Denny answers:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).
Some people say, “As long as people truly follow their religions or beliefs—whether Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, or New Age—why wouldn’t a loving God let them into heaven?” That’s what some people say, but they are not God. Let’s see what God says in His Word, the Bible.
• Every person is a sinner: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
• The punishment for sin is death, separation from God in a place called hell: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23b).
• We cannot save ourselves by good works: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• God put His own Son to death to take the punishment for believing sinners: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
• Jesus is the one way of salvation: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Some people think they can get to God many ways. After all, many different trails can take you to the same mountaintop. But Jesus said He is the only road to heaven; all the other roads lead to hell: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
God made His own Son the one way of salvation. Only Jesus could die in the place of believers because He is the holy God and only sinless Man (2 Corinthians 5:21). A sinner cannot pay the punishment for the sin of others. A sinner has to pay his own punishment of death. And no one but God the Son could make up for sinning against the holy God.
Besides, why would God let His beloved Son suffer and die on the cross if there were other ways to save sinners? Before dying on the cross, Jesus even asked God, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39b). But no other way was possible. Jesus bearing the wrath of God against sinners was the only possible way for believers to escape judgment and have an eternal relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus is the only way to be saved. Thank You, Lord Jesus! May we tell others about the one way, truth, and life!
Bible Truth
- "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
- "Christ himself suffered for sins once. He was not guilty, but he suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18, NCV).
- "He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:15-17).
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