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Jesus, The Way to God By Randolph
Gonce Today, many people think Bible believing Christians to be narrow minded and judgmental, because we promote Jesus as the only Savior of all who believe in Him. The popular position regarding religious faith is to believe that all religion is good, and that all good people have the same chance at salvation, regardless of their belief about Jesus the Christ. But Jesus said that He is the only way to God. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, then we should accept His words. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, NKJV) The Bible teaches that no one can be saved by his or her good works. No one merits salvation, because we all make mistakes. Sin removes us from perfection. Sin separates us from the God who created us. We all miss the mark of our heart’s desire. Our failures bring despair and hopelessness. One popular way to deal with the shame of sin is to deny that there is such a thing as sin. Humanists claim that all actions are natural, since they believe we are only animals by nature. Animals do the things that instincts and environment cause them to do. Therefore, to the humanist, modification of environment and denial of shame are ways to lead people to desired action in life. Acceptance of sinful nature as being the natural status of mankind, and encouraging social acceptance of all types of human behavior, naturally follow this philosophy. This way leads to moral bankruptcy, and to immoral society, with all the evils such life produces. Jesus demonstrated correct living during His brief visit on earth. He showed that considering the rights of others of equal importance to our own rights produces a blessed society. Our basic nature is to put our own rights above the rights of others. Pagan society is marked by disregard for the rights of those outside the clan or family, and history abounds with the destruction that resulted from such thinking. Doing unto others as we would have them do to us is not natural; it is supernatural, beyond the way of man. It is the way of God. Jesus demonstrated that way in the things that He did. He lived a life of compassion and healing, always caring for the downtrodden and helpless of society. He dismissed as play actors the religious people of his day with their emphasis on empty ritual. He showed that the mind is the center of life, and that the mind can be transformed by the influence and power of God. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus opened the only way to God; the way to a mind cleansed from shame and empowered by the will of God. Jesus opened the way to life by giving His own life as the ultimate demonstration of the love of God. He commands that those who come to Him must demonstrate their submission to the will of God by following the pattern of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in repentance and baptism. Those who demonstrate their faith in such a way are cleansed by the blood of Christ, and given a life empowered by the will of God in Jesus Christ. This is the way to eternal life. “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom 6:4) |