Yesterday, Bernard L. Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 accounts of fraud, money laundering, perjury, and theft in a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 4,800 clients of $64.8 billion of investment funds. Maddoff’s formal confession resulted in an immediate revocation of his bail and it could result in a maximum prison sentence of 150 years!Ponzi Schemes
A Ponzi scheme, named after Charles Ponzi who was a con-man in the 1920’s, lures investors with the promises of unusually high returns due to the investment manager’s savvy, skill, or niche market. The returns are repaid not from realized profits, but from new capital invested by new investors. Instead of actually being paid their investment profits, most investors would reinvest their gains in the hope of even higher investment returns. The scheme can go on as long as it continues to attract new investors and old investors don’t try to withdraw their money all at one time.
In essence, a Ponzi scheme is a sham. It is an attractive façade with no real substance. It promises a return that it will never deliver. It sounds good when you hear it, but when you look behind the scenes you find only false promises, hollowness, and deceit.
The GOSPEL is No Ponzi Scheme
The Gospel is no Ponzi scheme. Non-Christians can often think the gospel is not really the good news it promises. They can look at the cost of following Jesus Christ and think, “That’s a pretty hefty investment for something I’m not confident will deliver what it promises. I much rather invest in this life and the things I can touch, and see, and experience here and now.”
The church has largely contributed to this skepticism about Christianity. Our fallen leaders, and split churches, and financial scams have given non-Christians many good reasons to distrust the Christian faith.
The Gospel is Good News that Delivers
But the gospel is not based on the savvy of some false prophet but on the unfailing, unchanging, and faithful promises of God. It promises that all who repent of their godless life and place their faith in Jesus Christ will be forgiven for their sin, reconciled to God, and spend life after death in the presence of God for all eternity. It does not make promises it cannot deliver.
The Gospel is a Grounded on a Historical Person
The gospel is grounded on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus really was a historical person who lived in the first century. He really taught, and performed miracles, and died on a cross, and rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. There were eyewitnesses who saw Jesus, and heard Jesus, and followed Jesus. There is even extra-biblical evidence that testifies the existence of Jesus. No serious historian would deny the historicity of Jesus.
The Gospel is Dependent upon the Resurrection
The resurrection, also a historical event, is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Christianity stands or falls based on the reliability of the resurrection. Paul says,
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:13If Christ did not rise from the dead then sin has not been paid for death has not been defeated. If sin has not been paid for and death not defeated then we are still in our sins. If we are still in our sins then we are not reconciled to God and we will not spend eternity with God. If Christ did not rise from the dead then Christianity is a Ponzi scheme.
But Christ has risen from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is historically reliable. Christ has risen from the dead, sin has been paid for, all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ are reconciled to God and promised eternal life. The gospel is no Ponzi scheme. It delivers what it promises…for all eternity.
