Islington Baptist Church April 29, 2001
Series: Why Jesus: Why follow Jesus and not any other religion?
Texts: Heb. 2:5-18; 9:26, II Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 2:21-24, I John 1:8, John 8:46
Why Jesus? Because of his sinless perfection!
The other week I happened across an article in the “Religion Today” section of www.crosswalk.com entitled “Ex Moslems Explain ‘Why I chose Jesus’”. Let me read this short article to you
“A new study reveals why some 600 ex Moslems decided to leave Islam to follow Jesus, even in the face of heavy persecution, sacrifice and death threats. According to Professor Dudley Woodberry, who conducted the study, the most important reasons were as follows: ‘Many were attracted by the certainty of salvation in Jesus…. He does not retaliate, is humble, loves the poor and outcasts; the power of His love is unique, and one can enter a relationship with Him, completely different to Islam. Christians are the only people who really work for justice for the poor and repressed; Christians’ unconditional love, and their peaceful and contented aura are very noticeable. Also, a number of ex-Moslems had supernatural experiences which were decisive in their finding Christ.”
We are in the midst of a series entitled “Why Jesus: Why follow Jesus and not Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other religion?”
This is a question that is on the minds of many people. It’s a question you and I need to have a ready answer to. The Bible tells us as much in I Peter 3:15 when it says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”
Last week we answered the “Why Jesus” question by considering this Biblical answer: Because He’s the only way.
The Bible, which can be trusted, clearly teaches that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. No other name has been given to men by which they must be saved.
All the other ways to God that various religions propose are in fact dead ends; the ways they propose lead their followers straight to Hell. As Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death”
Today, as we consider the “Why follow Jesus” question we are going to ponder this answer: Follow Jesus because unlike all others who have proclaimed a “way” he alone is sinless and lived a perfect life..
Jesus’ sinless life sets him apart from all others. Jesus’ sinless perfection makes Jesus unique amongst the various founders of the world religions. Jesus’ sinless perfection qualifies him alone to act as a Savior. Jesus’ sinlessness and the perfect life he lived, qualifies him alone as the only one credible enough to proclaim a “way”
I. THE FACT OF JESUS’ SINLESS AND PERFECT LIFE
The Bible is the primary source available for establishing Jesus’ sinless perfection.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” II Corinthians 5:21
“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin” I John 3:5
“Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. Why they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might dies to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” I Peter 2:21-24
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin” Hebrews 4:15
Also note this: At Jesus’ trial all sorts of charges and accusations were brought against Jesus. Was Jesus convicted on the basis of any of those charges? NO—for Pilate himself said “I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him”. Point: when Jesus died on the cross, it was not for his crimes or sins. He died there as the spotless lamb of God, in our place, with our sins laid upon him.
Listen to what Jesus said to the Pharisees who monitored and evaluated his every move, continually looking for something they could charge Jesus with: “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” John 8:46
The overwhelming testimony and conclusion of the scriptures, whether the words recorded come from the mouth of Pilate, Jesus’ disciples, the Roman centurion who proclaimed “surely this was the Son of God”, or from the mouth of Jesus himself is this: Jesus was sinless. He was perfect. There was fault in him.
II. SOME IMPORTANT POINTS REGARDING JESUS’ SINLESSNESS
1. His virgin birth is what ensured his sinless entry into our world.
On our own power sinlessness is something that you and I cannot even conceive of. The reason? We were conceived in sin. Our very entrance into this world was in the state of sinfullness and spiritual deadness; thanks to Adam- who the Bible reckons as our representative head--- hence we are born in sin (see Romans 5)
Jesus’ virgin birth ensured his sinless entry into our world. Jesus’ unique birth and conception answers why he was not born in sin, just as we are.
2. Sin, for Jesus, was a possibility that he rejected.
For some this is sort of mind bending- for as we all know, God can’t sin. Yet note this: Jesus, being fully God and fully man, was tempted in every way that we are and yet was without sin. These temptations and Jesus’ struggles with these temptations were real. (40 days in the wilderness, Garden of Gethsemene, the rest of his earthly life). The temptations to sin that Jesus faced were not fake or trivial. To proclaim that Jesus did not face and struggle with temptation is to strip Jesus of his humanity: a humanity the Bible resoundingly proclaims (just as it does his deity)
3. Challenges to Jesus’ claim to be sinless continue, and yet no one has been able to prove Jesus guilty of sin.
When Jesus challenged “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” the resounding answer that has come back and continues to come back has been “NO”. This however has not stopped people from trying to pin sin upon Jesus.
Ironically enough it is often Christians who have wondered if Jesus were completely without sin. I have talked to many Christians who have said “Didn’t Jesus sin against his parents when he stayed in the temple in Jerusalem while his parents caravaned back to Galilee?” or “Wasn’t Jesus sinning when he entered the temple overturning the merchants tables and driving them out?”
Quite simply the answer to both is NO. Look up those passages in question and see for yourself how in both cases it was Jesus who was unequivocally in the right, and how it was the others who were in the wrong.
No one has ever been able to prove Jesus of sin. Yes charges of “sinfulness have been leveled against him” yet no charges have ever stuck. None has ever been able to prove Jesus guilty of sin.
III. Jesus compared to the Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed; demonstrating that of them, only Jesus is sinless: Bottom line: Jesus is morally superior
If you and I are going to follow someone and their teachings and make a life time commitment to what they proclaim; their character, credibility, and morality needs to be an important determining factor******
A good question to ask is this: “How does Jesus stack up, as compared to the such individuals as Krishna, Buddha, or Mohammed.”
As we compare Jesus to these heads of these 3 other religions you need to ask “Is there something about these other guys that demands my attention?” “Is there something about these other guys that warrants my following of them?” “Are they morally and spiritually on the same level as Jesus?” Were any of these other guys sinless?
Jesus v/s Mohammed (founder of Islam)
History records that Mohammed was born in 571 A.D. In the Koran he is proclaimed as God’s Apostle. He is also declared to be a prophet, the last and greatest of all the prophets. In the Koran-considered by Muslims to be the Word of God/Allah-, Muslims are exhorted to obey God/Allah and the Apostle (Sura 47). The Koran also exhorts Muslims to “believe on God/Allah and on his Apostle” (Sura 48). While Islam proclaims that only God/Allah is to be worshipped—it seems that Muslims come pretty close to worshipping Mohammed, for every day they are required repeatedly to pray "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah."
Muslims the world over proclaim that Mohammed was the greatest man who ever lived and in fact many regard that he was sinless.
When it comes to Mohammed and his character and purity, there are some problems.
1. In respect to his faultless character and the glowing tributes given of him, history records him to be an relatively uneducated, violent, lustful, power hungry, man. Mohammed was a sinner, just like us.
2. Islam proclaims itself a tolerant and loving religion, yet Mohammed spread his gospel by means of a sword, the Koran is full of threats against those who do not convert, and day to day reports continue to verify the brutality that goes on against Christians and others in Muslim lands.
3. Koran in Sura 4 it says of women “Marry but 2 or 3 or 4, and if you are afraid that you won’t act fairly towards them all, just marry 1” Did you know that Mohammed, proclaimed to be the greatest of all men had 11 wives. The proclaimed greatest of all men had a lust problem. Mohammed, who was to be obeyed and believed on, broke Allah’s word.
Is Jesus and Mohammed anything like each other? The answer is no. Jesus outshines Mohammed. Mohammed was a sinner, Jesus is not.
Jesus v/s Krishna
Krishna is believed by Hindu’s to be a manifestation of the great god of the universe (remembering that Hinduism teaches that the INFINITE manifests himself in billions of ways)
The question for us is this: Is Krishna worthy of our worship and praise? Is Krishna the one whom we should be following? Is Hinduism the true religion? Is there something about Krishna that qualifies him to be our Savior? Was Krishna sinless?
The Bhagavad Gita is to Hindu’s what the Bible is to us. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, proclaimed to be a manifestation of God has a magic flute that he plays. As he plays his magic flute all women who hear him play become sexually aroused and are recorded as seeking him out for relations. Hindu art commemorates Krishna’s exploits. Hindu art depicts otherwise married and chaste women risking life and limb to find and be with Krishna. Hindu art also commemorates Krishna’s stealing of bathing women’s clothes (Krishna and the Gopi girls).
Is Krishna worthy of worship and praise? Is a supposed god who seduces married women worthy of being followed. Is Krishna qualified to act as our Savior? Is it even logical to affirm Krishna as a god because why would god manifest himself as a lustful sinner?
Are Jesus and Krishna anything alike? NO
Jesus v/s Buddha
100’s of millions of people follow Buddha and his teachings. The question is: Should they? Is there something about Buddha that would warrant his teachings beings followed as opposed to Jesus. Is Buddha morally superior to Christ?
Now just so you know: Buddha never claimed to be god. Buddhism teaches that there is no such thing as God. The irony is that people pray to Buddha as they would to a god.
Buddhism teaches that by age 35 that Buddha attained the realization of Perfect Wisdom. It is said that he had “found the answer that lead to the complete cessation of all impermancence and anguish, that lead reaching the other shore that is Permanent True Reality –Nirvana”. It is then said that he spent the rest of his earthly life teaching others how to get to the Nirvana state.
Essentially Buddhism teaches that by age 35 that Buddha had become perfect. Here’s a good question: How could a guy who at age 29 forever walk out on his wife and child be declared to be perfect at age 29.
How is that one who was a sinner just like we are, by his own devices, come to be perfect? According to Buddhism, Buddha should have been reincarnated again. Buddhism teaches reincarnation. Behind reincarnation is the notion that in this life you are paying for your sins of the past life and that in the next life you are going to pay for the ones you do in this life. Logically, according to Buddhism, Buddha’s abandonment of his wife and family warranted some more reincarnation experiences—say his coming back as a bug, not his elevation to Master and guide to Nirvana (our equivalent to Heaven).
There is no comparison that can be made between Buddha and Jesus.
IV. WHAT IT MEANS, THE APPPLICATIONS, THE IMPLICATIONS OF JESUS’ SINLESS AND PERFECT LIFE
1. Qualifies him to be the one who declares the way to God: for as one who his is sinless it means he does not lie. He tells the truth. The truth he declares is this “I way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me”
A person has no solid basis for taking Bhudda’s, Krishna’s or Mohammed’s words as truth; for their moral character is in question. Krishna’s, Buddha’s, Mohammed’s sinfulness excludes them from any claims of being the way, the truth, the life.
When it comes to Jesus there are no credibility or moral issues to be dealt with. He is sinless and no cloud of shame or wrongdoing hangs over his head. There is nothing about Jesus that ought to lead us to doubt Him and his words. As the scriptures declare “Jesus is the way, the truth, the life”
2. Qualified him to act as our Savior.
Jesus as their Savior is what every person desperately needs—for every person outside of Christ is a sinner under the wrath of God and on the way to Hell. Sin is a serious matter, it is not something that God overlooks for such would make God unjust. Sin is not something that a person can deal with on their own. Sinfulness is a problem for every single person on the planet. Because of the sinfulness of men are world is filled with pain and suffering and signs of God’s judgment. Those who die without their sins forgiven in Christ Jesus immediately find themselves in the fires of Hell.
Earlier this morning when I read to you the scriptures that proclaim Jesus’ sinlessness, you might have noticed in those verses that the scriptures teach that Jesus came to take away our sins.
The Bible proclaims that without the shedding of blood that their can be no forgiveness. In OT times countless bulls, goats, lambs were offered to God—and only the best most perfect of animals were to be brought. All of these animal sacrifices of the most perfect animals pointed forward—for in and other themselves animals blood is not good enough for the forgiveness of sins, to the once for all sacrifice of Jesus—identified by John as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
If Jesus were a sinner like us he himself would have needed a Savior for his sins. But he wasn’t and isn’t a sinner. Jesus was and is perfect and qualified to act as our Savior.
The Bible teaches that when he went to the cross, dying as a sacrifice for sins, he hung their, taking upon himself our sins-for he had none of his own. He acted as a our substitute and took upon himself the wrath of God for sins—that we deserve- that we might be reconciled to God, forgiven of our sins, and adopted as his sons and daughters.
If not a follower of Jesus, turn to him……
3. Jesus’ perfect life stands as the bar and standard for our lives
Our goal should be nothing less.
We in the process of sanctification: completed when enter into Heaven
4. Just as Jesus was victorious over temptation and sin, we who are in Christ and partakers of him can experience victory as well—for his strength is available to us. (I Cor. 10:13)
CONCLUSION
In regards to his being sinless, Jesus himself issued the challenge “can any of you prove me of sin?” No one could. No one has ever been able to make that charge stick.
No matter how a person tries to compare Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna to Jesus, there is no comparison. When it comes to the specific subject of sin and the purity of Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus: Jesus wins hands down—his is morally superior to them.. Jesus is sinless, they are not. Jesus was sinless and he lived a perfect life. No one else can say this.
-The fact of his sinlessness and perfect life qualified Jesus to definitively teach the way to God. Since his character, purity, morality, credibility are unquestionable one can be confident in the way of salvation that he teaches***
-The fact of Jesus’ sinlessnes and perfect life qualified him to act as our Savior and as the sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Also, as Christian, we can be of good cheer, God is at work in our lives. You may be struggling greatly with certain sins right now, but know this: God is at work and one day you shall be perfected. One day we will be forever done with sin, no more shall we suffer under its effects, no more shall its consequence of death visit our door, no more shall sin induced tears roll down our cheeks. One sweet day, God’s work –which he has begun in us will be complete and in respect to purity and sinlessness we shall be like Jesus for as I John 2:2-3 says “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we hall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
