What Was His Name? or How Simple Is That?

As I have said here, I am no theologian. ‘Learned’ people, Catholics, ‘Born-Agains’, Christians, Protestants and others throw around many 'big' words. Words like justification, sanctification, imputed grace, imparted grace, imputed righteousness, imparted righteousness, dogma, doctrine, and propitiation are just a few… That is fine, but I am not a Bible scholar, these words often confuse me. Sometimes when these words are in use, I feel like “a hog looking at a wrist watch”.

Here at “Views on History, Politics & Religions” we have talked about the ‘need’ for ‘salvation’. We have talked about the fact “all have sinned” and shown how the Bible ‘proves’ it. We talked about the fact there is ‘no other way’ to be judged ‘not guilty’ than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We even offer ‘sample’ prayers of ‘salvation’.

I am a K.I.S.S. person. K.I.S.S. is the acronym Keep It Simple I am Stupid. So let us K.I.S.S. this whole salvation ’thing’, with a little history lesson.

Here is a little Bible history. What was the name of the first person to die a ‘believer’? Who was it that first died believing that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and only through His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection, one could be saved from being condemned and sent to hell?

Many people will say, “That is easy, it was Steven in Acts 7:60-8:2.” Um, wrong, Steven was the first martyr, that is the first person executed for believing it, and teaching it. However, he was not the first one to die believing it.

No, the first ‘believer’ to die was a thief. We do not even know his name. History and the Bible do not record his name… Just that he was the first.

Who was this guy and why is ‘he’ important to us?

When Jesus was crucified (hung on a cross), He was crucified with two other men. The Bible tells us that they were thieves (convicted criminals). We read ‘their story’ in Luke 23:39-43.

One of the thieves reviled and mocked Jesus.

The other did not, in Luke 23:40-41, he defends Jesus, “But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

He goes on in verse 42, “Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

This in the simplest terms is the ‘gospel of salvation’!

Was this some kind of ‘special’ salvation (as some religions claim)? Alternatively, was this the entire ‘gospel’ message in the K.I.S.S. format?

This is the K.I.S.S. ‘gospel’.

Let us look the ‘elements’ of the thief’s declaration.
The thief admitted that he deserved to be condemned, that he deserved to die for his own crimes (vs. 40 & 41).
The thief recognized Jesus’ was blameless (vs. 41).
The thief recognized that Jesus was ‘his’ master by using the title ‘Lord’ (vs. 42).
The thief recognized Jesus was more than just a man and in fact ‘The King’ (which meant The Messiah) (vs. 42).
Most importantly, the thief asked to be ‘remembered’ (vs. 42).

The thief admitted that he was getting ‘what he deserved’. The thief ‘knew’ because of his own actions, there was nothing but a guilty verdict and death. The thief ‘knew’ that the only way ‘out’ of his condemnation was if Jesus Christ ‘remembered’ him. That is, nothing the thief could do was worth anything, only Jesus’ actions could save him.

How did Jesus Christ answer this thief?

“And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”” Luke 23:43.

Jesus Christ saved the thief. This unnamed thief was the first person to die ‘believing’ the ‘whole’ ‘gospel of salvation’. He was the first ‘Christian’ to die. Ephesians 2:8, tells us it is not of ourselves, it is a gift. Jesus Christ did not ‘owe’ the thief anything; He gave the thief a place in ‘Paradise’.

That is the Promise of the gospel of salvation - believe and you will be saved!

This unnamed thief is important to us because his ‘profession and belief’ was the definition of salvation made simple.

It really is that simple…

‘Another’ Perspective

Look at it this way. Joe D. is a criminal. Joe committed a crime. Joe is caught. He is tried, and convicted. Joe D. is then sentenced to die in the electric chair. The day of execution arrives. Joe is strapped down in the chair. The warden is about to throw the switch.
The lawyers have appealed; they have argued every ‘angle’ of the case. They have petitioned the governor. They argue that after the conviction, Joe was a ‘model’ prisoner; he should receive a ‘stay’ or have his sentence commuted to ‘life’. The governor rebuts them with the law is the law and there is no recourse, except to have the sentence carried out. The governor’s ‘hands are tied’. Joe D. has even petitioned the President.

The clock ticks closer to the ‘time’. The warden asks Joe D. if he has any ‘last words’.
Joe replies, “Yes, I did it. I am guilty. I deserve to die. I am sorry; I wish I had never done it. There is nothing I can do to change the fact that I am guilty!”

Suddenly, the phone rings. It is not, as everyone expects, the governor granting a stay of execution… Instead, it is the President. The President pardons Joe D.
A pardon is not the same as a reversed verdict. A pardon is the ‘release from the penalty’ of a crime. It does not say that the crime never occurred or that the person convicted did not commit the crime… Just the opposite, a pardon says that a person did commit the crime, but is being released from the penalty of the crime - as if the crime never occurred. Further, Joe D can never be tried for this crime again, ever!

That is ‘us’. Romans 3:10 tells us that none of us are righteous. Romans 3:23 and 5:12 go further - directly they tell us we have all sinned. That means, like Joe D. we are guilty. There is a sentence for guilty verdict. Romans 6:23 tells us, “the wages of sin is death!”

Just as Joe D. was pardoned, we too can be ‘pardoned’. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." John 5:24

That is by believing in the ‘saving grace’ of Jesus Christ, we are given a pardon. Unfortunately, unlike the case of Joe D. God’s law is not the same as ‘man’s’ law.
God’s law demands that crimes must be punished. There was a crime, someone has to do the time.
Some religions claim we must be ‘purged’ of the crimes even though we have been pardoned.
The Bible says differently, Isaiah 53:6b says, “And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Sin is a ‘crime’ (against God). The penalty for the crime is death. With a pardon, we get a ‘release from the penalty’ of the crime. Nevertheless, according to God’s law, someone has to ‘do the time’, in our case, someone has to die for the crime…

God loves us enough to pardon us… Yes! He loves us even more than that, His justice must be satisfied… Someone has to die, period.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6

God will not only pardon us by “laying on Him the iniquity of us all”, Jesus Christ died to fulfill the law. God’s justice demands someone pay the price - Jesus did! Romans 6:10, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”

Unlike Joe D., the President does not call ‘at the last second’ to give us a pardon. Jesus Christ does it instantly when we ask. He has already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, now all we have to do is ask for the pardon.

Soul for Sale?

In the news again are a number of people that have ‘auctioned’ their souls to the highest bidder on internet auction sites. One even said, “I'm not really worried about selling it, unless the devil has an account…”

Hmm, it is an interesting thought. How much is a soul worth? According to some of the news reports, a human soul sells for somewhere between 99 cents and a few hundred dollars. That is not very much.

One could comment on the sad state of human existence. It is sad that anyone would want to sell his or her own soul. It is even sadder that someone would want to buy another’s soul. (Maybe I could understand it if someone like Adolph Hitler was in the market for someone else’s soul, but the bidders all seemed to be ‘average folks’.) One could ‘presume’ that the desire to purchase someone else’s soul was a desire to ‘enrich’ one’s own possibilities in light of eternity. That idea would make a market price for say, the Pope’s soul, worth ‘a fortune’. (Then again, cut out the intermediary and purchase indulgences from the Catholic Church to insure one’s soul.)

Unfortunately, these auctions of a soul seem to be about money and novelty, and not a matter of eternity. As one seller stated, “I’m not using it anyway.” He also said he was considering the idea of auctioning his morals. Guess he is not using those either if he is willing to sell his soul.

There is an interesting legal question involved here. One of the sellers is supposedly in college to become a lawyer (one could argue that lawyers do not have souls to begin with). More importantly, is the legality of the sale. The question is; is it legal to sell something one does not own?

Is it ‘legal’ to sell one’s own soul? Technically, one can not sell what does not belong to them. Therein rests the ‘legal’ issue. Many believe, mistakenly, that they ‘own’ their immortal soul. This is incorrect [1]. One has ‘temporary custody’ of their soul. One may exercise some free will over their soul while it is in their custody, but one does not own their soul.

Eternal ownership of the soul belongs either to Satan or to God. Free will on the part of the individual determines which one actually owns it.

Romans 3:23 tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. As discussed in the three part series ‘Judged’, unless we, as individuals, make a conscious decision otherwise, Satan owns our immortal soul. The first time we ‘broke’ a commandment or disobeyed and ordinance of God, we ‘joined Adam’, giving ownership of our soul to Satan.

This is a novel idea. How many times have we heard the not so funny jest, “I’d sell my soul to Satan for…?” The reality is that he already owns it! Satan does not have to ‘make a deal’ to get one’s soul. Unfortunately, for the seller at the auction, the Devil does have an account there. Even more unfortunate, is that the Devil already has the winning bid. Satan got ‘ownership’ of souls very cheap. The total purchase price the Devil paid for ‘all’ the souls that were or will be is one bite of one fruit.
Romans 5:12 tells us, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--”

Adam screwed it up for all of us; he sold us all for one bite of one fruit, once. (Better Adam, because sure and certain, if it had not been Adam, it probably would have been me!)
There is no bargaining with the Devil. Satan does not need to bargain. What do we have or can we possibly offer that he wants and does not already have? He owns all of us! Satan, by default, or by one man’s fault(Adam’s), got all of our souls (quite a bargain).

That should be a very sobering thought… Satan already owns our souls!

Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Mr. Burke was wrong. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for man to do nothing. That is more correct, there are no ‘good’ men.

“For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.” Ecclesiastes 7:20
“As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;”” Romans 3:10

The only thing necessary for the Devil to get the soul is nothing. That is bad enough. It gets even worse. Absolutely nothing we can ‘do’ will ‘buy’ back our souls from Satan. There are no works, ceremonies, ‘magic charms’, ‘magic formulas’ or incantations that we can do that will be enough! If Bill Gates were to offer his entire fortune to the Devil to ‘buy’ one soul, it would not be enough. If one were to offer all the acts of charity of Mother Teresa, and all the ‘Saints’ in the Catholic Church, all the acts of martyrdom by Muslims, and all the sermons ever preached by Protestant preachers it would not be enough to purchase one single soul…

We have to understand Satan covets our souls…

To Satan, our souls are prizes. Satan will do whatever he can do to keep our souls. There are two reasons Satan covets our souls. The first is a very plain and simple truth. Every soul Satan gets to keep is an insult to God’s perfect plan. God did not ‘want’ Adam to take a bite of that fruit.

The Bible tells us, in a straightforward manner, that God wants our souls. Remember we have all sinned (Romans 3:23; 3:10). Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”

These verses tell us that we have sinned and are wicked and evil. What does God say about us, even though we have sinned and are ‘desperately wicked’?
“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die…?’” Ezekiel 33:11

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

Our souls are ‘in contention’. Satan wants, covets and prizes our souls because his getting them represents an insult to God. God wants our souls too.

The second reason Satan wants, covets and prizes our souls is that while we have ‘custody’ of our souls, we have something Satan does not have!

We have a choice!

Satan may own our souls, but while we have ‘custody’ of them, we have a choice as to whether or not he gets to keep them. Satan does not have that choice… Satan does not have an ‘option’ (not that he wants one, but he covets our ‘option’).

We have stated there is nothing we can ‘do’ to buy our souls. No amount of money, no works, nothing we can ‘do’ would be worth enough to ‘buy’ our souls… They are that valuable… (That makes a soul worth more than a few hundred dollars at an auction!)

BUT!

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (Matthew 10:28)

“…the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…” 1 Timothy 2:5b-6a

Christ gave His own life - to buy our souls back from Satan!

God wants our souls so badly, He gave His own Son’s life to buy them back from Satan…

He (God) gave us the opportunity to have our souls ‘auctioned’ to a higher bidder! Our souls are ‘on sale’. Satan owns them, but Christ ransomed them. All we have to do is choose to believe. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

While some people, looking for their 15 minutes of fame, are auctioning their souls on the internet, we see the Truth! We do not own our souls - Satan does. It does not have to stay that way. God gave us the ‘purchase price’ of our souls so that HE (God) gets ownership, not Satan. Because of Adam’s choice to sell us for a bite of fruit, we have to make a choice to have God ‘buy’ us back with the blood of His Son.

QUESTION!
WHO DO YOU WANT TO HAVE ETERNAL OWNERSHIP OF YOUR SOUL?

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

For the brief time here on earth, while you have temporary custody, the ‘eternal’ ownership of your soul is in question. Again, who do you want to have ownership of your soul? Do you want your soul to belong to a loving, caring, compassionate being that views you as a unique creature to be valued, wants your company and was willing to pay an incredible price for it? Or do you want your soul to belong to hateful, spiteful being, that sees your soul as simply another notch on its whip handle, to be treated with contempt and wants to take away the thing it covets, your ‘choice’?

For me, Joshua said it best in the final phrase of Joshua 24:15, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

“And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,” Acts 16:30-31

Believe and have your soul ransomed, or do not and leave it to Satan.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for man to do nothing.


If you have decided, you want your soul to go to the ‘high bidder’, God - the one who paid the ransom… Bequeath your soul to Him with a ‘prayer of salvation’. You can find one here in “Escape Condemnation - Judged part 2” or a Google search “Prayer of Salvation” - there are hundreds of ‘prayers’ listed - most acknowledge the same thing: - Believe in the ransom of Christ because without it your soul belongs to Satan.



[1] When talking about ‘ownership’ of the soul, God, initially owns our souls. As stated, the first time we sin, we ‘die’ - Satan gets ownership…
Ezekiel 18:4 specifically tells us who ‘owns’ our soul. God is speaking and says, ““Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.”
God made and owns all souls (Num. 16:22; 27:16; Is. 42:5; 57:16)
Satan gets ownership the first time we sin. (Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 6:23)

Have I Sinned?

The three part series here, ‘Judged’ quotes Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. The earlier article “Seeing Black & White in a World of Shades of Grey” shows “Absolute Moral truth exists and the Bible defines that truth.”

Some believe that they have not, in fact, ever sinned. How does one know? Let us look at the definition of ‘sin’. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (M-W) defines ‘sin’ as: “an offense against religious or moral law” and “transgression of the law of God”.

What ‘law’ of God defines ‘transgression’? The simplest place to ‘define’ the ‘Law of God’ is the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the ‘benchmark’ of moral law.
There are three distinct reasons why. The first is quite simple. They are ‘absolutes’. A humanistic society wants to deny the existence of ‘absolutes’ and make everything situational. Anything one does, one can rationalize or justify as not ‘wrong’. The second reason is they ‘prove’ (test, verify) that everyone is guilty of sin. The third reason is more obscure but is quite significant.
Jesus Christ was God incarnate. He obeyed the ‘Law of God’ perfectly. That is the basis of our hope in salvation. However, the ‘Law of God’ or the Ten Commandments themselves are truly extraordinary.
Where did the Ten Commandments come from? We acknowledge that they are in the Bible. We understand this, whether we believe the Bible or not. The Ten Commandments are in the Bible. Again, where did they come from? The Bible tells us that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses at Mount Sinai from inside a cloud of fire and smoke. Anyone that has seen the “Ten Commandments” movie with Charlton Heston probably remembers the depiction of the scene. Consider though, that GOD spoke from Heaven! With His own hand HE wrote the Ten Commandments. There are very few times that God speaks directly for Himself from heaven, in the Bible. For Him to have not only told Moses the Ten Commandments, but also to have written them with His own hand makes them unique.
Additionally, Jesus explained and clarified the ‘Law’ in what is called the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. The ‘Sermon on the Mount’ is in the book of Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 1 through Chapter 7 verse 23.

Let us take a measure of sin.
The Ten Commandments are in the Bible in Exodus 20:1-17 [crf. Deuteronomy 5:1-21]
1st Commandment
vs. 3, “You shall not have other gods besides me.”

….Is God the first priority of your life? Does worshiping God have the place of pre-eminence? Does money, work, family or a Sunday football game take priority over God?

O YES

O NO

2nd Commandment
vs. 4, “You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; (5) you shall not bow down before them or worship them…”
We refer to the ‘New Testament’ to further explain and clarify the definition of ‘worshiping idols’.
…Luke 16:13 says, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The Message Bible is clearer, “No worker can serve two bosses: He’ll either hate the first and love the second or adore the first and despise the second. You can’t serve both God and the Bank.”

….Is making money more important than worshiping God? As in the First Commandment, has anything ever been more important to you than God? Money, possessions, a person, a sport can all be idols. Again, looking at M-W for a current definition, “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion”. To what are you ‘devoted’? If you can ‘quote’ 10 statistics about baseball or football, but cannot quote 10 Bible verses, there is a problem!

O YES

O NO

3rd Commandment
vs. 7, “You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain.”
…Refer to the ‘New Testament’ for added definition. Matthew 5:34-36, “But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.”

….Ever, in the heat of the moment said, “G*% Damn” or “J@$^s Ch+@t”? Ever even ‘cuss’ at all?

O YES

O NO

4th Commandment
vs. 8, “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”

….Ever done anything on the Sabbath - other than worship God? It doesn’t matter if you ‘claim’ Saturday or Sunday as the Sabbath, do you ‘keep it holy’? Is it a special day, one in seven, where one commits the day to rest and worship.

O YES

O NO

5th Commandment
vs. 12, “Honor your father and your mother…”

….Ever disrespected or ‘talked back’ to your parents? Ever disobey your parents? Ever disobeyed, disrespected, or ‘talked back’ to an authority placed over you by your parents (babysitter, older sibling, or teacher)? Ever let your parents ‘down’?

O YES

O NO

6th Commandment
vs. 13, “You shall not kill.” [Commit murder]

….Most would instantly answer ‘no’ to this. However, do you also follow the instructions in Matthew 5 about loving your enemy? How about, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you?” Both of these are ways of ‘murdering’ the spirit of a person. Ever been so angry you wished someone dead?

O YES

O NO

7th Commandment
vs. 14, “You shall not commit adultery.
Again, we refer to the ‘New Testament’ for ‘clarification’ of the definition of ‘committing adultery’.
…Matthew 5:28, “But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

….Ever have sex with anyone Not your legal spouse (or even with your spouse before you were married)? Ever even just fantasize about having sex with anyone?

O YES

O NO

8th Commandment
vs. 15 “You shall not steal.”

….Ever take anything that does not belong to you? This is broader than one might ‘rationalize’. If you have ever taken a ‘long lunch’ or extended a ‘break’ and been paid for that time, you have stolen money from your employer. If you have ever taken or used company property (like pens, paper, or stamps), you have stolen. If you ever ‘surfed’ the net on company time, you have stolen. If you ever ‘borrowed’ software, you have stolen. Time is the single most ‘stolen’ thing in the world. Any period, during a workday, when you are not actively pursuing the job you are paid for you are stealing time (and money). Time is an irreplaceable resource. Once a moment has passed, it is gone forever. Ever ‘steal’ someone else’s time? If you have ever been purposely late to a meeting with another person, you have stolen his or her time. If you have ever ‘stood someone up’ you have stolen his or her time.

O YES

O NO

9th Commandment
vs. 16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

….Ever gossiped? Ever said anything about anyone that you do not know is true? Ever told a story about someone? Ever blamed someone else for something you did? Ever let someone take the blame for something you did by silence? Ever tell even a ‘little white’ lie, or fib?

O YES

O NO

10th Commandment
vs. 17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him.”

….Next to ‘stealing time’ this is probably the most ‘common sin’. Did you ever want someone else’s shoes? How about wanting their car, or their girlfriend/boyfriend? Ever try and ‘keep up with the Jones’? Ever want another’s talent, power, prestige, or money?
[Put this into perspective: Did you ever wish you had Michael Jordan’s talent at basketball? Ever wish you had Bill Gates’ money? Ever wish you looked like someone else, or had ‘their body’?]

O YES

O NO

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, You have sinned and "fall short of the glory of God". While the ‘Law’ exists to teach us how to live Godly lives, it also condemns us all to a ‘verdict’ of guilty in the eyes of God. God knows we are ‘incapable’ of perfectly fulfilling the law. Under ‘Old Testament’ Law, there was a series of animal sacrifices to ‘cover’ those sins (if one became a Jew, and followed the prescribed rituals [1]).
Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, made a single sacrifice for ‘all’ sins, past, present and future!
Hebrews 10:10-12 explains, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man[Jesus Christ], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,”
Understand this, I am not perfect… 1 Timothy 1:15 applies to me! "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."
The purpose of the ‘Law’ is to show us we NEED the forgiveness of sins guaranteed by Christ’s sacrifice before we are judged. (See the three part article ‘Judged’ below.)

Again, Romans 3:23 says “all have sinned”. The Ten Commandments ‘prove’ that truth.



[1] Under Jewish (Old Testament) Law, the ritual sacrifices for covering sins were a quite involved process. It contains two elements that are ‘impossible’ to fulfill today. First, the sacrifices must occur in the ‘Temple’ (not a synagogue). There is no Temple today. The ‘Temple of Herod’ in Jerusalem was destroyed around 70 A.D. There is currently a Muslim Mosque on the site of the temple (part of the ongoing ‘feud’ between Palestinians and Jews (see “Palestine vs. Israel OR Muslims vs. ‘The World’” below). Additionally, only a High Priest, a Jew, can make those offerings. When the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the patrilineal records of the Tribes of Israel were destroyed also. Therefore, there is only ‘one’ Jew that can ‘prove’ his lineage as a Jew (Jesus Christ - His parental lineage is recorded in Matthew and Luke). [This article was edited 14 October, 2005 - See the comments section: Kurt rightfully pointed out an error (mine) regarding the lineage of Christ, I mistakenly attributed the lineage to the House of Levi, Not the House of Judah - descendant of David, King of Israel - The distinction provides Jesus' claim to both the throne of Israel, and the Priesthood of Israel... Thus making Him both the only person 'capable' of claiming the throne and the only Priest capable of fulfilling Judaic/Mosaic Law regarding priests.]