No 7

Is there really only one way?

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). This very familiar passage has been used by many to seek forgiveness for sin and to ask to become children of God. As true born-again Christians this verse is everything true; there really is only one way; the Bible says so and that’s it!! But it is not so for this postmodernist world we live in with its all-inclusive view of things, a statement so exclusive does not go over too well. How many times have we heard statements from friends and family that sound like “….you have your beliefs and I have mine, you must respect my choice”? For the world, there are many ways and there is no absolute truth; absolutes are foreign.

In the peace/love era of the seventies, it was quite acceptable to say that Jesus was the only way. In those days, you had your Jesus freaks and love was everywhere. Back then, the true Christians did not agree with the way Jesus’ name was being propagated but at least it was understood that Jesus was the only way; not so any more. So what are we to do as believers? Change the message? Water down the strict doctrine of salvation by grace through faith? Adapt the Gospel to fit this new age? Absolutely not!! We must preach the Gospel exactly as our Lord instructed us “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). Will we be ridiculed? Maybe. Will the Lord still save people? Absolutely!! It happens everyday; do you want to know why? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9). The message of the Gospel has not changed because the hearts of men have not changed; they are just as wicked as they were when Jeremiah penned these words a long, long time ago.

In other countries, missionaries encounter many other religions and customs but only the Gospel of Jesus Christ saves. God has abundantly blessed us here in North America but may we be vigilant not to abuse these privileges through immoral lifestyles and compromising livelihoods because, as we know, “vengeance is mine saith the Lord” Romans 12:19b.