How can you say there's only one true faith?

Here’s a secret: I don’t do well with online arguments.

I confess, I do not do well with others poking at me. I sometimes encounter friends on social media being antagonistic about the subject of religion or politics. I consider it a challenge to square off. Maybe it comes from my days playing sports. I have a low tolerance for the opposition. Sometimes I let it go; other times I do not.

A few months ago, I got into the subject of faith with my old high school quarterback.

We got on the subject of comparative faiths and he made the statement: “All religions are just different paths up the same mountain.” I could not disagree more. Such belief does not do justice to each school of thought, nor does it represent the teaching of the Bible. They do not teach the same thing; they do not advocate for the same God. They each are as different as night and day.

God believes there is only one true religion, regardless of what the world teaches or feels.

Consider some poignant statements from the God of Scripture.

Exodus 20:1–6 ESV

1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Here, we are given the preamble to the Ten Commandments. The Lord introduces who He is and what He has done for the Hebrews. He has delivered them from 400 years of slavery because He is the Lord, the most powerful in all of the universe. He also gives two of the four vertical commandments, those instructions that teach us how to love Him. Chiefly, we are to recognize Him as the one true God and we are to avoid constructing something to worship. Leviticus 26:1

“You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.”

Some 700 years later, in the days of Isaiah the prophet, God gives a message of repentance to the people of Judah through the mouth of Isaiah. He states:

Isaiah 45:5–6 ESV

5 I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.

In other words, God argued for exclusive devotion and that there be no physical representation of Him.

But consider that today we live in a world and a nation where every belief system must be validated or you are politically incorrect. This is called eclecticism and Israel practiced this in the days before their exile, much to their shame.

Unfortunately, the culture believes that all religions are worthy of endorsement. Even our government has gotten in on the pluralistic wave. In an August 12 article in the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Farr pointed out

“This is made possible by a backward conception of religion- and what constitutes it. The State Department in 2021, for example, offered $500,000 in grants to promote the ‘religious freedom’ of ‘atheist, humanist, and non-practicing and non-affiliated individuals.’ Such people have the same fundamental rights as the faithful. But an official pretence that those beliefs constitute ‘religion’ further damages the credibility of our religious freedom diplomacy.” (Thomas Farr, “American Diplomacy Loses Its Religion,” Wall Street Journal, 12 August 2022)

I’m afraid to say that this is the way that our country is headed- to give legitimacy to every school of thought as if every philosophy were just another example of one’s religion. This is individualistic and subjective.

Unfortunately, today we live in an age of “post truth.” Rebecca McLaughlin points out:

“In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year was post truth: ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. … the post truth mentality has been central to our view of religion for decades.” (McLaughlin, 51).

I’m here to tell you friends, God has revealed truth and has given it to us in the Scriptures. We must be a people by the book and for the book.

But as the church, we are something different than the culture. We are the oasis in a spiritual desert.

Our message has lasted over 2,000 years, that Jesus is the only way.

Consider the many, many passages of the New Testament that teach of the exclusivity of Christ.

For instance, in His Upper Room Discourse, shortly before going to the cross, Jesus stated in John 14:6:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

And after He was risen from the dead, He gave the disciples what is known as the Great Commission. Appearing on the mountain, we are told that...

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.”

It is said that the ancient city of Troy had only one entrance, and that from whatever direction travelers approached the city they could only enter through that one legally-appointed entrance.

This is not conjecture, but something that Jesus affirmed and the early apostles too. Consider the words of Peter and John before the religious rulers in Acts 4.

Acts 4:12 ESV

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.”

A good place to start is the five solas of the Reformation. This not only is true to the Bible, but it sets the Protestant Christian religion apart from the rest of the world. Justin Holcomb states:

“The Reformers were guided by the conviction that the church of their day had drifted away from the essential, original teachings of Christianity, especially in regard to what it was teaching about salvation—how people can be forgiven of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and receive eternal life with God. The Reformation sought to re-orient Christianity on the original message of Jesus and the early church.

Fast forward to the time of the Reformation. The doctrine which emerged was a reaffirmation of the Biblical doctrine, better known as the Five Solas. The Five Solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during the Reformation to summarize the Reformers’ theological convictions about the essentials of Christianity.

The Five Solas are:

Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”): The Bible alone is our highest authority.

Sola Fide (“faith alone”): We are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

Sola Gratia (“grace alone”): We are saved by the grace of God alone.

Solus Christus (“Christ alone”): Jesus Christ alone is our Lord, Savior, and King.

Soli Deo Gloria (“to the glory of God alone”): We live for the glory of God alone.

(Found at Five Solas - Reformations Points That Should Matter to You (Christianity.com))

But what sets our faith apart from others? Is it not that Jesus arose from the dead?

This is what Paul went to great lengths to discuss in 1 Corinthians 15. His culminating remarks are found in 1 Corinthians 15:17-20

1 Corinthians 15:17–20 ESV

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To this, Rebecca McLaughlin states:

“The central truth claim on which Christianity stands or falls is that Jesus was physically raised from the dead. And this is a question on which the three great monotheistic religions disagree. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but that he was instead taken up into heaven. Jews (and atheists and agnostics, for that matter) believe that Jesus died and remained dead. These claims are mutually exclusive. ...To say that all religions are equally true is to lose our grip on history.” (McLaughlin, 53-54).

But you will continue to live in a world where others do not honor Him as God. And so how do you treat others that belong to a different religion or one of the cults?

I think courtesy and kindness must always be our disposition, but you must not affirm these beliefs.

Interestingly, notice what Paul calls those of other faith bents in 1 Timothy 4:1-3

1 Timothy 4:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Paul goes on the instruct Timothy to prepare his congregation for such things and equip the saints.

Interesting is the fact that Paul did not believe that even those who claimed to have a Christian base taught the same thing.

A good question is … “Is it wrong to persuade others to change their beliefs? Absolutely not! We respect the individual, but you are not obligated to respect the teaching.

But you must answer the question that Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew 16: “Who do you say that I am?” Your answer must be that of Peter’s in Matthew 16:16 “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.””

CONCLUSION

Remember: We have the gold.

A big lump of something lay for centuries in a shallow pool in North Carolina. People passing by just saw an ugly lump and walked on.

One day a poor man saw the heavy lump, and thinking it would be a good thing to hold his door open, took it home. Later a geologist stopped at the poor man’s home and identified the lump as the biggest piece of gold ever found east of the Rockies.

Many people see Jesus as only a historical figure. Friend, you must see Jesus as the only One who can save you from the penalty of your sin.