The Exclusive Christ

John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am THE way, THE truth and THE life; no man cometh unto the Father but through me." It is significant that Jesus is not saying he is one of many ways, but THE way. If he is indeed THE way, or the only way, then all other ways must, of necessity be false. This claim of Jesus has infuriated people since he first uttered it, and will continue to upset people all over the world because many would like to believe that there are different ways to find peace with God. They have not understood who sets the rules.

There are people who have been taught that they must somehow do enough to appease God and escape his wrath. Trying to find out just how much is enough to appease God has been an insurmountable hill for men to climb. In various religions people do all sorts of things hoping to make up for their offenses against what they believe to be a holy God filled with wrath. From counting beads to acts of violence, the people in this group continue trying everything conceivable to make up for their wickedness. In the end, most of them either believe they can receive forgiveness through a priest, guru or some other holy man, or abandon the idea of doing enough to find forgiveness and decide it's just not worth the effort. Of course, there are also some who totally reject the idea of God and others who have no care for their welfare insofar as it relates to God. They live as if there were no eternity to consider and believe the end of all men is the grave. This is a grave mistake (no pun intended). There is no humor in dying in sin and waking up on the other side of death to face an eternity you didn't believe in, and yet many will do just that in spite of what God has done through his son to deliver them from spiritual blindness and ignorance. Sadly, a large portion of mankind will be in that category as prophesied in Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction; and many there be which go in thereat, Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." It is not that God is not willing to enlighten everyone, but rather the stiff-necked rebellion in the hearts of men that keeps them in the futility and blindness of their own opinions, false teachers and their own intellectual pride.

Another verse speaking of Jesus as the exclusive person who alone can deliver us from our sins is Acts 4:12 where Luke the physician writes "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Please notice that, not only is Luke making the same claim Jesus made, but he adds to the burden of men by saying it is through our Lord Jesus Christ that we must be saved. It is not optional! It is imperative! Apart from this salvation men are utterly lost and dying in sin with no hope of recovery in this life or the life to come. This mandate is for every person whether the choose to believe it or not.

Finally, 1 Timothy 2:5 states; "For there is ONE God and ONE mediator between God and man; the man Christ Jesus." This verse is the strongest claim of all because it reaffirms that Jesus is the only mediator between man and God, and it also says that the God of the Bible is the only God in the universe. A mediator is similar to a lawyer and sometimes called a go-between, and in this scripture a claim is so broadly made that it allows for no other. There is only one God who will sit in judgment on all men for all time and only one person who can stand before him on behalf of sinners; the man Christ Jesus!

Now, if we accept the claims above, we suddenly realize that these claims come from the Bible and so the Bible must be accepted or rejected as God's word to mankind. There are other books in the world about other gods that men bow down to and worship. There are idols of wood, granite, stone and other materials that men bow down to and worship. There are synagogues, temples and other places of worship claiming to be the house of God, or at least the house of some god. The Bible, however, makes it precisely clear that God does not live in temples made by the hands of men but is far above these things, and that includes the church buildings of professed Christians. It further makes it clear that the people of God are called the body of Christ and that all who have received his salvation are brothers and sisters in a universal family of believers.

The church then consists of all true believers - not a brick and mortar building or a cathedral or any other building on earth. It is a spiritual body; not a physical one. It is natural that some people will seek to refute what I say. After all, when has all mankind ever agreed on anything? The problem with rejecting what the Bible says about salvation is that death looms ahead for all of us, and we better be ready when it comes. We are given this life to prepare for eternity, and through his word, God has given us the one path to the peace he offers through the blood his son shed on Calvary.

If the gospel of Christianity is right, as I believe it is, then everyone who dies without Christ will face the judgment of God and eternal damnation with no hope of deliverance. If I am wrong, then there is nothing to worry about.

I think it is the greatest wisdom in the world to find out whether Christianity is what it claims to be BEFORE we enter eternity. After death there is no forgiveness, mercy or salvation offered, and only eternal damnation and separation from God is left. Tragic, considering what God has done to save us from it.