Only One Way In

One Way In
I hear people say “all paths lead to God” or “All religions lead to the same place”. Well I have to say don’t lump belief in Jesus Christ with that same place, or just one of the many paths. People will say I sound narrow minded by saying Jesus is the only way to God. The truth is I would like to be open to all paths leading to God, that would be nice, but I can’t. I would like it if all ways lead to the same God, but I can’t say that I believe that and believe in Jesus. The reason is that this is not my claim, or my interpretation, or my invention. Jesus said He was the only way, it’s His claim, not mine, and it is the claim of the people who wrote the New Testament who knew Jesus first hand.
Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father , but through me (John 14:6). Not one way but THE WAY. He also said “For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24).
Jesus also said “Broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Jesus also said this about other ways in. “He who does not enter the sheep fold by the door, but climbs in another way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1) And Jesus said this “Most assuredly I say to you I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7). So here it is in John 10, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” (John 10:9). Again not a door but THE DOOR. Apostle Peter said it this way in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”.
God said it this way (Isa. 43:11; Hos. 13:4) “I, even I, am the Lord; and there is no savior besides me”. But Scripture also says that Jesus is the only savior. How can that be? Because Jesus is also called “God and Savior” (Titus 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:1) and “Lord and Savior” (2 Pet 1:1, 2:20, 3:2, 3:18). He is the only savior, for the simple reason that He alone is the only person that was both God and man. In fact, the four Gospels are filled with instances in which Jesus commanded people to follow Him (Mark 1:17, for example). Yet the bible says we are only to follow God Himself (I Kings 18:21). We are to follow Jesus for the simple reason that He leads to God and is God Himself (see “Who Is This Jesus” in this blog). No mere human being can save us – no priest, rabbi, pope, guru, or prophet. They promise much but deliver nothing, only Jesus defeated death. The priest with his beads and candles is not any better than the witch doctor with his feathers and bones. They are not in the same class with Jesus.
Intolerance?
So this may appear to be intolerant but would a religion or belief system that taught that everyone goes to heaven be a good one? We would all like to think that we and our loved ones will all go to heaven. Yet if everyone automatically goes to heaven, then this would include evil people as well as good people. Should an unrepentant killer go to heaven? Should someone who enjoys torturing people, or who molests children and feels no guilt, go to heaven? If not, then you would agree that there are cases when it's morally right for people to be excluded from heaven. Is that being intolerant?
Christianity does not teach that only Christians deserve to go to heaven. The truth is, it teaches that no one deserves to go to heaven, because we have all done wrong during our lives (Rom 3:23) and any sin excludes us. According to the bible we can only go to heaven by repenting of our wrongs, accepting Jesus Christ's death as payment for our wrongs and deciding to follow and worship him as Lord. The principle is that Jesus is the only way to God, not any particular church or denomination (Jn 6:40). Thus, salvation is accessible to everyone and is intended by God for everyone: Turn to me and be saved, all you to the ends of the earth. (Is 45:22) This is not intolerant but all inclusive.
Look at what is said in 1Tim 2:1 and 3-6, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone...This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men”. (See also Is 49:6, 52:10, Rev 5:9.) Indeed, there are people "from every nation, tribe, people and language" who will be saved (Rev 7:9). This is not exclusive at all, Christianity is inclusive. Anyone who chooses to accept Christ as Lord and Savior is included and has equal standing with all other Christians before God. I’m no better than anyone, I deserve the same as everyone else, to not get in. And only by grace do I get into the place where God resides.
“Well We Are All God’s Children” Are we?
Here is another one that I hear a lot “Well we are all God’s children”. Truth is according to the bible Adam was made in God’s image. But he didn’t keep up the image. And everyone born since has been born in Adam’s image not God's (Genesis 5:3) Adam begot a son in his own likeness. Everyone after Adam was in the sinful nature image of Adam, not God’s perfect image. So the only way back to being God’s children is to be adopted or married into the family. That why the bible calls the Christian believer the bride of Christ. Galatians 3:26-28 says this about those who believe in Jesus, You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Again not intolerant but all are welcome to be “sons of God”.
Religion is man’s invention and attempt to get to God. But the bible makes it very clear “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). If we are going to be saved from sin and know God, it must be through God’s way not a way of our own making. We cannot know God by human wisdom or philosophy (Col. 2:8; I Cor. 1:21). Why? It is because our minds are spiritually blinded by sin. The fact is, most of us are running from God, not trying to find Him (Rom. 3:11). There is no “sincere seeker,” and even if there was, sincerity itself is not enough. We need truth, not merely sincerity. One can believe something and be sincerely wrong. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Pro. 14:12). How foolish, then, is the nonsense that says, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere.” It does matter. It is a matter of life and death. God doesn’t say, “Pick a card, any card.” God says, “Follow Jesus Christ.” and Him alone.

Nor can any of us earn the right to know God. Good works are indeed our duty, but they do not earn a ticket to Heaven (Eph. 2:8-9). No man can ever come to know God by saying enough prayers, contributing to charity, fasting, attending religious meetings, lighting candles, trying to keep the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule, being baptized, joining a lodge, or any other good work or ritual. When would you know if you were good enough? And who would be the measuring stick? Doing good does not cancel out bad things, a crime is still a crime if done by me or Mother Teresa.

God’s way of salvation is only by God’s grace. God grants us the high privilege of knowing Him and His forgiveness solely by His free love, mercy, and forgiveness. We could never do enough good works to merit that. Also, this salvation is received by faith alone, not by human merit (Gal. 2).

What Does God Think of Other Religions?
God says in the bible over and over that He alone is the one true God (e.g. Isa. 44:6). The God of the bible utterly condemns atheism, polytheism, pantheism, and dualism. The God of the Bible says He is our creator and all other “gods” are false gods. So according to the bible Allah is a false god; Brahman is a false god; Krishna is a false god. They are mere idols. Scripture goes so far as to say that they are really demons (I Cor. 10:20). Obviously belief in the God of the bible eliminates belief in these others, so you can't say it fits into the "all ways lead to God" theory

Likewise, the bible says all the prophets of other religions are false prophets. Jesus said, “All who came before me were thieves and robbers” (John 10:8). They were wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). They did not get their messages from God, and therefore they cannot lead us to God. In fact, they only lead away from God. This applies to their writings as well (the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, etc.). God Himself said, “If they do not speak according to this Word [the Bible], it is because they have no light in them” (Isa. 8:20). Simply put, if the bible is truth then one cannot know the one true God by reading the religious texts of non-Christian religions. Why? Because they all point away from Jesus not to Him. We know God only through reading God’s true book, the Bible.

So, then, “Comparative Religion” is wrong to assert that “All religions are basically the same.” Such a claim is utter nonsense. Islam and Judaism believe in one God; Hinduism believes in many gods; while Buddhism believes all is God. They contradict each other and so cannot all be true. However, there is a sense in which they are all alike. They are all not pointing to Jesus as the only way. Some are closer to truth than others. But none of them lead to God. Any belief that points you away from Christ is the spirit of Antichrist (counterfeit Christ). Paul warned of false religions, including perversions of true Christianity, in Gal. 1:9, “If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed!” It sounds dangerous to try that path.

The good news is that God does have a way of salvation. He has given us a bridge whereby we can know Him. Jesus Christ is that bridge, and it is for everyone. Are Christians dogmatic to say that Jesus is the only way to God? Yes. We are dogmatic because God is dogmatic. Why do we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God? Because Jesus said so and he proved He is worth listening to by fulfilling over 300 prophecies, and doing an uncountable number of miracles and then coming back from the dead. His credentials are unquestionable. And why do we tell others? Because God loves them as much as he loves us. And doing anything else is telling them to “Go to Hell”. And that’s the only thing that I’m intolerant of.