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Living in pluralistic society with many religions side-by-side, many take offense at the statement that Jesus is the only way to heaven. But it was Jesus himself, however, who said that he was the “Way, the Truth, the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me”. (John 14:6). Does this make God too exclusive for many of us today? And does this mean that anyone who is not a church-going Christian is automatically damned?
First of all, let’s deal with how it is that Jesus is the one “Way”. Jesus didn’t claim that he was the “Way” just out of an inflated sense of ego. The short answer is that he, and only he, has provided the payment of our “sin debt” to God the Father that satisfies the requirements of justice in the universe. Jesus’ primary mission on this planet was to be the atoning sacrifice that expiated our sins and brought us back into right standing with God. In the Old Testament, the Jews sacrificed lambs and bulls as a symbolic gesture of those animals taking the punishment of our sins. When Jesus arrived, we was the true “lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Mohammed wasn’t the atoning sacrifice for mankind. Buddha was not the atoning sacrifice. Nor was Confucius, Rev. Moon, or Pee Wee Herman. It was, and is Jesus. And because of that sacrifice, anyone can freely come to God, regardless of their past, or their ongoing human frailties, and be received by God as totally righteous. That is the Gospel in a nutshell. Many individuals who don’t actually understand this core truth of the Gospel take umbrage at the exclusivity of the Gospel. Usually, their argument against Jesus being the only way has nothing to do with understanding what Jesus said in that respect, or about him being the only avenue for forgiveness of sins, but instead will take the form of an anecdotal, albeit emotional appeal. It will sound something like this: “My late grandmother was the sweetest person that ever lived. She did only good things for people until the day that she died. She wasn’t a Christian. So are you telling me she is in hell?” If you consign granny to hell, then you instantly are branded as a mean-spirited nutjob who believes dear granny is burning in sulfur and brimstone. The truth is, neither you, nor I, nor can the grandchild of granny really speak to having full knowledge of her eternal domain. We can rest assured that God is incredibly gracious and righteous, and wishes all to be saved. If she is in heaven, then it is by Christ’s merits, not her own that achieved for her a place in glory.
As a final thought, it should be noted that Jesus Christ’s role as the only way is not necessarily to be equated with the idea that God is “exclusive” and sectarian. On the contrary, it is actually indicative of just how inclusive God really is. Where most other religions teach that one has to be a follower of their ritual or moral code to be rewarded in the afterlife, Christianity teaches that anyone, of any nation, can come to God in prayer and be saved. Moreover, the New Testament is full of examples of people groups and individuals who appeared to be on the outside of God’s covenant of salvation, yet God made it clear that they were full partakers of his mercy and grace. (ie. Acts 11:1-9; 15:7-12) Because Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate and final payment for sin, and was completely comprehensive in that respect, we don’t even really know how deep his mercy extends to individuals who may not be card-carrying church members, but nevertheless, God has seen their hearts and is counting them as righteous. |
