Why is Jesus the Only Way?
Notes
Transcript
Opening Comments:
Opening Comments:
Please journey with me in your copy of God’s Word to John 14:1-6 (Pg.847) as we continue our series “Christianity’s Biggest Questions.”
The question before us today has to do with one of Christianity’s most offensive claims in our culture.
Why is Jesus the Only way?
In our text, Jesus is speaking to His disciples on the night before the cross. At this point, Judas has been identified, to John readers as the betrayer. Now Jesus tells his followers that he is going away. Their hearts are troubled, and Jesus comforts them by pointing them to the Father’s house and promises them He will come again and take them to be with Himself.
Then Thomas asks the question that leads to the clearest statements Jesus ever made about His divinity.
This is God’s true word:
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Introduction:
Introduction:
That final sentence is one that many struggle with.
You see most people are willing to admire Jesus, quote Jesus, respect Jesus, and even borrow parts of his teaching to fit their purposes. They might even speak very highly of His compassion, mercy, and love. But, to declare Jesus as the one and only way to God becomes a bridge to far.
Often these objections are formed like this:
Who are we to say Jesus is the only way?
Aren’t all religions just different paths to God?
As long as people are sincere about God, isn’t that enough?
Isn’t it hateful to say there is only one way, especially when some have never heard of Jesus?
Whether these questions are asked with hostility or sincerity they deserve a genuine and heartfelt answer and should not be dismissed casually.
So we need to answer with conviction clarity but also with compassion and humility.
We can not shrink back from declaring that Jesus alone brings sinners to the Father. But we also need not to be jerks in our declaration.
So this morning, we are going to take these questions seriously and answer them directly from the Bible.
1. Who are we to say Jesus is the only way?
1. Who are we to say Jesus is the only way?
A. The charge of arrogance.
To many the statement of Jesus being the only way to God sounds like arrogance.
What people hear: “We’re right, everyone else is wrong, and God accepts us because we are better.”
Sometimes, this accusation is right on target.
Far too often, christians are guilty of expressing the truth with an ugly spirit and hatful tone while relishing in the idea of people being judged and sent to hell instead of being grieved by it.
Hear me well, that is a sinful attitude. The truth of Christ should never make us arrogant and hate filled.
This argument of arrogance against Christianity doesn’t hold water.
Biblical christianity in no way teaches that christians found God because we’re better than anyone else.
While others are congratulating themselves, I lie humbly at the foot of Christ's cross and marvel that I am saved at all."—C.H. Spurgeon
The Bible teaches us that all men are sinners.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The atheist, the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the moral neighbor, the church member, and the pastor all stand guilty before a holy God apart from grace.
Christians are people God has rescued rescued from the bondage of sin through Christ.
B. The The exclusivity claim originates with Jesus.
6 Jesus said to him,…
We do not have the right to invent an exclusive claim. We are not the authors of salvation. We are simply repeating what Christ Himself has said.
Here he is speaking with the authority as the Son of God, sent from the Father, who is about to return home. He knows the Father. He reveals the Father. He brings sinners to the Father.
Now If Jesus is only a religious teacher, then His words are impossible to defend. But Jesus doesn’t speak as a man, He speaks with divine authority.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
The authority of the speaker matters.
So when Christians say Jesus is the only way, we are simply bearing witness to Christ’s authority.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
2.) Aren’t all religions just different paths to God?
2.) Aren’t all religions just different paths to God?
A. The appeal.
This question sounds reasonable on the surface.
To say that all religions lead to God sounds kind. It sounds open-minded. It even sounds tolerant (which is the cry of the age.) But it’s just not true.
B. Different religions make different claims.
Christianity teaches that the one true God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Judaism rejects the Trinity and doesn’t confess Jesus as the Messiah.
Islam rejects the Trinity, denies that God has a Son, and regards Jesus as a prophet rather than God the Son in human flesh.
Christianity teaches that our deepest problem is sin against a holy God.
Judaism speaks seriously about sin, repentance, obedience, and atonement, but it does not receive Jesus as the final sacrifice for sin.
Islam teaches that man must submit to Allah, repent, obey, and await judgment under Allah’s mercy.
Buddhism sees the central problem as suffering rooted in desire and ignorance.
Hinduism describes the problem in terms of karma, ignorance, and being trapped in the cycle of rebirth.
Christianity teaches that human beings live once, die once, and then face judgment.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Judaism and Islam also teach final accountability before God, but they reject Christ as the crucified and risen mediator.
Hinduism and Buddhism teach reincarnation or rebirth. That is a different view of life, death, and eternity.
Christianity teaches that salvation comes by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ.
Judaism looks to covenant relationship with God, repentance, obedience, and God’s mercy, but not to Jesus as Savior.
Islam teaches submission to Allah, repentance, obedience, and final judgment under Allah’s mercy. Jesus offers no redemption.
Hinduism points toward liberation from the cycle of rebirth through paths such as knowledge, devotion, good works, and discipline.
Buddhism points toward enlightenment and release from suffering through the path taught by the Buddha.
Christianity confesses Jesus as God the Son in human flesh.
Islam honors Jesus as a prophet but denies that He is God.
Judaism rejects Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Christianity proclaims that Jesus died on the cross for sinners.
Islam denies that Jesus was crucified.
Christianity rests on His bodily resurrection from the dead.
Buddhism and Hinduism both regard Jesus as a wise teacher, holy man, or spiritual figure, but they do not confess Him as the crucified and risen Son of God who alone brings sinners to the Father.
All of those claims can’t all be true at the same time.
Jesus can’t be God the Son and merely a prophet.
He can’t be the Messiah and a false Messiah at the same time.
He can’t have died on the cross and also avoided the cross.
He can’t be risen and still dead.
He can’t be the only way to the Father and one valid way among many.
If two doctors look at the same test results and one says, “You have cancer and need immediate treatment,” while the other says, “You are perfectly healthy,” those are not two equally helpful opinions. One of them is wrong and one of them is the truth.
It can’t be both
The issue is truth. If Jesus is telling the truth, every other claim has to bow before Him.
12 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.”
3.) As long as people are sincere about God, isn’t that enough?
3.) As long as people are sincere about God, isn’t that enough?
This question hits closer to home. Because there are deeply sincere people in other religions. But sincerity cannot remove sin.
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
We tend to measure goodness by comparing ourselves to one another. God measures righteousness by His own holiness. Before that standard, every mouth is stopped.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
B. Our problem is deeper than sincerity can reach.
If our deepest problem were ignorance, a teacher might be enough.
If our deepest problem were lack of discipline, a lawgiver might be enough.
If our deepest problem were lack of inspiration, a moral example might be enough.
But our problem is guilt before a holy God.
We need atonement. We need a substitute. We need a mediator. We need someone who can deal with sin at its root.
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Sincere people will die in their sins and face eternal punishment if they do not bow to Christ as their Lord.
C. The object of faith matters.
Sincerity is only as good as the object it rests upon.
Imagine a man standing at the airport gate with a boarding pass in his hand. He is sincere. He packed carefully. He arrived early. He waited in the right terminal. He believes with all his heart that he is ready to board.
But when he scans the pass, it does not work. It’s for the wrong flight.
His sincerity does not change the destination printed on the ticket. His confidence does not open the gate. His effort does not put him on the plane. He may be completely sincere, but if he is trusting the wrong ticket, he is not getting where he thinks he is going.
That is how faith works, it doesn’t save because of the emotional strength of the person believing. Faith saves because of the Savior it rests upon.
A person may sincerely trust moral effort, but moral effort cannot atone for sin.
A person may sincerely trust religious ritual, but ritual cannot cleanse the conscience.
A person may sincerely trust another teacher, prophet, or spiritual system, but none of them died as the sinless substitute for sinners and rose from the grave.
Strong faith in a false hope cannot save. Only faith in Christ brings sinners to the Father.
4.)Isn’t it hateful to say there is only one way, especially when some have never heard of Jesus?
4.)Isn’t it hateful to say there is only one way, especially when some have never heard of Jesus?
A. The moral objection.
This probably carries the most emotional weight. To say someone is lost without Christ sounds harsh to a culture that treats judgment as hatred.
“Judge not lest ye be judged”
But the exclusivity of Christ does not mean that God is mean, on the contrary it means he is just. He has provided one path for every person in the world to journey down.
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 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.
Now if Jesus is the only Savior, then telling people about Him is an incredible act of mercy. On the reverse side, keeping silent about Jesus is an incredible act of cruelty.
In 2008 famous Las Vegas comedian and atheist Penn Jillette made this comment after an interaction with a man who gifted him a Bible:
“If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?
How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
B. Scripture sends us to the nations.
The fact there are people in the world who do not know Jesus ought to grieve us. Scripture commands the christian to go and tell those people of Jesus before its too late.
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Application: The exclusivity of Christ should make the church urgent, not complacent.
It should make us pray, give, send, speak to our children, plead with our neighbors, and care about the nations.
Believer, love people enough to tell them the truth. Tell them with humility. Tell them with patience. Tell them with tears when necessary. But tell them.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Jesus said plainly, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” That is the truth of the gospel. Yes, it may offend people but its ok to let it offend.
Its ok if people dislike your position but it should never be because of your disposition.
To remove the exclusivity of Christ from the gospel is to preach another gospel and lead people down a hopeless path.
Don’t be ashamed of Jesus. Don’t let the world pressure you into softening what He said. Speak with humility, patience and tears if you must. But speak.
Your children need to hear that Jesus is the only way. Your neighbors need to hear that Jesus is the only way. The nations need to hear that Jesus is the only way.
Invitation
Invitation
If you are here this morning without Christ, the invitation of the gospel is open to you.
Jesus is not simply a teacher to admire. He is the Son of God to trust. He died for sinners. He rose from the dead. He lives today. He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him.
Your goodness cannot erase your sin. Your sincerity cannot atone for your guilt. Your religion cannot bring you into the Father’s presence. Christ can.
Come to Him by faith. Turn from your sin. Trust Him as Savior and Lord. Do not wait until you make yourself worthy. Come because Christ is worthy, Christ is sufficient, and Christ receives sinners who come to Him.
Jesus is the only way.
Christian, do not be ashamed of the gospel. Let the offense be the truth of Christ, not the tone of our pride.
Prayer:
Prayer:
Father,
Help us hear the words of Jesus clearly and humbly.
Forgive us for the times we have been ashamed of His name, silent about His gospel, or careless with lost souls. Give us courage to speak the truth with love, patience, and compassion.
For anyone here without Christ, open their eyes to see that Jesus is not merely one option among many. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Draw them to repent, believe, and be saved.
We ask this in Jesus’ name,
Amen.
