Hello.  I am a religious Jew but am interested in understanding other religions.  My question is: how did Paul explain how Jews (or Gentiles) were able to be justified (righteous) with or without the Law if the salvation of the Christ was a secret until it was revealed to him and his colleagues in the first century?  How did David and Abraham acquire righteousness if they (or anyone else) did not know about the role of the Christ?  Thanks.

Sincerely,
Just Wondering Jew

Dear Just Wondering Jew,

The New Testament teaches that the sacrifices that cleansed the Jewish people from sin never truly removed the sin (Heb 10:1-4).  The Jewish nation (along with all faithful people) needed God’s blood to permanently remove sin and make them righteous.  When Jesus died on the cross, His blood paid the price for those who had gone before and those who were to come after… one sacrifice for all sins (Heb 10:12).

All mankind is saved by faith in God, including those found in the Old Testament.  Abraham lived by faith and is considered the father of the faithful (Rom 4:11-12).  Abraham didn’t understand the mystery of what God would do in Christ, but he did live knowing that God would send salvation (Jhn 8:56).  Moses placed his faith in God (which includes Jesus because Jesus is Deity – Jhn 1:1-3) and was rewarded for it (Heb 11:24-26).  All the faithful who lived before Christ did so in expectation of better things through God (Heb 11:13).  Though they didn’t understand the details, all the faithful of the Old Testament anxiously anticipated the coming of the Messiah (1 Pet 1:10-12).  Jesus’ blood covered the sins of those who looked forward to the coming of the Messiah… as well as the sins of those who rejoice that He already came.

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I was at church Sunday night, and I "fell out", and while I was lying there, I saw flashes of bright white lights, and my body was trembling.  What does this mean?

Sincerely,
Knocked Flat

Dear Knocked Flat,

It means one of two things:

1. You need to see a doctor.  Something medically is wrong and needs to be addressed.
2. You have been taught that it is part of religious service to have strange visions, bodily reactions (such as convulsions, etc.), and direct supernatural “zaps” from heaven.  This is common in the Holy Roller movement, as well as in many Charismatic and Pentecostal churches.  The Bible never teaches this.  Many people are conditioned to believe they are having “religious experiences” because that is normal in the churches they attend.  This simply doesn’t match the Bible pattern.  People are pleasing to God when they follow His commandments (Jhn 14:15) and live by faith in His Word (Rom 10:17).  Do not be fooled by false pretenses of religion.  The Bible never discusses the “religious experiences” seen in many of today’s churches.

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How do you, or the majority of christians, know that Jesus was the Messiah?  There are so many other messiah stories that occurred thousands of years before Christ, and all the ones I've read have the same story as Jesus.  How would you know if the Jesus story is plagiarized from other messianic tales?

Sincerely,
Cite Your Sources

Dear Cite Your Sources,

The differences are in the details – the story of Jesus’ life has lots of them.  History has lots of myths and fables of people performing otherworldly deeds, but when someone tells a myth, it never has specific details, and it never can be corroborated.  Jesus’ life is exactly the opposite.

• We know exactly when He was born and in what city (Lk 2:1-4).
• We know His exact name and family lineage (Matt 1:1-17).
• We know how He died, where He died (Jhn 19:17), and where He was buried (Mk 15:43).
• There were eyewitnesses to the empty tomb (Mk 16:3-5).
• There were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus (1 Cor 15:4-8).

Jesus was attested to by His followers as well as secular writers, like Josephus.  There is a clear and accurate historical record of Jesus’ life that was written within a generation of His lifetime and was undisputed by those most capable of presenting evidence against His resurrection.  Early Christianity flourished because of Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and the ready and available evidence to corroborate the story.  Unlike myths and fairy tales, Jesus’ life is detailed, documented, and corroborated by the historians and contemporaries of His day.