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How would you respond to someone who says that Jesus Christ was a wonderful teacher but nothing more?
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He is actually more than that! If you can spend time to find out who He really is, then you will know the truth. Jesus knew who He was and where he came from and where He was going. John 3:16 starts it all, He is the son of God.
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This argument is famously made my CS Lewis and later used by JI Packer that Christ is either Lord, liar or lunatic. He cannot be a good teacher if He made these claims of being God, of bringing salvation to people if He wasn’t. That would be incredibly mean to mislead people and give them false hope in that way. He cannot be a good teacher if He is not also Lord.
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I would cite the C.S. Lewis argument – He’s either a lunatic, a liar, or Lord. His teachings were too absolute to be anything other than that.
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I would respond with the same words as Ellen Black, “If Jesus was not the Son of God, He lied to everybody” and therefore would not have been a wonderful teacher! I would then ask them if they would be open to learning more about who Jesus Christ really is and perhaps even start a Bible study together. I would definitely refer them to works of Lee Strobel, C.S. Lewis or Ravi Zacharias.
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If Jesus wasn’t the Son of God, he couldn’t have overcome the world. If he didn’t overcome the world, then he died for nothing. If he died for nothing, then I am still bound to my sins. If I’m still bound by my sins, then there is no hope of salvation because man cannot save himself.