Only Christianity

We, being made in God’s image, are a lesser reflection of Him. No one tells us who we are. We have minds and personalities of our own. And as God is not less than us, so does He.

God is in league of His own. Holy. Holy means set apart. God is holy, holy, holy. He is not inclined to think as I think. I can’t say that because I would do things a certain way, God is inclined to do them that way. He’s not me. He is not like me. He does not think how I think and so do as I do.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. ~ Isaiah 55:8-9

But when one argues “there can’t possibly be just one way [to salvation],” what’s being said is “God wouldn’t do that.” The person is dumbstruck by how unfair it seems. She posits a loving god wouldn’t be so limiting.

The Bible says otherwise.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” ~ Acts 4:13

God isn’t a mindless force, an out-there energy. He is a person, a mind, a personality, just as I am. And since God reigns over everything including heaven, He decides who gets in.

Those who haven’t pursued a knowledge of God mistakenly conclude “all religions are basically the same.” They believe, if there’s a heaven, all decent human beings are destined for it so the path chosen has no bearing on the outcome. Choose whatever flavor of ice cream you like. But this attitude presumes the things which set religions apart are of no consequence to God. It suggests He doesn’t care about the differences, that He’s not particular.

But look at Exodus 26. When priests were permitted to enter the tabernacle, a temporary dwelling for God among the Israelite nation on earth, they tied a rope around them. This practice was for fear that if the priest misstepped and God struck him dead, the body could be pulled out from The Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber where God’s spirit dwelt. So, contrary to our intuition, God is particular.

The Bible is the primary means by which God has chosen to reveal Himself. It reveals a holiness most people can’t fathom. Having no understanding of His character and attributes, it seems hypersensitive He would strike people dead for lying or for disobedience. They label Him a monster.

They can’t grasp how such wrath could be just. They have no understanding of perfect righteousness, one who can’t countenance sin or “look the other way,” what it means to be perfectly just. But this is only one side of Him. He also is overflowing with love.

Love is what compelled Jesus—a figure of more world religions than any other—to step down from heaven and into the world to rescue the object of His affection. The Bible says Jesus is God, but false religions make wildly different claims about who He is:

• a heretic (Judaism)
• a prophet (Islam, Bahá’í)
• a created being (Jehovah’s Witness)
• the archangel Michael (Jehovah’s Witness)
• the brother of Lucifer (Mormon)
• God incarnate (Christianity)

If Jesus is God in the flesh, saying He’s just a prophet or, worse yet, a heretic slanders His holy name. And Holy God absolutely does care about His Son’s name. He expects to be worshipped for who He actually is.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ~ John 4:24

Why would a God who wants honest, genuine worship be okay with people believing anything less than the truth about His Son? Wouldn’t it suggest He doesn’t care about truth? If God accepts the paths other religions offer, Jesus’ sacrifice was unnecessary.

People don’t like anything or Anyone to impose upon their autonomy. They’re okay with a religion being a way, but not the way. But look, the exclusivity of Jesus isn’t something people manufactured on their own. Jesus made the claim Himself.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ~ John 14:6

God is particular. If He says there’s one way, as the Bible says repeatedly, then there’s one way. The Bible identifies the narrow way (Jesus), and the wide way (everything else). It says one leads to life, the other destruction. If God cared enough to write it down in His Word, seemingly, the truth matters.

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. ~ Matthew 7:13-14

Religions are not basically the same.

Christianity stands apart as the only religion where salvation is a gift. The sinner trusts King Jesus’ finished work on the cross as payment for his sin. The Bible emphatically explains no one can earn his way.

I trained my kids:

Why are we Christians?

I like how Greg Koukl, author of The Story of Reality, answers:

Because the Christian worldview offers the best explanation for the way things are. It comports with reality. When you compare what the Bible says to the observable world and investigate the evidence, nothing else comes close!

Jesus really is the King of the Universe. He is the way! Nothing and no one else can save you!

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ~ John 3:18