry on alētheia , which defines the biblical concept of truth as “that which describes a real state of affairs.”
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Final (Part 4) (Ligonier)
Paul's commentary on Israel indicates that not all who are circumcised are saved, and that the chosen lineage is not simply based on physical descent.
Paul said earlier in Romans, “They are not all Israel who are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6). He argued that not everyone who is circumcised is automatically saved, but only those who are circumcised in their heart.
Source: Israel's Rejection Not Total (Ligonier)
When Jesus arrived at the house, He stated that the person was not dead, but merely sleeping.
All wept and mourned for her, but Jesus said: “Do not weep. Stop crying. She’s not dead, but sleeping.”
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
Jesus' statement that the girl was 'sleeping' was a common Jewish euphemism meaning she was not dead forever.
No, this was a common way speaking euphemistically as a Jew. Jesus was saying that she was not dead once and for all, in the sense of being gone forever, but that He just needed to wake her up.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
The people who ridiculed Jesus were the professional mourners, not the immediate family.
No, the ones who ridiculed Him made up the crowd pressing around outside wailing and playing music. Who were they? They were the professional mourners that gathered like buzzards as soon as the death occurred.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
The girl's recovery was a true resurrection, not merely a resuscitation or healing.
The mourners in the text said that the little girl was not mostly dead, but she was all the way dead. This was not a resuscitation; this was a resurrection.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
A person who is spiritually dead has their soul separated from their body, which is why Jesus' action was necessary.
This little girl was dead because her soul had gone. Jesus called it back and reunited her soul with her body, and she arose immediately.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
The resurrection at the last judgment will involve an effectual call from Christ's voice, similar to the calling of the girl.
This was a foretaste of the last judgment, when all who are in Christ will hear the same effectual call, and the dead in Christ will rise at the sound of His voice when He says, “My little ones—little boy, little girl—get up.”
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
Being in soul sleep means the soul does not leave the body, distinguishing it from actual death.
Luke understood that she was not comatose, because when you are comatose your soul does not leave the body. If you are in soul sleep, your soul does not leave the body.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
Jesus restored the girl's soul to her body, causing her to rise immediately.
Jesus called it back and reunited her soul with her body, and she arose immediately.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
Only God has the power to bring life out of death, and those He empowers are authenticated as agents of revelation.
Satan cannot bring something out of nothing. Satan cannot bring life out of death. Only God can do that, and those whom He empowers to do it. Those He empowers to do it are then authenticated as agents of revelation.
Source: From Jerusalem to Illyricum (Ligonier)
The resurrected body of Christ maintained continuity with the body laid in the tomb, but also underwent a change to become glorified.
There is continuity in that the same body that was laid in the tomb was the body in which Jesus was raised and walked out of the tomb. To be sure, Jesus’ body had been changed. It was now glorified.
Source: Jesus Appears (Ligonier)
The resurrected body was still human, meaning it could not occupy two places simultaneously.
Although it was still human, it could suddenly appear here and there. It could not be in two places at the same time according to His human nature because the human nature remained human, though glorified.
Source: Jesus Appears (Ligonier)
The resurrected body will maintain continuity with the original body while also undergoing a mysterious, glorious change.
There is continuity in that the same body that was laid in the tomb was the body in which Jesus was raised and walked out of the tomb. To be sure, Jesus’ body had been changed. It was now glorified.
Source: Jesus Appears (Ligonier)
Jesus demonstrated that his resurrected body was physical and tangible, unlike a mere spirit.
Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.
Source: Jesus Appears (Ligonier)
Jesus's death was not permanent because it was impossible for death or the grapes of wrath to hold Him.
They came and rolled the stone away and set Him free, because it was impossible for death to hold Him or the grapes of wrath to destroy Him.
Source: Jesus at Gethsemane (Ligonier)
God cannot die because God is eternal, self-existent, and immutable.
I say: “Wait a minute, God can’t die. God is eternal, self-existent, immutable.”
Source: Jesus in the Synagogue (Ligonier)
Human life is sustained not merely by physical sustenance but by the Word of God.
When Jesus was in the wilderness, He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
Source: Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem (Ligonier)
The current cultural trend is propagating an ethic of death under the guise of liberty.
Yet the whole country has been hoodwinked by an ethic of death propagated on the basis of liberty. The new cry is, “Give me liberty, so I can dish out death.”
Source: Judge Not… (Ligonier)
Saving one's life through worldly means will result in loss, while losing one's life spiritually will result in preservation.
Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Source: The Kingdom Come (Ligonier)
The speaker argues that Jesus' living is an objective and real event, not merely a subjective feeling or memory.
The Jesus I read about in the New Testament does not just exist in my memory, my feelings, or my heart. His living is not a subjective thing. It is objective and real.
Source: The Kingdom Come (Ligonier)
The Christian life is characterized by a constant, ongoing battle between the remaining influence of the flesh and the Spirit's work.
But once God the Holy Spirit raises you from spiritual death and puts Christ in the saddle, the rest of your life is the battle between two jockeys regarding who will ride this horse.
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 1) (Ligonier)
Deliverance from the body of death is achieved through Jesus Christ.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 3) (Ligonier)
Paul describes an ongoing war between the mind and the flesh.
Paul says: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 3) (Ligonier)
The Greek words for 'body' (sōma) and 'flesh' (sarx) are distinct, and this distinction is reflected in the Latin translations (corporeal and carnal).
The first is the Greek word sōma , which is translated by the word “body.” You hear it in the English language when we hear about people who have psychosomatic illnesses—that is, they have bodily diseases and bodily aches and pains that are prompted not by some organic infection or disease but by mental issues. The second is the Greek word sarx , which is translated by the English word “flesh” in the last verse of chapter 7.
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 3) (Ligonier)
It is linguistically incorrect to assume that 'sarx' always means fallen sin and 'sōma' always means the physical body.
We cannot say that every time the word sarx appears in the Bible, it refers to Paul in sinful corruption, and every time the word sōma appears, it refers to the physical body. There are times when this is simply not the case.
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 3) (Ligonier)
The answer to Paul's question of who will deliver him from death is God, specifically through Jesus Christ.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Source: Law Cannot Save from Sin (Part 3) (Ligonier)
Christians live and die for the Lord, meaning they belong entirely to Him.
If we live, we live to the Lord; if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
Source: The Law of Liberty (Ligonier)
Human life is inherently more valuable than animals, even when considering the scale of loss.
Here is the point: if it took invading the pigs with demons to rescue one human being from Satan, Jesus would sacrifice the whole herd of pigs. Jesus told us that God notices the landing of every bird in the air. Every sparrow that lands is noticed by God, and are you not worth more than a bird? Are you not worth more than a pig? Of course we are, in the scheme of creation.
Source: Legion (Ligonier)
When Paul says to 'present your bodies,' he means presenting your entire person, not just your physical body.
When the Apostle says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice,” he is saying, “Present your person, present yourselves.” He does not mean just your physical body.
Source: Living Sacrifices to God (Ligonier)
A Christian life involves dedicating one's entire being, body and soul, to the service of God, which is described as a living sacrifice.
That is what it means to be a Christian, that you present yourself as a living sacrifice. Your life is a living sacrifice. We are not talking about tithes and offerings. We are talking about your whole person devoted to the service of God—a living sacrifice.
Source: Living Sacrifices to God (Ligonier)
The goal of the Christian life is not merely nonconformity, but a radical transformation achieved by the power of God.
The goal of the Christian life here is not mere nonconformity. Nonconformity is the easy part. The goal is transformation.
Source: Living Sacrifices to God (Ligonier)
The Holy Spirit is necessary to awaken people from spiritual death and loss.
I pray that God the Holy Spirit, with the divine and supernatural light, will quicken their souls to newness of life and awaken them from their sleep, that they may be found and lost no more.
Source: The Lost Son (Part 2) (Ligonier)
It is right and proper to celebrate when someone who was spiritually dead is made alive by God's supernatural light.
It is right that we rejoice when someone who is lost is found. It is right that we celebrate when one who is spiritually dead is made alive again by the supernatural and divine light of God.
Source: The Lost Son (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The Gospel of Mark details the events surrounding John the Baptist's execution, including Herod's feast and the subsequent demand for John's head.
Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.
Source: The Beheading of John the Baptist (Part 2) (Ligonier)
Modern culture is characterized by a love of death, which is a trait historically associated with barbarian cultures.
Barbarians love a culture of death. They were the ones who loved the blood of the martyrs on the sands of the Colosseum floor and in the Circus Maximus.
Source: The Beheading of John the Baptist (Part 2) (Ligonier)
The inclusion of the word 'buried' in the Apostles' Creed is for a profound theological reason, not merely because it was common practice in antiquity.
Personally, I doubt that is the reason burial is included in the creed. I think it is included in the creed for another reason, a profoundly important theological reason, which I trust we will be able to examine as we look at the text today.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
The fact that Jesus' body was not disposed of in the garbage dump is of tremendous theological significance.
That did not happen to Jesus, and that it did not happen to Jesus is of tremendous theological significance, which we will look at in just a moment.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
Jesus' exaltation began with His burial, not with His resurrection.
The beginning, the point of transition from suffering to exaltation, is found in His burial.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
Jesus' burial fulfilled ancient prophecies, specifically regarding His innocence and burial with the rich.
But with the rich in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
Joseph of Arimathea took great care to give Jesus a proper burial, wrapping Him in fine linen and placing Him in a tomb.
He wrapped the body of Jesus in sheets and fine linen, then put Jesus in a magnificent burial site, a tomb.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
The Bible does not prohibit cremation, nor does it give an absolute command for Christians to dispose of bodies by burial.
As far as I know, there is no prohibition that I can find anywhere in the Bible against cremating the remains of your loved ones or having your own body cremated by your desire. There is no prohibition. At the same time, I cannot find anywhere in the Bible that gives an absolute command for Christians to dispose of their bodies by burial.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
While there is no universal command for burial, the Old Testament does command the burial of executed criminals.
However, though there is not a universal command for disposing of the bodies of people through burial, there is one instance where such a command does exist, and that is in the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel, in which it is commanded that even the bodies of criminals who are executed must be buried.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
While the Old Testament tradition of burial is not an absolute command, the speaker strongly advises following the burial process based on biblical examples and implications.
The Old Testament tradition of burial falls short of being an absolute command. I want to make that clear. I do not want anybody saying that I believe you are violating the directive of the Bible if you get cremated. At the same time, I would never do it, based on the strength of the implications of the evidence from the biblical example.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
The Bible provides numerous examples of proper burial practices, including the disposition of Moses' body and the graves of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God Himself took care of Moses’ body, and He did not burn it. He buried it. The very act of the burial of Moses sanctified it. The body had already been sanctified years before with the patriarch Abraham, who was promised to have descendants like the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. The only piece of real estate that Abraham, who had been promised to be the father of a great nation, ever owned was Machpelah, which was his grave.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
The customary Jewish burial method involved placing bodies in caves hollowed out from porous rock, often protected by a square stone.
For the most part, Jewish burial consisted of being placed in caves hollowed out from the porous rock. It was easy to do. They put shelves up on those caves, family tombs, and the bodies were placed in the caves. Now, 80 percent of the caves that the Jews used for burial places had a square stone at their entrance.
Source: The Burial of Jesus (Ligonier)
Humans are created by God as both body and soul, and Christians are not dualists who despise the body.
God made us body and soul, and we see throughout Scripture that God is abundantly concerned with the wellbeing of our bodies, and we are too. It is very hard to be a Christian when you are writhing in pain. When we have such afflictions and illnesses, sometimes life-threatening illnesses, the whole focus of our attention tends to be on our bodies. We are not Manichaeans. We are not dualists who think that the body is something to be despised.
Source: The Calling of the Disciples (Ligonier)
Jesus taught that the care of the soul is a top priority, emphasizing that losing one's soul is a greater loss than gaining the whole world.
You might remember the value system He taught. He said: “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And what would it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?”
Source: The Calling of the Disciples (Ligonier)
Modern society tends to value physical bodies over souls, which is a concerning trend.
We value our bodies, and that is good. We do not value our souls, and that is bad.
Source: The Calling of the Disciples (Ligonier)
Jesus demonstrated authority over death by declaring the child was not dead, but sleeping.
When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
Jesus used the word 'sleeping' as a euphemism for death, which the crowd misunderstood.
Jesus was using “sleeping” as the euphemism commonly used to describe somebody who was dead.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
The power of resurrection and over death is found in Jesus, who is the object of human trust.
The power of the resurrection, the power over death, the power over lost causes, all these things converged in the touch of Jesus in the home of Jairus. This is the Lord in whom we place our trust in life and in death, forever.
Source: Jairus' Daughter (Ligonier)
The process for determining if a person was clean from a sore involved multiple examinations over a period of time.
The priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days.
Source: Jesus Heals Many (Ligonier)
The Lord's Supper involves a reality that transcends a simple memorial.
There is a reality involved in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper that goes beyond a memorial.
Source: The Last Supper (Ligonier)
The Christian tradition celebrates the resurrection of Christ every Sunday because Jesus rose on that day.
I remind you that the reason we are gathered this morning on the first day of the week rather than gathering yesterday on the seventh day of the week is because Jesus rose on Sunday. Because He rose on Sunday, in the very early days of the Christian church, the Christians came together to celebrate the Lord’s Day.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The New Testament record of Christ's resurrection was primarily witnessed by women, despite the historical bias against their testimony.
Considering that bias of the first century, is it not striking that the New Testament record of the resurrection of Christ was borne witness chiefly, at least initially, by the testimony of women?
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The biblical testimony emphasizes that God, specifically the Holy Spirit, was the power that raised Jesus from the dead, not that Jesus defeated death on his own.
It is God who raised Him from the dead, specifically God the Holy Spirit, whom Peter tells us is the life-giver in the first place, who injects life back into the corpse of Jesus. By the power of God, the dead man was raised from the tomb.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The resurrection was not the result of the empty tomb, but rather the empty tomb was the result of the resurrection.
The resurrection is not the result of the empty tomb. The empty tomb is the result of the resurrection.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
It was God, specifically the Holy Spirit, who supernaturally raised Jesus from the dead.
It is God who raised Him from the dead, specifically God the Holy Spirit, whom Peter tells us is the life-giver in the first place, who injects life back into the corpse of Jesus.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The disciples initially failed to believe the resurrection accounts, even after hearing testimony from the women and the two men.
When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
Jesus taught that those who rise from the dead will be like angels and will neither marry nor be given in marriage.
He was saying: “You’re mistaken about the resurrection. They will rise from the dead, but they will neither marry nor will they be given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The Sadducees believed that because the Torah did not teach about life after death, there could be no resurrection.
So, the Sadducees were convinced that since there was no teaching in the Torah about life after death, certainly there would be no resurrection at the end of the age.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
Jesus affirmed the resurrection of the dead and the continuation of life beyond death.
Our Lord, without hesitation, without ambiguity, answers that question in the affirmative. We have life, and we have it forever.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The Christian life is inherently a 'throwaway life' that involves rejection, affliction, and death.
Every moment that you live without rejection, affliction, and death is grace, but our destiny as the people of God is to be thrown into the garbage by the powers of this world and of this age, and there is no way to glamorize that.
Source: Taking Up the Cross (Ligonier)
Discussing the truths of God is more important than the act of cleaning up after dinner.
Then we would go to this text in the New Testament and explain to them that, as important as it was to clean up after dinner, it was even more important to spend this time discussing the truths of God.
Source: Martha & Mary (Ligonier)
Mary did not undergo a bodily ascension to heaven, and she does not have the eschatological glorification of her body.
She will participate in the fullness of the bodily resurrection when Christ’s kingdom comes, but Mary died. She went to heaven. She doesn’t have the eschatological glorification of her body as Rome claims.
Source: Mary's Fiat (Ligonier)
The Bible demonstrates that life in the womb is fully human life, evidenced by the actions of the fetus.
However, we see in this text a living child, not yet born, whose heart was beating, whose brainwaves were circulating, and who recognized the presence of Christ while he was still in his mother’s womb.
Source: Mary's Visit to Elizabeth (Ligonier)
The core elements of Christianity, such as the resurrection, are fundamentally tied to historical reality.
If you take those elements out of Christianity, then you’ve taken away Christianity altogether and replaced it with something else.
Source: The Ministry of John the Baptist (Ligonier)
Judas's own money paid for the purchase of the field where his body was disposed.
So, it was his money that paid for the place where his body was disposed.
Source: A New Apostle (Ligonier)
To be an Apostle, one had to be a lifelong disciple, an eyewitness of the resurrection, and commissioned directly by Christ.
First, a candidate to be an Apostle had to be a member of Jesus’ band of disciples from the beginning, from the days of His baptism at the Jordan by John the Baptist. He had to have been with Jesus for those three years of Jesus’ public ministry to qualify for selection to the rank of Apostle. Second, he had to have been an eyewitness of the resurrection.
Source: A New Apostle (Ligonier)
If something is not bearing fruit, it is useless and potentially harmful to the surrounding environment.
Notice that since it was not bearing fruit, it was useless, so he might as well cut it down. Not only was it useless, but it was harmful because it took nutrients from the soil.
Source: The Parable of the Barren Fig (Ligonier)
Simply providing external resources, such as water, cannot revive something that is fundamentally dead.
The tree was dead. All the water in the world was not going to bring it back.
Source: The Parable of the Barren Fig (Ligonier)
Regeneration is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit that changes the soul's disposition, meaning a person is either regenerated or not.
Regeneration, the work by which the Holy Spirit changes the disposition of your soul and brings you from darkness into light, from unbelief into faith, is an instantaneous thing. It is not something that happens gradually, nor is anybody ever partially reborn. You are either regenerate or not.
Source: The Parable of the Sower (Ligonier)
The forty years in the wilderness were characterized by the complaining and murmuring of the liberated people of Israel.
Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. That is a one-sentence summary of the wilderness wanderings in which the liberated people of Israel did nothing but murmur, complain, and wish they could go back to Egypt—back to the leeks, garlic, and onions where they thought they had it so good.
Source: Paul's Sermon at Antioch (Ligonier)
Those who lose their life for Jesus' sake will ultimately save it, while those who gain the world will be destroyed or lost.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
Source: Peter's Confession and Our Cross (Ligonier)
The murder of Christ is far more significant than the assassination of a president.
But the assassination of a president is nothing compared to the murder of the Prince of life Himself.
Source: Peter's Second Speech (Ligonier)
God has only raised Christ from the dead, which certifies Him as the only Son, and other religions are merely forms of idolatry.
God has raised Christ from the dead, certifying Him as His only Son. But our ignorance says: “It doesn’t matter what you say or believe. You take whatever religion you like. You can trample the blood of Christ into the ground, hang on to Confucius, hang on to Muhammad.
Source: Peter's Second Speech (Ligonier)
God has plainly revealed the truth and the identity of Jesus by raising Him from the dead, which was not done for other figures like Muhammad or Confucius.
God has raised Christ from the dead, certifying Him as His only Son. But our ignorance says: “It doesn’t matter what you say or believe. You take whatever religion you like. You can trample the blood of Christ into the ground, hang on to Confucius, hang on to Muhammad.
Source: Peter's Second Speech (Ligonier)
The truth spoken by Peter, even if perceived as harsh or insensitive, was necessary because it addressed those who had denied and murdered the Son of God.
You may think what Peter said to the people was insensitive. You may think it was harsh. You may say it was offensive. But what you cannot say is that it was false, because he spoke the unvarnished truth to those people who had in fact denied the Son of God, betrayed the Son of God, and murdered the Prince of life.
Source: Peter's Second Speech (Ligonier)
It was impossible for death to hold Christ because of who He is.
You think it’s incredible that this Jesus was raised from the dead? How could it be otherwise, considering who He is? It was impossible for death to hold Him.
Source: Peter's Sermon - Part 2 (Ligonier)
Peter's speech indicates that David was prophesying the resurrection of Christ, stating that Christ's soul was not left in Hades and His body did not see corruption.
Peter continued: Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
Source: Peter's Sermon - Part 2 (Ligonier)
Peter's action of lifting Tabitha was an act of chivalry and presentation, not because she was only partially resurrected.
No, for Peter, this was an act of chivalry for Tabitha, who was so well known for her good works, charity, and kindness, whom everybody loved and was now alive again.
Source: The Raising of Dorcas (Ligonier)
Jesus taught that those worthy of the resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage because they are equal to angels and sons of God.
those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
Source: The Resurrection & David's Son (Ligonier)
The resurrected state will be infinitely better than the current life, and the experience will only be a gain.
If I know anything about the resurrected state, I know that it will be almost infinitely better than that which we enjoy in this state. Paul wrote to the Philippians and said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
Source: The Resurrection & David's Son (Ligonier)
Believers in the resurrection will be like angels, but they will not actually be angels.
Here Jesus says that we will be like the angels. We will not be angels.
Source: The Resurrection & David's Son (Ligonier)
The need for human propagation will cease in heaven because death will be eliminated.
Jesus was saying there will be no need anymore to fill the earth and multiply by propagation because death will be no more, and we will not need to have children in heaven in order to populate the place.
Source: The Resurrection & David's Son (Ligonier)
The moment that marked the change from dreadful humiliation to exaltation was not the resurrection, but the burial of Jesus.
No, that was not the point of transition. The moment that marked the change from dreadful humiliation to exaltation was not the resurrection; it was the burial of Jesus.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The resurrection of Jesus is a weekly celebration because it was on the Lord's Day that the words 'He is risen' were first spoken.
Every single Sunday morning, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, because He was raised on the Lord’s Day. It was on the Lord’s Day that the words were first spoken, “He is risen.”
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The resurrected angels confronted the women at the tomb, asking them why they were seeking the living among the dead.
What are you doing here? What are you looking for? Why are you seeking the living among the dead? Don’t you understand this is a cemetery? He’s not here. He is risen.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
Peter initially struggled to accept the resurrection, believing it was impossible for the dead to rise.
He thought about it for a second and said: “I know it’s foolish talk, but is there any possibility that what they’re saying could be true? No, no, no, it’s impossible. The dead don’t rise.”
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
The Bible records that Jesus walked out of the tomb on His own, free and alive, when Peter saw the grave cloths.
Jesus walked out on His own, free and alive. When Peter saw these grave cloths, he went home astonished, marveling at what had taken place.
Source: The Resurrection (Ligonier)
Lazarus was taken by angels to the bosom of Abraham in the afterlife.
It was not the coroner, but rather a band of angels who scooped up Lazarus, carried him to the bosom of Abraham, and laid him in the arms of the patriarch.
Source: The Rich Man & Lazarus (Ligonier)
It is too late to cry for mercy or for Jesus after death.
If you cry for mercy and for Jesus after you are dead, it is too late.
Source: The Rich Man & Lazarus (Ligonier)
If people are not going to believe Jesus, they will not believe a beggar who returns from the dead.
If they’re not going to believe Jesus, why do you think they’ll believe a beggar who comes back from the dead?
Source: The Rich Man & Lazarus (Ligonier)
If people do not hear the testimony of Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.
If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.
Source: The Rich Man & Lazarus (Ligonier)
The speaker notes that Luke's Gospel does not contain the detailed account of Jesus' resurrection given in the preceding hypothetical speech.
Luke’s record, however, does not record anything like that.
Source: The Road to Emmaus (Ligonier)
Unconverted people have hearts that are spiritually dead and resistant to God's truth.
I know there are people listening who are unconverted, and the Holy Spirit has never changed the disposition of their souls, and their hearts are frozen in a deadly coldness to the things of God.
Source: The Road to Emmaus (Ligonier)
The Christian life is characterized by being in the Spirit rather than the flesh, which is necessary for pleasing God.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Source: Sanctification (Ligonier)
Paul's teaching contrasts the body, which is dead because of sin, with the human spirit, which is life because of righteousness.
The contrast here is between the body and the spirit. We are talking about the human body, which is being contrasted here with the human spirit.
Source: Sanctification (Ligonier)
People who are spiritually dead are comfortable in their sin and do not feel the weight of their disobedience.
In fact, the image that Paul uses again and again is the image of someone who is dead—spiritually dead—dead to any awareness of the gravity of sin.
Source: Sin's Advantage in the Law (Ligonier)
Every Christian must continually fight against the residual force of the fallen nature (the flesh) from conversion until death.
In the sense that each one of us has a residual force of the fallen nature of the sarx , the flesh that each one of us fights with, every Christian is a carnal Christian.
Source: Sin's Advantage in the Law (Ligonier)
The Christian life involves a continuous struggle with the remnants of the flesh, which is acknowledged in prayer.
We confess that the vestigial remnants of the flesh still cling to us, and in that remnant of carnality we still struggle with Your law.
Source: Sin's Advantage in the Law (Ligonier)
Sin's consequence is death, which is described as its basic wage.
The more you sin, the more you earn, but what you earn is death: “The wages of sin is death.”
Source: From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God (Ligonier)
Jesus references the lifting up of the bronze serpent to foreshadow His own exaltation and resurrection.
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
Source: The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up (Ligonier)
Sproul favors the view that Jesus' statement about those who would not taste death refers to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.
still others, to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, which is the view I favor.
Source: The Transfiguration (Ligonier)
Based on the logical interpretation of the word 'some,' he dismisses the idea that the transfiguration was the event Jesus was referring to.
This makes it highly unlikely that, just a few days hence, this prophecy would come to pass. It is unlikely that Jesus said, “Something is going to happen in the next six to eight days, and some of you aren’t going to live to see it,” when we know that all of them did live to see it.
Source: The Transfiguration (Ligonier)
In times of grief, physical presence and emotional support are more significant than any words spoken.
Just be there. Put your arms around them, weep with them, because on that occasion words are not all that significant, but your presence says everything.
Source: The Unforgivable Sin (Ligonier)
Jesus demonstrated authority over death by touching the open bier, an act forbidden to Jews in the ancient world.
Next, Jesus came and touched the open bier, which meant that He risked becoming impure because it was forbidden for Jews in the ancient world to touch the dead.
Source: The Widow's Son (Ligonier)
Jesus demonstrated divine power by raising people from the dead, requiring only a word from His mouth.
All it took from Jesus was a word out of His mouth: “Young man, I’m talking to you. I know you’re dead.”
Source: The Widow's Son (Ligonier)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not an isolated event but was the first of many resurrections.
Thank you that You have raised Him from the dead, not as an isolated incident, but as the firstborn of many brethren.
Source: The Widow's Son (Ligonier)
Jesus compared the Pharisees to unwhitewashed graves, meaning they were spiritually unseen and overlooked by people.
Jesus continued: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
Source: Woes to Hypocrites (Ligonier)
Denying the existence of hell does not automatically disqualify a person from being a regenerate Christian, although it raises significant questions about their faith.
I would say that a person who denies the existence of hell could certainly be a truly regenerate person. All kinds of Christians have all kinds of theological weaknesses and errors.
Source: Can you deny the existence of hell and still be a Christian? (Ligonier Q&A)
Upon death, the soul immediately enters the presence of Christ and exists as a disembodied soul.
He indicates that, as soon as we die, our souls go immediately into the presence of Christ. In the intermediate state, however, we are disembodied souls.
Source: Do Christians go immediately to heaven when they die? (Ligonier Q&A)
The reunion of the soul with the body, which occurs at the final resurrection, will happen after the coming of Christ.
We won’t have our glorified bodies until after the coming of Christ and the great resurrection. At that point, our souls will be reunited with our bodies.
Source: Do Christians go immediately to heaven when they die? (Ligonier Q&A)
The text in 1 Peter 3:19 is often used to suggest that Jesus went to hell at some point after his death, specifically between his death and resurrection.
In 1 Peter 3:19, Peter talks about “this Jesus, who by the same spirit by which he is raised from the dead goes and preaches to the lost spirits in prison.” That text has been used as the principal proof text to say that Jesus, at some point after his death, generally believed to be between his death and his resurrection, went to hell.
Source: What does the Apostles' Creed mean when it says that Jesus descended into hell? (Ligonier Q&A)
The speaker personally believes the Bible is unclear on the matter, suggesting the 'lost spirits in prison' might refer to lost people in the world, not necessarily hell.
I personally think that the Bible is less than clear on that point because the lost spirits in prison could very well refer to lost people in this world. Peter doesn’t tell us who the lost spirits in prison are or where the prison is.
Source: What does the Apostles' Creed mean when it says that Jesus descended into hell? (Ligonier Q&A)
The intermediate state involves a continuity of personal existence where the soul remains alive and conscious.
The most common view has been that, at death, the soul immediately goes to be with God and there is a continuity of personal existence. There is no interruption of life at the end of this life, but we continue to be alive in our personal souls upon death.
Source: When a person dies, where does his or her spirit and body go until the Second Coming? (Ligonier Q&A)
The concept of 'asleep' in the New Testament refers to a peaceful tranquility in God's presence, not a literal state of unconsciousness.
The common Jewish expression that they are “asleep” means they are enjoying the reposed, peaceful tranquility of those who have passed beyond the struggles of this world and into the presence of God.
Source: When a person dies, where does his or her spirit and body go until the Second Coming? (Ligonier Q&A)
The Bible teaches a persistent notion of continuity regarding life after death, even referencing the bosom of Abraham.
But the overall teaching of Scripture, even in the Old Testament, where the bosom of Abraham was seen as the place of the afterlife, there is this persistent notion of continuity.
Source: When a person dies, where does his or her spirit and body go until the Second Coming? (Ligonier Q&A)
The experience of being caught between two desires suggests that passing beyond death to the intermediate state is preferable to remaining alive.
On the one hand, his desire was to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, and on the other hand, he had a desire to remain alive and continue his ministry on this earth. But the apostle’s judgment that the passing beyond the veil of death to that intermediate state is far better than this one gives us a clue, along with a host of other passages.
Source: When a person dies, where does his or her spirit and body go until the Second Coming? (Ligonier Q&A)
The biblical image of Dives and Lazarus suggests that there is a continuity of life and consciousness in the intermediate state.
The image of Dives and Lazarus in the New Testament (Luke 16:19-31) indicates to me that there is a continuity of life and of consciousness in that intermediate state.
Source: When a person dies, where does his or her spirit and body go until the Second Coming? (Ligonier Q&A)