June 27, 2008
A recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found 57 percent of Evangelical Christians believe there is more than one path to God. Folks, there needs to be some preaching and Bible study being done out there as these poll results show there is a void of knowledge among those call on the name of Christ.
What I would like to the talk about is the exclusivity of the gospel. No man, woman or child, no matter what they have done in their lives are barred from calling on Jesus, repenting of their sin and accepting him as their personal savior — get that, no one is barred.
What is barred, though; is that without the blood of Christ, we would never be able to come to the Father.
Let us look at what was leading up to John 14. Jesus had just had his final meal with his disciples, Jesus had humbled himself and washed their feet as a symbol of his sacrifice and also as an example to us, because by spreading the true gospel of Christ, we in essence become servants.
Jesus then told his disciples he was going to be betrayed and that Jesus and the Father would be glorified, through his death and resurrection. Then Jesus told Peter, one of the stalwarts, that he would deny Jesus that very night.
Needless to say, the disciples were upset and confused. For three years the disciples walked with God and now he said he was going away. They were in disarray, but Jesus comforted them only as a loving shepherd could.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be there with me that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." — John 14:1-4
Like I said, the disciples were a bit confused at the time.
"Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:5-6
There you have it, the most unambiguous statement of salvation — Jesus is the way.
In Hinduism, no belief in God is required for salvation. For a Hindu, salvation is attained through self realization. It can be achieved through human actions.
For Buddhism, salvation or Nirvana, also is achieved through self realization.
There are other world religions who believe in a system of faith and works, but that salvation can never be fully guaranteed.
While some religions pay homage to the name of their god, — while I am by no means an expert on any religion — in most instances it seems these religions tend to make the worshiper focus on themselves rather than on God to achieve eternal life.
It's striking how polar opposite the teachings of Christ are on this subject. We can't get to the Father, it is only through Jesus we can achieve it. We must wash ourselves in his blood in order to be cleaned.
We must confess our sins before Christ who was nailed to a tree for our sakes, and who arose again to give us hope of an eternity with him.
I'm sorry folks, there is no other way to God than through Jesus Christ.
"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." — John 1:10-13
God came to us in Christ for a singular purpose — to reconcile the world back to Him to save us from what was wrought by man.
With Adam, sin entered and ruined the world. As Charles Spurgeon said, "The reason why man cannot come to God as he did in the garden is, that God is the same, but man is changed."
We changed, we fell from direct contact with God and there's nothing on earth we can do to get that back save one thing — Jesus Christ.
Remember the survey, about 80 percent of America believes in God. About 70 percent of those don't believe Christ is the exclusive way to God; and about 57 percent of Evangelicals feel the same way.
Here's Spurgeon's answer to those who seek God other than through Jesus Christ, "Your thanksgiving and your praise are unacceptable to the God you worship, for that God has declared that no man cometh to him except through his Son, Jesus Christ. If then, you reject the way of access and persist in bringing your prayers and your thanksgivings to him in a way which he does not acknowledge, remember, this shalt thou have as the answer to thy prayers and thanksgivings; thou shalt lie down in sorrow when God shall judge thee at the last great day."
Here are Jesus' authoritative words on the subject, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." — John 3:16-18
There is nothing else that needs to be said, but as a Christian, we bear a great burden on our shoulders if we withhold the gospel of Christ from the world because we hold to the mistaken belief there are many paths to God.
Jesus is our only path — all others lead to death.
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