Is there any other way?
“I have been reading the Bible and recently I have found
that there is more than one way to heaven.”
The man leading the Bible study at church smartly said to those that
were listening. “I have seen a greater
way by which God saves and Jesus is just one of those ways by which God has
ordained to save his creation.” The
class sat silently and in awe of this man who had taught them for many
years. The questions began “Did God really
reveal this to him?” “Is there really
another way to God besides Jesus Christ?”
For years the class had been taught that Jesus was the only way and now
one of their beloved teachers, along with a few others, was telling them that
this was not the case. They went home
questioning and wondering about this new piece of evidence saying, “Can this
really be true?”
Today there is an outbreak of the above happening in
churches across America and this is nothing new, this pitch is as old as
satan. It is the greatest lie ever told
and the unfortunate truth is that those telling this lie are being allowed to
remain in their positions and many are being misled into the age-old adage that
there is more than one way into heaven. Let’s deal with this in two ways –
first is there more than one way and secondly is there another gospel message
found in the Bible that one could read and find another way outside of God’s
revealed Word.
First is there more than one way. I will try to be clear, succinct, and short
to make this point. In Isaiah 7:14, one
of many messianic prophecies (concerning the birth of Jesus), says “Therefore
the LORD will give you a sign, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us].” (Bracketed information mine) God promised to send His son, not sons, not
multiple means or ways, but son whom will become the light in the darkness
bringing great hope (Isaiah 9). John
chapter 1 reveals this transaction thoroughly as the Word becomes flesh and
dwells among us, Immanuel. No gospel
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) presents Christ as anything other than the
Messiah, sent by God, being God, to come and redeem. So if God revealed Himself through His son
Christ Jesus and no other, then it stands to reason this was sufficient.
Jesus bolsters this by saying, in John 14:6, that “I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me.”
In John 6:44 Jesus bodly states “No one can come to me unless the Father
draws them…” Jesus clearly understood
that there was no other way to the Father outside of Himself. Peter and John, appearing before the council
after being arrested, stated that there was NO OTHER name that men could call
upon to be saved, only the name of Jesus (Acts 4:5-12). The most powerful aspect of this verse was
that Peter did not speak this of His own authority but under the authority of
God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8). So why
would God fill Peter with His Spirit and exclaim that Jesus is the only means
to heaven if there was another? In
Numbers 23:19 & Hebrews 6:18 it is proclaimed by God that He cannot lie. If
there was another way, scripture would reveal so, but it does not and any other
way would make God a liar which is contrary to His nature.
Secondly is there another gospel that was given outside of
scripture that allows for others to come into the Kingdom apart from God the
Son, Christ Jesus? In Galatians 1:6-9
Paul makes it clear that there is but ONE Gospel and that any other supposed
gospel (multiple means to heaven) is accursed and a lie. The lie of multiple ways to heaven and multiple
gospels is a perversion that has existed for centuries to draw many away from
the only Gospel that saves found in Christ Jesus. Whoever teaches something other than the
Gospel found in God’s inspired Word teaches something far apart from the true
Gospel that saves which is “For God so loved the world that He send his ONE and
ONLY Son that whosoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting
life.” (John 3:16, emphasis mine) There
is but ONE gospel because there is but ONE savior found in the word.
Remember the words of Christ spoken to the church in Sardis
in Revelation 3:3 “Remember then what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent…” IN Christ we have received the only means to
the father, Christ Jesus. This is why
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew
no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” There is no other way, no other gospel, only
Christ Jesus whom was crucified and risen to bring light and life to His
creation that we might truly live.
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