When it comes to eternal life, salvation, and having a relationship with God, there's only one way-- through Jesus Christ.
Imagine some scenarios
You have been diagnosed with a terminal disease. You are admitted to the ICU and may die any second. Then the doctor informs you that there is one cure that is 100% effective. Would you take it or insist on other probable options?
You are travelling to a famous historical site. The tourist guide says there is only one road that leads to the location. Would you question angrily why there are not more roads and return home in protest?
You have been wanting to buy something for a long time. Then the family next door called you and offered you this item for free because they no longer needed it. Would you turn down the offer?
Finally, imagine that a man comes along claiming to offer the only path to knowing God. Do you reject him for his audacity and criticise his intolerance for others who think differently? When his followers repeat the claim, will you write them off as closed-minded bigots?
The claim of Jesus as the only way
Jesus made the following claim: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
This may sound pretty outrageous when you come to think about it. With so many religions in the world, it is one thing to claim to be one of many ways, to hold a truth among other truths, and to offer one lifestyle among many. It's quite different to claim to be "the way and the truth and the life."
For harmony and tolerance would seemingly require Jesus to offer many options about salvation and coming to God. But he didn't. He said, "No one comes to the Father except through me."
Then his followers came along and said the same. Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples, had the audacity to say, "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).
Isn't that an arrogant claim that salvation is found in Jesus and no one else? Is there no other name by which we can be saved?
This claim is not exactly a model of inclusiveness. Christianity is considered the most controversial religion. Christianity is the most hated, the most debated, and the most dissected religion in the world. Why? All because of its exclusive claim as the only true religion and the only way that leads to salvation and offers access to God. It will be mind-boggling to count how many Bibles were torn or burned, how many churches were torched or demolished, how many believers were ostracised by their own families, and how many were killed in gruesome ways.
But you see, when it comes to the truth, not every option is equal, and not every choice is valid. When it comes to eternal life, salvation, and having a relationship with God, there's only one way-- through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Way that leads so the Father. He is the Truth that teaches the knowledge of God. He is the Life that directs all those who seek and serve him to eternal life at the end of the way.
Our search for the truth
The highest occupation for the Christian is Jesus Christ and an increasing personal knowledge of Him. Jesus is the way to the Father; he is the truth incarnate, and He is the life to all who believe in him.
We are in desperate need in our day for “the truth” in the place of religious ignorance and error. Jesus gives us a perfect revelation of the LORD God. We are alienated from God because of our sin, and we need the perfect way into his holy presence. However, there is a way to God through the person of Jesus Christ. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and he alone gives us eternal life instead of death.
Jesus is not only the way; he is the only way to the Father. Man is totally ruined in sin, and his only hope in a right relationship with God is through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The solution to our problem is a personal relationship with Christ.
We are in total ruin in God’s sight. We are not slightly tarnished by sin; we are dead, lost, condemned, unclean, alienated, totally depraved. We cannot influence, on our part, a right relationship with God. The only way we can have a right relationship with him is by his grace. Because of our spiritual state, we cannot fix ourselves. We are sinners. That is not an excuse or a cop-out. It is a reality. We are spiritually dead and lost.
The only way back to God is through the cross of Jesus Christ. He is not merely a spiritual guide who came to show sinners the path on which they ought to travel. He is himself the Way to the Father. There is no other way because Jesus Christ is the only person who can deal with our sin problem. The sinless, spotless Lamb of God took our sins upon himself and died for us. He is our substitute. He died in our place. All our sins were laid on him, and he paid our death penalty.
The journey of a Christian
Jesus built the bridge with his body on the Cross. As the Son of God, he could span the extremes of man's sinfulness and God's righteousness and offer to us the hope of forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus speaks of himself as the Way. In Acts, the disciples were referred to as “the Way.” Christian life itself is a long journey, a long road. This road sometimes passes through green pastures, sometimes through dry plains and deserts. Sometimes it leads over high and steep mountains. Sometimes it is difficult to know which road is the right one. There are so many choices, and the possibility of going astray always exists. Sometimes the road becomes narrow and no one seems to walk on it. Sometimes the road is wide and filled with happy travellers. Sometimes the road almost disappears. Sometimes the scenery is so breathtaking. Sometimes it is so miserable that we are tempted to turn back. Sometimes the road encourages us to move ahead. Sometimes it is uninviting and hostile.
The attitudes of fellow travellers can make the journey pleasant and refreshing or depressing and aimless and so rough or demanding. But in the end, it will be all worthwhile. What is the name of the road? Jesus! Where does it lead? Our home to heaven!
May our living God in heaven help you to walk the whole distance, all the way home.
Selie Visa