"Unless you’ve been living in a cave lately, you’re probably aware of the current issue that’s hot among evangelicals..."Is Jesus the only way to heaven? Will a loving God really confine someone to eternal punishment for not accepting Christ?"
It’s a current debate...but it’s not a new one. The issues surrounding the extent of mankind’s salvation have been argued for centuries. In fact, Jesus Himself was asked a similar question: 'And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.' (Luke 13:23–24)
Jesus never really answered how many will be saved...but rather, who will be: those who “enter through the narrow door.” In the parable that follows, Jesus makes it clear that entrance through that door has everything to do with a relationship with Him (Lk 13; Matt 7; Jn 10).
Jesus never offered people a message that said, “Look, just be sincere. Take the religion of your choice. The main thing is to think positively about God. Lead a clean life, and God will smile at you when you die.”
There’s a great Hebrew word for that way of thinking: hogwash! Let me say it another way...that kind of thinking is heresy.
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.
(John 10:9)
No one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)
For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)
There’s only one way. By Jesus’s own admission, it’s the narrow way. The apostle Paul was equally exacting: 'one mediator.'*"
I need to realize the importance of this truth and based all of my interactions with others with it in mind.
*taken from Chuck Swindoll's blog "The Pastor's Soul"
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