With all of the pressures for everyone to be accepting and inclusive of others’ beliefs, and even with the Pope now saying that “All religions are paths to God.” Where do we, as Christians, stand on this issue? Do all religions lead to God, or is Christianity the only one true path to God? To reach a conclusion on this matter, we must first answer this question. Who or what is the final authority on this? In other words, do I believe the Bible is the final authority, or do I think someone like a pastor or even the pope is the one who knows best? If you look anywhere outside of the Bible for your answers, then our conversation is over because I believe that the Bible is the complete, inerrant word of God and that is where I will look to get the answers to my questions.
The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 writes, “Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Paul writes, You gladly welcomed and still stand firm in the Good News that I preached to you before, the very same Good News that saves you if you continue to believe and then he goes on to explain what the Good News is. And the Good News is this, Jesus, dying for our sins, was buried and raised again three days later. And in Romans, we read, “This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” (Romans 1:17)
The point is that it is only the Good News that can save a person, not the Good News and the teachings of some dead guy or the Good News, and do these things or give a tithe to this church. No, faith in Jesus alone is what saves a person. If Paul’s words weren’t clear enough then listen to the words of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) If we believe this Paul says that we are to continue to believe and to hold fast to our beliefs because it is our faith and belief in Jesus that saves us.
So what about those people who are sincere in their Muslim, Mormon, or any other faith? Only God truly knows what’s in the heart of every person, and the Bible is clear on this, but we should be praying for these people that God would open their eyes. Paul says that God has made the truth about himself known and even obvious to all mankind. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20) and though they know God, they choose to not worship him as God.
The question we are left with then is this, do I believe in the Good News of Jesus and nothing else? If so then the Bible tells us to continue in what we first believed. But if not, that is your choice, and someday you will stand before God to give an answer as to why you chose something other than what the Bible teaches.
Photo by madeleine craine on Unsplash
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