That Ye May Know The Truth

216 Pages·2013·0.74 MB·English

by  Tom Lee

That Ye May

Know

The Truth

by

James Thomas Lee, Jr.
12/01/95
10/21/21
02/14/22
Copyrighted 1995 by James Thomas Lee, Jr.
ISBN 978-1491295922, 1491295929 (paper)
Imprint: Independently published
Table of Contents

Chapter Page Number

INTRODUCTION................................................................................................. 5
CHAPTER 1 – LOOKING FOR THE GOD OF OUR GREAT SALVATION
................................................................................................................................. 7
A. THE FORMAL SEARCH FOR A CREATOR .............................................................. 9
B. THEISTIC PROOFS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF “A” GOD ........................................ 18
CHAPTER 2 – PROVING THE REALNESS OF GOD BY
EXPERIENCING IT .......................................................................................... 27
A. CRITERION ONE – ACKNOWLEDGING THE CONTINUAL PRESENCE OF GOD’S
THINGS .................................................................................................................. 33
B. CRITERION TWO – FEELING AN INNER EMPTINESS ........................................... 39
C. CRITERION THREE – SATISFYING THAT INTERNAL VOID .................................. 44
D. CRITERION FOUR – HAVING A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST ......................................... 48
E. GOD’S WITNESS PROGRAM – THE “BEFORE” AND “AFTER” PROOFS ........... 52
CHAPTER 3 – PROVING THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS .............................. 61
A. THOSE THAT HEARD AND SAW ........................................................................ 66
B. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE RESURRECTION ...................................................... 74
C. WHAT THE RESURRECTION MEANS TO ALL OF US ........................................... 87
CHAPTER 4 – PROVING THE CORRECTNESS AND RELIABILITY OF
THE BIBLE ......................................................................................................... 91
A. WHY A CANON? ............................................................................................... 92
B. THE CANON PROCESS ....................................................................................... 95
C. THE EVIDENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA .................................................. 103
D. ELABORATE COPYING PROCEDURES .............................................................. 108
CHAPTER 5 – RECOGNIZING ONE'S NEED FOR A SAVIOR .............. 113
A. THE SEVEN HEAD-TO-HEAD CONFRONTATIONS ............................................ 115
B. FOUR SPIRITUAL FACTS .................................................................................. 117
Fact Number One – Human Beings Are Different Than Other Life Forms 117
Fact Number Two - Silly Sounding Scenarios Can Still Be True ................ 119
Fact Number Three - God's Judgment Will Be According To His Standards
...................................................................................................................... 121
Fact Number Four - Death Is Only a Form of Separation ............................ 122
Table of Contents

Chapter Page Number

C. APPLYING THOSE FOUR SPIRITUAL FACTS ..................................................... 124
CHAPTER 6 – JESUS IS THE ONE AND ONLY VERY PERSONAL
SAVIOR ............................................................................................................. 133
A. THE COMING OF A CHAMPION ........................................................................ 134
B. THE EARLY LIFE OF JESUS .............................................................................. 139
C. THE EARTHLY MINISTRY OF JESUS................................................................. 141
D. THE ANSWERS TO THE TWO DIFFICULT QUESTIONS ....................................... 147
CHAPTER 7 – THE FIVE DOCTRINAL TRUTHS ABOUT JESUS ........ 157
A. DOCTRINAL TRUTH ONE - THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS ................................ 160
B. DOCTRINAL TRUTH TWO - THE SINLESS LIFE OF JESUS.................................. 169
C. DOCTRINAL TRUTH THREE - THE SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF JESUS ................... 173
D. DOCTRINAL TRUTH FOUR - THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS ............................. 177
E. DOCTRINAL TRUTH - THE ASCENSION OF JESUS ............................................. 180
CHAPTER 8 – WHAT ALL OF THIS MEANS TO EVERY PERSON .... 183
A. IMPORTANT CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES FOR LIFE ................................................ 189
APPENDIX A .................................................................................................... 201
APPENDIX A – AN EXPLANATION OF TRUE BIBLICAL SALVATION
............................................................................................................................. 203
A. CHOOSING TO BE SAVED IS AN INDIVIDUAL CHOICE ......................................... 204
B. SALVATION IS COMING BY FAITH TO THE "CREATOR OF EVERYTHING" ............ 206
C. LOOKING PAST THE DECEPTIONS AND THE DISTRACTIONS OF LIFE ................... 208
D. THE ONLY CONCLUSION THAT MAKES SENSE ................................................. 209
COPYRIGHTS PAGE...................................................................................... 211
ENDNOTES....................................................................................................... 213
INDEX ................................................................................................................ 217
ABOUT THE AUTHOR .................................................................................. 231
Introduction

In December 1967, my life was in more trouble than I could realistically
handle. While in the midst of those struggles, I asked the Lord to forgive me for
all the wrong that I had done and to put my life on a path that would lead me out
of my difficulties. More than forty years later, I can now report that He was
faithful to do just that. He changed me from the inside out. Then He changed the
dreadful circumstances of my entire life. Since that night in 1967, I have
experienced the joy of knowing the God of the universe and the one and only
Creator of everything.
Through the years, I have diligently and carefully studied the Bible in
hopes of better understanding all that happened to me on and after that night in
1967. Most people in this life for one reason or another never accept the free gift
of salvation that has been provided by God to everyone. Of those that do,
unfortunately, most never get to where they really understand the true essence of
what that great gift of salvation even means.
Therefore, this book has been written for three specific purposes. The first
has been to present the many evidences that support the Christian Faith, namely
those evidences that show that God is real, that Jesus is Lord, and that the Bible is
the true Word of God. Those chapters are intended to help Christians better
understand the solid foundation upon which Christianity stands. They will also
show those that are not Christians that this whole "religious" thing is real. The
second purpose of this book has been to share the pure utter logic of God's

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That Ye May Know the Truth

salvation plan, to show how and why His plan is the only true plan, and also to
reveal that it is the only plan that really makes sense. The third and final
objective has been to explain how through Jesus Christ an individual can have a
personal, right relationship with the God that created them. That part of the
discussion will be followed with some simple but important spiritual principles
for showing everyone how to live a life that is pleasing to God.
I am grateful for the new life that I received in Him in 1967. I am grateful
that He has given me the knowledge and ability to even attempt this work. I am
grateful for answered prayers. I am pleased for the peace that I have felt over the
past years as I have labored on this book. In a few moments, my part in all of this
will be done. I will then turn this whole project over to the Lord. From that
moment on, how far this book goes and before whose eyes it comes will be His
business, not mine. Through it all, may He be the One that gets all the honor and
glory for what He has done and continues to do in the hearts and lives of those
that trust Him.

Tom Lee
July 27, 2013

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Chapter 1 – Looking for the God of our Great Salvation

The Bible teaches that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God
(Romans 3:23), that the penalty for sin is both physical and spiritual death
(Romans 6:23), and that those deaths will lead the unprepared, unrepentant sinner
to a state of eternal punishment and separation from God (Matthew 25:41). The
Bible teaches that Jesus was and is the Son of God, the Second Person of the
Trinity (Matthew 28:19), that He was born of a virgin (Luke 1:31-35), that He
lived a sinless life (I Peter 1:18-19), that He offered Himself on the cross at
Calvary for sin (Romans 5:6-8), that He arose from His bloody grave (Romans
1:1-4), and that He now sits at the right hand of God, the Father (Hebrews 1:1-3).
In addition to those things, the Bible also teaches that through that redemptive
work of Christ at Calvary that any person can have peace with God (John 6:40).
Nevertheless, during these present times, many people despite the above
truths still believe that Christians are just a bunch of emotionally weak, narrow
minded do-gooders that cannot cope with reality. Many believe that Christianity
is for the naive and unlearned. Then there are those that simply believe that God's
Word is highly cryptic, authored by uneducated or undereducated men, similar to
a fairy tale, and in general unbelievable. Hence, even though the case for the
Bible and Bible Christianity is stronger than most would say and certainly more
logical than most would think, very few individuals actually recognize
Christianity as the choice among scholars. Therefore, the major issues of the
Faith, those that have already been mentioned in the above paragraph, which are
the existence of God, Jesus as Deity, and the validity of the Bible as God's Word,

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That Ye May Know the Truth

have been pondered by great minds for centuries. Not only that, but those matters
of the Faith are still being pondered. Yet as shall be seen in this chapter, the
debate has sometimes been furious and getting at the truth about such spiritual
matters has been and frequently is like the all-consuming, impossible task.
In commencing a search for the truth, both about Christianity and also
concerning the logic in God's Salvation Plan, one can start by briefly looking at
the historical search for God that has already been conducted by others. After all,
one cannot have total confidence in God's plan until first there is total confidence
in the existence of the God of that plan. It becomes necessary at the outset,
therefore, to see how others through time have dealt with Creation and with this
idea of a non-created Creator. To that end, the search begins with how
philosophers, theologians, scientists, and other scholars have tried to explain or
have at least tried to explain away the various issues of Creation. After that, the
analyses will continue by seeing how a person can know and experience firsthand
the realness of God, understand the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and recognize the
validity of the Bible as God's Word. From that foundation, it will then be possible
to examine Scriptures and see the clear logic and rationale behind God's salvation
plan for humanity. The point being made is really simple. As one learns more
about God, Jesus, and the Bible, then the mind of that individual can more easily
comprehend and accept the whole scope of God's all-encompassing, eternal plan,
the same plan that He has ordained from the beginning for all mankind.

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Chapter 1 – Looking for the God of our Great Salvation

a. The Formal Search for a Creator

In looking at the search for God that has occurred throughout history,
many individuals even most individuals have questioned how human beings came
into existence. Of course, that basic inquiry is really just another way of asking
how the universe and life in this universe actually began and of trying to show the
existence of either a Creator or of some kind of Creation process. To respond to
such a widespread concern among so many, the system around us by way of the
aforementioned intelligence community has generated or produced numerous
theories that attempt to explain all of the various uncertainties about Creation and
hence about God, Himself.
Some philosophers for example have theorized their own concept of an
impersonal, god-like Supreme Being that got everything started. At the same
time, many scholars have leaned more toward the complex theories of science
with the Big Bang theory and the Theory of Evolution that try to rationalize how
life might have begun. But neither of those beliefs, either separately or taken
together, can adequately resolve the issue. Then while some have favored one of
the above two paths, still others such as those determined theologians that have
also diligently studied Creation in detail have settled on the traditional spiritual
approach that is taught in Scriptures, namely that God created the world and all
that is therein. Hence, to be sure, with so many different views from which to
choose, knowing the truth about God, about what really happened in the

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That Ye May Know the Truth

beginning and about His salvation plan is very difficult. But even worse, if one
cannot trust the Bible then knowing the truth about any or all of those spiritual
matters is probably impossible.
The simple fact about Creation is that no human beings were there.
People did not participate in the beginnings of life. They did not witness how the
very complicated universe actually came into being. Therefore, they cannot
possibly know for certain what truly transpired when this whole thing of life
began. Science, as was just noted, cannot provide a sure answer, either.
Therefore, each person really is very much in the dark when it comes to knowing
and understanding the true origins of this life. As a result, one can only hope to
piece together the available data and then to try to hypothesize or speculate about
a feasible solution. That after all is what those that have already pondered such
questions about the beginnings of life have had to do, although most have done so
without much genuine success.
Unfortunately the lack of success by so many has caused and even now
causes an even greater problem, a problem that reveals itself through the
following simple observation. While knowing what really happened in the
beginning may be difficult and while it may at times even appear to be
impossible, not knowing the truth about the Lord, about life's beginning, and
about His salvation plan is very much more dangerous because so much is riding
on the answers. Many believe in God. Many do not. Many have one point of
view about certain religious matters while many others hold to completely

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