The following was posted on a message board I go to:
“I have been a Christian all my life and never considered giving up Christianity until now. My reason is found in the Bible itself. As much as I want to continue believing that Christianity is true, I feel that there is no getting around this passage.
Matthew 16:27-28:
“For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Would you have a specific response to this? Evidently the person has a problem that Jesus had not returned during the lifetimes of those He was speaking to. They don’t buy the transfiguration theory.
First, the transfiguration is not a theory. It was an actual event. And the reason this person does not buy it is that it destroys his excuse for not believing. This tells me the person was never saved in the first place.
Taking a couple of verses out of the Bible and using them as an excuse for non-belief is a typical human reaction. They say, “I want to believe that Christianity is true, but I feel that there is no getting around this passage” as if it’s the Bible’s fault they can’t believe. The fact is your friend has rejected the obvious fulfillment of the Lord’s promise in the next few verses (Matt. 17:1-8) and there is no other satisfactory explanation.
Notice, even the disciples who were not with Him on the mountain ever asked Him when He was going to keep His promise. They all knew it had happened.