An elderly man in my church recounted a story to me about a woman he had visited some years before. In the course of their conversation he had the opportunity to explain the Christian gospel to her. He explained that we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23) and that, as a result, we deserve punishment (Romans 6:23). He told her that God loved her so much that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross for her, so that if she believed on Him she would not be judged but, instead, she would have eternal life (John 3:16).
The woman listened magnanimously and with great tolerance for his evangelistic zeal, before responding in the following way: “Jimmy,” she said, “we are all climbing up different sides of the same mountain, but don’t worry, we will all meet up at the top”.
This tolerant and pluralist view of religion sounds very inclusive and avoids offending nearly everyone. But does it actually make logical sense? And, most importantly, can it possibly be true? Are we, in fact, all climbing up different mountains – with no hope of ever meeting at the summit?
I want to be clear that this article is not intended to show disrespect towards alternative points of view. Rather it is seeking to restate the case for the biblical and historical position that Christianity is true, that God has provided only one way in which we can enter into a relationship with Him – and that is centred in His Son, Jesus Christ, alone. There are many ways to run a just society, and many ways to be a thoroughly decent citizen and human being, but according to the Bible there is only one way to God.
One Truth
“What is truth?”, asked Pilate at the trial of Jesus (John 18:38). Many people ask the same thing today, with some modern philosophers espousing the idea that all truth is relative. However, Christians – and many others – believe that truth is absolute.
If one religion has millions of gods while another one teaches that there is only one God, then surely these cannot both be correct. If one religion claims that Jesus is the divine Son of God and another that He is merely a great human prophet, then again, these claims cannot both be true. Similarly, if one religion states that individuals pass through many lives in a cycle of reincarnation, while another states that it is appointed unto man to live and die only once, and “after this the judgement” (Hebrews 9:27), then these mutually exclusive proposals cannot both be true. If one religion teaches that individuals gain access to a paradise afterlife as a gift of God’s generosity received through simply believing, and the other teaches that we must earn the right to a place in heaven by good works and religious rituals, then once more, they cannot both be true.
It is simply not possible to reconcile these differing views of God, His Son and His salvation. In John 17:17, the Lord Jesus, speaking to His Father, said: “Your word is truth”, so what we read in the Bible on this matter is of utmost importance. The Bible says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16,17). These verses make clear that a loving God sent His own Son to save sinful people and that faith in Jesus is the only way to receive eternal life.
One Saviour
Nowhere in the Bible is it suggested that anyone other than Jesus was sent to save us. In fact, prophecies about Jesus Christ, written hundreds of years before His birth, include the statement “I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no saviour” (Isaiah 43:11). The New Testament is equally clear. Speaking of the Lord Jesus, it says, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
One Mediator
Many religions are structured around a priesthood functioning as intermediaries between the religious faithful and their god or gods. The Bible clearly teaches that a mediator is required to bring reconciliation between God and humankind, but it also affirms that human intermediaries are not the answer. Paul writes “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Just as there are neither many ways nor many saviours, there are also no alternative mediators.
One Way
This article opened with a conversation about a lady’s confidence that we are all climbing up different sides of the same mountain and will meet in the same place at the end of life. The Bible firmly contradicts that, describing the condition of humanity like this: “we have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6), and teaching that our own way, that seems right to us, is the way that leads to death (Proverbs 14:12).
The New Testament further tells us of only two alternative ways, a broad road that leads to destruction and a narrow way that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13,14). When Jesus promised His disciples that there was a place called the Father’s house (heaven) and that there was a home prepared for them in it, one of His disciples asked, “how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). In response Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (v.6).
Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to God because the Bible, which we believe to be authoritative, teaches that there is only one truth, only one Saviour, only one Mediator, and, therefore, only one way to God.
