How can Christians say Jesus is the only way to God?
How can Christians say Jesus is the only way to God?
Isaiah 45:21
“There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.”
John 14:6
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
How can Christians be so sure they’re right and everyone else is wrong? Isn’t that arrogant?
Logically, it’s not possible for all the major world religions to be valid ways to God. As seen in the verses above, Christianity states that the God of the Bible is the only true God and salvation is only possible by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord. Judaism states that the God of the Torah/Old Testament is the only true God, but that Jesus is not the Messiah, putting it directly at odds with Christianity. Jesus either is the Messiah, or he is not. If he is, Judaism is not a valid way to God; if he is not, Christianity is not a valid way to God. The mutual exclusion only grows when other religions are added: Islam says that Allah is the only true God, and that anyone who says Christ is the Son of God will be condemned (Qur’an, 5:72, 9:30). Furthermore, if religions other than Christianity are valid ways to God, then one of Christianity’s basic principles is false; in that case, can it still be said to be a valid, trustworthy religion? (See also 1 Cor 15:14-19.)
No matter what belief system you adopt, you will be saying that your system is right and that the billions of people who don’t accept it are wrong. If Islam is correct, the billions of non-Muslims are wrong; if Orthodox Judaism is correct, the billions of Gentiles are wrong. If it is correct to approve of multiple belief systems because they’re all valid ways of achieving spiritual enlightenment, the billions of Christians, Jews, Muslims and others who belive in exclusive religions are intolerant and therefore wrong.
How can Christians be sure their religion is the right one? Being born into a Christian family or growing up in a Christian community doesn’t make one a Christian; culture and ethnicity don’t determine one’s relationship with God. Instead, people become Christians because they are convinced of the truth of Christianity and/or have had experiences with God – in short, they have good reasons for believing Christianity to be true. (See the testimonies of people who have become Christians.) Also, Christians are not saying that their personal ideas are true, but that the Christian God exists, and his words are true.
Furthermore, Christianity is unique among religions because it addresses the fact that we can never be good enough to be in the presence of a perfect, holy God. In order to be perfectly good, we would have to be doing good all the time. If we do something wrong, we can’t undo it, and we can no longer be considered perfect. Nor can we do more good to make up for our wrongs, for perfection requires doing the most good possible at all times – we can’t be more than perfect to make up for when we’re less than perfect. Other religions teach that we can somehow do enough good to earn heaven or nirvana, but they don’t address the fact that we continually make mistakes. Christianity teaches that our sins were paid for by Jesus’ death on the cross, and that by accepting his payment and believing in him we can be forgiven; we don’t have to earn our way into heaven, which is a good thing, because we can’t do it. Christ is the only way to God, because without the forgiveness that comes through his death and resurrection, there’s no way for us to be able to stand before a holy God.
Saying that Christianity is right does not mean that Christians themselves are right about everything, or that they are innately superior to non-Christians. What Christianity teaches is that both Christians and non-Christians “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and need salvation, which comes only by the grace of God, not the individual’s actions or merits (Eph 2:8-9, 1 Cor 1:26-31).
Christianity is intolerant of other beliefs
Is refusing to call a belief false always the right thing to do? For instance, is it right to say that racism and Nazism are simply alternate belief systems that we shouldn’t pass judgment on, or should we condemn these beliefs as being morally wrong? If someone believes they have the right to rape or kill whomever they please, should we accept their beliefs as an alternate lifestyle, or denounce them? Tolerance is an admirable virtue in many circumstances, but tolerating wrong by refusing to say it’s wrong is in itself wrong. If Christianity is true, then there is only one God and salvation comes only through Him, and religions that deny this are not merely alternate forms of spiritual expression, but systems of belief that prevent their adherents from obtaining salvation. If Christ is in fact the only way to God, then to claim that he’s not is both false and dangerous. If someone has a fatal disease, telling them that they don’t need to seek medical treatment is wrong. If someone can only have salvation by accepting Christ as their Savior, telling them they don’t need to accept Christ is even more wrong, no matter how tolerant or well-meaning it may seem to be.
Christianity is exclusive – those outside the church aren’t saved
First of all, would a religion that taught that everyone goes to heaven be a good religion? We would all like to think that we and our loved ones will go to heaven. Yet if everyone automatically goes to heaven, this includes 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 there are cases when it’s morally right for people to be excluded from heaven.
Christianity does not teach that only Christians deserve to go to heaven. Rather, it teaches that no one deserves to go to heaven, because we have all done wrong during our lives (Rom 3:23). We can gain admittance 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 the ends of the earth! (Is 45:22)
I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all…
(1 Tim 2:1, 3-6; 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). Thus, far from being exclusive, Christianity is inclusive. Anyone who chooses to accept Christ as Lord and Savior is a Christian and has equal standing with all other Christians before God.
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. (Gal 3:26-28)
Why is Jesus the Only Way to God?
Why is Jesus the Only Way to God?
People are constantly asking, “What’s so special about Jesus? Why is He the only way that someone can know God?”
Along with the problem of the heathen, there is no question asked more often than this one. We are accused of being narrow-minded because we assert there is no other way to get to God.
The first point to make is that we did not invent the claim of Jesus being the only way. This is not our claim; it is His. We are merely relating His claim, and the claim of the writers of the New Testament. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6, NASB) and, “For unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24, NASB).
The apostle Peter echoed these words, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, KJV). St. Paul concurred, “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus… . ”(I Timothy 2:5, KJV).
It is therefore the united testimony of the New Testament that no one can know God the Father except through the person of Jesus Christ. To understand why this is so, we must go back to the beginning. An infinite-personal God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) and man in his own image (Genesis 1:26). When He had finished creating, everything was good (Genesis 1:31). Man and woman were placed in a perfect environment, with all their needs taken care of. They were given only one prohibition; they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest they die (Genesis 2:17). Unfortunately, they did eat of the tree (Genesis 3), and the result was a fall in four different areas. The relationship between God and man was now broken, as can be seen from Adam’s and Eve’s attempting to hide from God (Genesis 3:8). The relationship between man and his fellow man was severed, with both Adam and Eve arguing and trying to pass the blame to someone else (Genesis 3:12, 13). The bond between man and nature also was broken, with the ground producing thorns and thistles and the animal world no longer being benevolent (Genesis 3:17, 18). Man also became separated from himself, with a feeling of emptiness and incompleteness, something he had not experienced before the fall. However, God promised to make all these things right and gave His word that He would send a Saviour, or Messiah, who would deliver the entire creation from the bondage of sin (Genesis 3:15). The Old Testament kept repeating the theme that some day this person would come into the world and set mankind free. God’s Word did indeed come true. God became a man in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 29). Jesus eventually died in our place in order that we could enjoy again a right relationship with God. The Bible says, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” and “he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:19, 21, KJV). Jesus has paved the way! God has done it all, and our responsibility is to accept that fact.
We can do nothing to add to the work of Jesus; it has all been done for us. If mankind could have reached God any other way, then Jesus would not have had to die. His death illustrates the fact that there is no other way. Therefore, no other religion or religious leader can bring someone to the knowledge of the one true God. But the death of Jesus is not the end of the story. Let us illustrate why we prefer Jesus over other religious leaders. Suppose a group of us are taking a hike in a very dense forest. As we get deeper into the forest, we become lost. Realizing that taking the wrong path now might mean we will lose our lives, we begin to be afraid. However, we soon notice that ahead in the distance where the trail splits, there are two human forms at the fork in the road. Running up to these people, we notice that one has on a park ranger uniform, and he is standing there perfectly healthy and alive, while the other person is lying face down, dead. Now which of these two are we going to ask about the way out?
Obviously, the one who is living. When it comes to eternal matters, we are going to ask the one who is alive the way out of the predicament. This is not Mohammed, not Confucius, but Jesus Christ. Jesus is unique. He came back from the dead. This demonstrates He is the one whom He claimed to be (Romans 1:4), the unique Son of God and the only way by which a person can have a personal relationship with the true and living God.
