Why Would God Provide Only One Way To Him?

Why Would God Provide Only One Way To Him?

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

YOU’VE SEEN THE BUMPER STICKERS featuring symbols from different religions and the message “Coexist.”

You’ve probably heard people say things like, “All religions are equally valid” and “They’re all teaching basically the same thing” and “They’re all just different paths to the same God.”

And you appreciate that sentiment. Well, I do, because these people just want everyone to get along. And everyone getting along is a good thing.

But what these people are saying is just not true. It can’t be. All religions are equally protected, and should be. But that doesn’t mean they’re all equally valid. In fact, that claim doesn’t even make sense. It’s impossible. Those who say it mean well, but honestly, they just haven’t done any studying. If they had, they’d discover that while there are some similarities among the world’s religions, at their core they are dramatically different. If we’re all worshiping the same God who has just revealed himself in different ways to different people, then we’re all worshiping a god who either doesn’t know who he is or isn’t telling the truth.

Contradictions

You should study the world religions. You’ll find that they contradict each other in very significant ways. For instance:

You have Christianity, which teaches there’s only one God and he is a personal God. Then you have Buddhism, which teaches there’s no such thing as a personal God. And you have Hinduism, which teaches that there are millions of gods.

Christianity teaches that eating meat is fine, but Hinduism teaches that eating meat is immoral.

Christianity teaches that Jesus is God. Islam teaches that Jesus was a great prophet but not God.

Christianity says we live and die only once before we enter eternal life, but Hindus and Buddhists and Taoists say we are reincarnated or reborn and will live many lives.

Basically every religion but one teaches, at its core, that people need to work their way up to God, seeking to earn his favor.^a The core of Christianity is that people on their own are desperately lost, but that we have a God who desperately loves us. So God came down to us and died for us so he could offer us his unearned favor. The very core teaching of Christianity is in complete contradiction to the core teachings of the other world religions.

So . . . which is it?

The same God could not be telling people such contradictory things. They are not different paths God has given to us. They can’t be.

All religions are not essentially the same and cannot be equally valid. Only one can be right, and the others have to be wrong, even if we don’t like that.

Which One?

So there can only be one religion that’s right. And they all claim to be the one correct one.

Christianity claims to be the exclusive way to God too. In fact, Jesus once said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”^b

So the problem is that we’ve got all these religions claiming to be the right one, and what we choose is the most important decision of our lives. We’re not talking about which box we check on the “religious preference” section of a form. We’re talking about what we believe about life, about the point of our existence, and what happens to us after we die. We need to get this right! So what do we do?

We find out which religion is right. Which one is true?

This is where things get interesting. Because you’ll discover that the other religions are based on the teachings of a person, not on historical events. And you can’t really prove or disprove a person’s teachings. If you want to gamble your life on that person being right, you can, but that’s a big gamble.

And that’s the difference with Christianity. Well, that’s one of what I would consider two huge differences. One is that Christianity is unique in that it’s based on grace—God loves you unconditionally, and you don’t have to earn his favor; he offers it to you as a gift. The second is that Christianity is based on historical events. Therefore, Christianity begs to be investigated.

Christianity is not just based on the teachings of Jesus; it’s also based on the resurrection of Jesus. And a person rising from the dead is something you can find evidence for or against.

In fact, that’s exactly how I became a Christian. I spent a couple of months trying to disprove the Bible. What I discovered (to my dismay at the time) is that there are volumes of evidence that prove the events of the Bible actually happened as the Bible says they did and that Jesus truly rose from the dead and proved that he really is who he claimed to be, the only way to God.

I also discovered that hundreds of people have tried to disprove Jesus as the one who defeated death and provides the only way to God, but once confronted by all the evidence, were convinced and became Christians. We’re talking about incredibly intelligent, highly esteemed people. We’re talking about Harvard Law professors,^c and Oxford history professors,^d and award-winning investigative journalists,^e and world-renowned archaeologists,^f who all studied the evidence and came to the conclusion that Jesus really rose from the dead and is the only way to God.

The claim that Jesus truly is the one way to God is not based on arrogance but on objective evidence.

So What?

If you’re not yet a believer, you need to get this one right. And the cool thing is that you don’t have to guess. Because God based Christianity on historical events that can be proven, you don’t need to have a blind faith. You can study and have an intellectually robust faith that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and you can’t get to God except through him.

If you are a believer, hopefully knowing this strengthens your faith. It should.

It should also lead you to want everyone to know Jesus. There’s no other way for them, and we have the honor of getting to tell them and help them to know God and get to heaven.

Wow.

Now What?

• Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-20.
• How does the author (Paul) make the resurrection of Jesus the cornerstone of faith? What in this passage helps you to become even more convinced that Jesus truly rose from the dead?
• God’s desire is that everyone would come home to a relationship with him through faith in Jesus. There are many parts of the world where other religions dominate and some where people have never even yet heard of Jesus. Pray that God will send out missionaries and Bibles to every corner of the world so everyone will have a chance to hear and respond to the gospel.