Christ Resurrected Because He Was Sinless

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 BSB, CSB, NIV)

In the Biblical context of sin as the wages of sin, the resurrection of Christ proved that He is sinless. He died for the sin of the world and was raised because death has no grip on Him, who was sinless.

He was delivered up by God's set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep Him in its grip. (Acts: 2:23-24 BSB)

"God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead." (Act 17:30-31 NLT)

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off - to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself."
With many other words he testified, and he urged them, "Be saved from this corrupt generation." Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day. (Acts 2:37-41 BSB)

An Atheist's Confession of Faith

Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!  (Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1 NLT)

All men live by faith, both the just and unjust. It is impossible for men not to have a belief system. It is by faith that they have eternal life or eternal damnation because their belief system is either true or false.

Atheism and secular humanism are belief systems, just like any other religions. Here is an atheist's confession of faith by Richard Charles Lewontin (1929–2021) quoted from this article "Remembering a Biologist’s Remarkable Confession of Faith | Mind Matters".

QUOTE
In 1997, Lewontin published a review of celebrity science commentator Carl Sagan's book The Demon-Haunted World in which he blurted:

"Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. The eminent Kant scholar Lewis Beck used to say that anyone who could believe in God could believe in anything. To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that miracles may happen."

Richard Lewontin "Billions and Billions of Demons" at New York Review of Books (January 9, 1997)
UNQUOTE

This is a link to a shorter version of quotation taken from A-Z Quotes | Quotes for All Occasions.

So, any scientific evidence for God would be rejected by atheists because they have "a commitment to materialism ... forced by our a priori adherence to material causes" and the belief that "materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door ... that anyone who could believe in God could believe in anything".

For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. (Romans 1:19-21 BSB)

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and they changed the glory of the immortal God into a likeness of an image of mortal man and birds and quadrupeds and creeping things. (Romans 1:22-23 BLB)

From Law to Grace

"Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" (Deuteronomy 27:26 NIV)

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. (Galatians 3:10 CSB)

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. (James 2:10 ESV)

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (Romans 3:21-22 NLT)

For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) (Romans 4:15 NLT)

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:21 KJV)

What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1 BSB)

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. (Romans 6:15 KJV)

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 BSB)

Knowledge of Sin Comes Through the Law

Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. (Romans 5:13 NLT)

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be subject to the fire of hell. (Matthew 5:22 BSB)

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28 NIV)

The law does not account for every sin.

For example, if a person has a very bad temper and gets angry easily, he does not break any law, unless he is so angry that he kills somebody.

A person who looks at a woman's cleavage (like what some famous person did recently and was caught in a video) has already committed adultery, but he does not break any law.

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20 ESV)

The Relationship of Law, Sin and Grace

And where there is no law, there is no transgression. (Romans 4:15b BSB)

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law. (Romans 5:13 NIV)

Let us examine the relationship between law, sin and grace. Without the law, there is no sin. And without sin, grace will not be needed.

This is actually a universal principle, not something found only in Christianity.

For example, there is a law in Singapore that forbid bringing cooked meat from Malaysia into Singapore. If there is no such law, bringing cooked meat into Singapore from Malaysia will not be a transgression. If there is no transgression, then forgiveness is not required.

The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21 CSB)

Resolutions For 2025

I will continue the resolutions I made in 2019, three of which was based on Rev Stephen Schaefer's advice and the fourth was added in the middle of 2019 and renewed in September 2019 and renewed again in January 2020 and again in September 2023.

1. Every day I will pray that what ever I do, I will do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
2. I will pray to be filled with the Spirit so that I have no room for other things (Ephesians 5:18).
3. I will pray that I may walk in the Spirit, so as not to fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
4. I will also pray to speak gracious words of comfort like a priest (Colossians 4:6).

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18 ESV)
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16 KJV)
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6 ESV)

Additionally, I would also like to bring to my remembrance the three requests I made in 1979, for the perseverance of Jacob, the heart of David and the power of Elijah.

And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. (Genesis 32:28 KJV)
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. (Acts 13:22 KJV)
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:17 KJV)

Negotiation And Hardened Hearts

After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.'"
But Pharaoh replied, "Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go." (Exodus 5:1-2 BSB)

Did God ask Moses to lie when He asked Moses to request for a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to Him, implying that the Israelites will return after that? No. If the Pharaoh had accepted the request, it would be so.

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said. "But who exactly will be going?"
"We will go with our young and old," Moses replied. "We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD."
Then Pharaoh told them, "May the LORD be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil. No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting." And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh's presence. (Exodus 10:8-11 BSB)

But God hardened the Pharaoh's heart, and he kept negotiating with Moses about the terms of release. But finally, after the ten plagues, he expelled all the Israelites from his land.

This is God's pattern of negotiation. First, He will give the best offer. For those whom God did not call, their hearts will be hardened, and they will reject the best offer. Then the offer will get worse and worse until everything is taken away.

In 1948, they were offered 50% of Palestine, but they rejected the offer and fought. They would have retained Gaza and West Bank if they had not fought again in 1967. Today they are still trying to negotiate for the two-state solution. Eventually, they will have nothing.

The Gospel offered a 100% redemption if we just believe. But many hardened their hearts and refused the offer because they thought it was humiliating to admit that they are sinners and can do nothing to save themselves. But God is merciful, and some will believe and accept the offer and be saved.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12 NLT)