Is Jesus the Only Way? (Matt. 22:1-14; John 14:5-6)

Some people believe that all religions are basically the same. These folks claim that it doesn’t matter which one you follow, as long as it works for you. Supposedly, all spiritual paths lead to the same place.

While it is true that there is some common ground shared by the world’s major religions, there are significant differences. Only Christianity claims that God has visited planet Earth in the form of a person.

Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham, notes there are all kinds of faith alternatives. Some people follow Mohammed or Buddha or Confucius or Hari Krishna. But, Lotz says, "Jesus is different. He is not just one of the boys. He is the only begotten Son of God. He is God!"2

Jesus is the only way to the one true God because He is the only person in the history of the world who can provide a cure for our "sin problem."

Lee Strobel, a gifted teacher and preacher at Saddleback Church in California, has pointed out that every other religion but Christianity is based on people’s performance. They must "DO" something to somehow earn favor with God.

Different religions offer different recipes for salvation. One says that you have to use a Tibetan prayer wheel; another that you have to avoid eating certain foods; another that you have to pray in one direction a certain number of times per day; still another that you have to go through a cycle of reincarnations. These are all attempts to earn enough favor with God to deserve His salvation.

But Christianity is different. We do not focus on the word "DO." Our emphasis is on the word "DONE," especially what Jesus has done for us on the cross. He paid our penalty for sin. When we accept Him as personal Savior and leader, we are endorsing that transaction by faith. We are donning our wedding garment and are ready for God’s party.

We Christians should never be disrespectful toward persons of other religions. We will never have a chance to share the gospel with Muslim, Hindu or Jewish people unless we treat them respectfully and winsomely. It is never proper for us to judge people of other religions. Only God is capable of doing that properly, with justice and mercy. But neither should we embrace the cultural myth that all religions are equally true.

If I have an opportunity to share the gospel with a Hindu or Jew or Muslim, I will jump at the chance. But I will not approach him in a condescending or threatening way. Instead, I will share with him, as D.T. Niles described it, "as one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread."

Jesus in Matthew 7 said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (vv. 13-14).

What is the small gate and narrow road? It is our faith in response to God’s grace. To go through the narrow gate means to say to Jesus, "Nothing in my hands I bring; only to Your cross I cling. I am a sinner who cannot fix my sin problem. But I believe You offered the one and only cure when You died for me on the cross. I accept it gladly, and in gratitude I invite You to be the leader of my life."

One of the most popular places in Memphis is Tom Lee Park, a beautiful, open space alongside the mighty Mississippi. If you have lingered there long enough to read the plaque, you know the park was named for an African-American man named Tom Lee.

One day in 1925, a steamer with lots of passengers aboard sank in the river, just below Memphis. Tom Lee saw the tragedy. He jumped into his small boat and, with great courage and determination, headed toward those drowning people. He rescued 32 of them.

But let’s suppose that when Tom Lee approached some of those folks in the middle of the river, they had responded, "Thanks, but no thanks. Your boat doesn’t look too impressive to us. We’re going to just keep treading water in hopes that another boat more to our liking will come along." You’re thinking, That would have been really dumb—turning down a sure thing in hopes that something else might come along.

That reminds me of the people who don’t want to accept the salvation offered by Jesus Christ through the cross. They hope that some other alternative, more to their liking, will become available. But the truth is that there is no other way to be saved.

"For God so loved the world that he gave" not a bunch of ways but one way—"his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

1 Sproul, R.C., Reason to Believe (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), p. 36.

2 Statement made in a presentation by Anne Graham Lotz at the United Methodist Congress on Evangelism, Myrtle Beach, S.C., Jan. 3, 2007.