Christ Alone

Some good words from David Block at Vincit Omnia Veritas:

Our society claims that tolerance or rather blind acceptance is the law of belief that all men must accept today. They say, “If your meaning of truth works for you great, just as long as it doesn't get in the way of my truth. After all, with so many religions and beliefs systems out there how can you know if there is a right or wrong one? In the end it doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you are sincere.

But the cry of Christians has always been what Peter says in Acts 4:12, that, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved,” and as Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5, “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Why do we Christians say these things? To the world this seems unfair, unjust, arrogant or even bigoted. Christians say these things because Jesus said theses things about himself. Jesus said that he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one gets to God except by him. Jesus also said that “unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

Why do we need Jesus to be the only way? The Bible teaches that we are all separated from God due to our sin and the breaking of God's law. Because God is just he must see that every law breaker is justly punished which means the death penalty. We owe God a debt that we could only pay with our eternal deaths. But fortunately, for us God is also loving and so he sent Jesus to pay that debt. Jesus died and took upon himself the full penalty of his people's sin. He is the only way and the only truth because Jesus was the only one willing and able to do this for us. No other religious leader, like Buddha, Mohammed or Confucious even claimed to take the penalty of sin for us let alone rose from the dead to prove that what he said was true; but Jesus did.

There is a huge gap between the Christian view of Jesus and other religions. Atheism, deism or pantheism sees Jesus as just a man, if he existed at all, Christians call him God. Jews say that Jesus was not the Messiah, Christians say he was. Muslims say that Jesus didn't die on the cross but Christians do. Hindus claim that God has and is incarnate multiple times over, Christians believe that God has only been incarnate in Jesus. Buddhists believe that the world will be perfected when we do what is right. Christians know that apart from God, no one can do what is right. So there are really two options left. Choose your own system of belief or popular religious leader and pay for you sin by yourself for all eternity or Jesus can pay it for you. Looking at the price that Jesus paid how could anyone say that believing that he is the only way is unfair or arrogance? We rejoice that there has been a way made to God at all.

So the question is: Do you believe in Christ alone?