One Way or Many Ways?

by Brian Bill
Published June 24, 2008

A new study released by the Pew Forum finds most Americans don't feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.

This quote really troubled me: “Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.”

While we live in a pluralistic country, as believers in Jesus we must teach what Jesus himself taught. He is the only way to heaven: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. There is no other plan but the person of Jesus. There is no way to get to heaven unless we go through Him. Jesus is very inclusive in the sense that everyone is invited to a relationship with Him as John 6:37 states: “…whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” But, His claims are very exclusive in the sense that there is no other way to Heaven except through Him. The exclusivity of Immanuel is emphatic.

How does this mesh in a pluralistic society like ours that values variety and excludes exclusive truth claims? Though Christianity still dominates by sheer numbers, the U.S. now has a greater diversity of religious groups than any country in recorded history. Did you know that there are now more Muslims in America than there are Methodists? It’s helpful to remember that the world of the biblical authors was filled with paganism and pluralism as well. In the midst of all this doctrinal diversity, the Bible makes some rather startling claims that run counter-cultural to the mantra of religious tolerance.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus made it clear that the way to heaven is pretty restrictive: “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.”

Peter boldly states in Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men…”

1 John 5:12: “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

These passages are extremely exclusive and overwhelmingly clear: Jesus is the only way to heaven. His statements of divine authority are incompatible with the homogenizing views of religious pluralists. The claims of Christ are outrageous but they happen to be what G.K. Chesterton called “the wild truth.”

Here are a few observations about John 14:6.

When Jesus uses the phrase, “I AM,” He is once again claiming the name of Yahweh for Himself from Exodus 3:14. He is God in human flesh. He is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Vine, the Alpha and Omega, and the Resurrection and the Life.

Notice that this verse begins with the word “I.” In fact, eleven times in just six verses, Jesus uses the personal pronoun – I, me, or my. We are not saved by a principle or a force but by a person. Jesus did not say that He knew the way, the truth and the life, or even that he taught these great principles. He declared Himself to be the embodiment of the way, the truth and the life. While answering all of life’s questions, Jesus doesn’t offer a recipe to follow; instead He gives us a relationship with Himself. His plan is wrapped up in a Person.

In the original, the words way, truth and life have the definite article in front of them so that the verse should read, “I am the way (that is, the only way), I am the truth (that is, the only truth), and the life (that is, the only life).”

All three concepts are active and dynamic. The way brings to God; the truth makes us free; and the life produces relationship. Without the way there is no going, without the truth there is no knowing, without the life there is no living.

The context indicates that the idea of “the way” predominates. We could put it like this: “I am the way that reveals the truth about God and gives life to those who believe.”

There is only one avenue to salvation. With Christ removed there is no redemptive truth, no everlasting life and no way to the Father. While other religions offer systems of thought that try to bridge the gap between man and God, Jesus is the only one who has succeeded in bridging the divide.

Since every word of this astonishing statement challenges the fundamental beliefs of our culture, let’s look at this verse a little more closely.

1. Jesus is the way. Jesus does not merely show the way; He is Himself the way. This has a twofold meaning. He is the way from God to us in that all divine blessings come down from the Father through the Son. He is also the way from us to God. The only way to get to God is through Jesus. He spans the distance between God and sinners.

A story is told of a missionary traveling to a remote village. He was given a guide to take him there because they had to walk through the jungle. As they started their journey, the path was clear and easy to follow. But then it vanished and the guide had to cut through the vines and the thick undergrowth with his machete. The missionary got nervous and asked, “Where’s the path?” To which the native replied, “I am the path. Just follow me”

2. Jesus is the truth. The word “truth” in Scripture is used in two ways: true as contrasted with false, and genuine as opposed to fake. Jesus is authentic and trustworthy. When we look at Jesus we come face-to-face with certainty and reality. The Bible describes truth as not just something that is simply intellectual; it also has a moral dimension to it. John 3:21 refers to doing the truth: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light…” Jesus reveals God and exposes guilty people.

Truth is the scarcest commodity in the world. We hear people say, “that might be true for you, but it’s not for me.” Researcher George Barna has discovered that nearly 75% of Americans do NOT believe in absolute truth. Here’s the sad part of that. Without the clarity and consistency of absolute moral truth, we are reduced to doing what seems right, what feels good, what produces the least resistance, and what provides the greatest personal fulfillment.

Jesus rises above our cultural confusion and shouts out, “I am the truth. Get to know me and you will discover that which is totally true and transforming.” Truth is a very exclusive thing because it implies an objective standard. It is not something that changes with the whims of emotion or time or culture. What was true 100 years ago is true this year because, as Hebrews 13:8 states: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

In 1992, some Christians at Harvard University organized the Veritas Forum. Their purpose was to explore the truth and relevance of Christ by “raising the hardest questions of the university, society, and the human heart.” They were convinced that if Jesus was the Truth, He could stand up to thorough examination. They prayed and planned and invited people to their first discussion expecting about 100 people. Amazingly, 700 truth-seekers showed up. Now the Veritas Forum has emerged on over 70 secular campuses with over 200,000 participants. (Discipleship Journal, Issue 120).

Friend, if you’re searching for truth, ask your questions. Research the relevance of the Bible. Seek after truth. Winston Churchill once said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.” Jesus is offering you a personal relationship with Himself.

Do you remember that scene from “A Few Good Men” when Jack Nicholson said to Tom Cruise, “You can’t handle the truth?” Can you handle the truth? Don’t run away when it’s right in front of you. Pilate voiced the question on many minds today. Even though Jesus was standing right in front of Him, he queried in John 18:38: “What is truth?” He didn’t take the time to find out. Friend, you will find what you’re looking for in Christ as John 8:32 declares: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

3. Jesus is the life. All through the gospel of John life describes the principle of spiritual vitality. Just as death spells separation from God, so life implies communion with Him. We are dead without Him. We become alive when we surrender ourselves to Him. John 5:24: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Since Jesus is life we will only find meaning when we commit to His lordship. John 1:4: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

I can think of three ways we can put this powerful passage into practice.

1. Place your faith in Jesus. He is the only way! Look again at the last part of verse 6: “…No one comes to the Father except through me.” That little word “except” means that apart from Jesus there is no way to be saved. You cannot get there by trusting yourself. And you cannot come to the Father by jumping through any religious hoops either. The only way to come is to go through Jesus, the way, the truth and the life. 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” Are you ready to do that right now?

Jesus is the way that must be followed; He is the truth that must be believed; and He is the life that must be lived. Be like Thomas and ask your questions and then when you find what you’re looking for, instead of being a “doubting Thomas,” be a “decisive Thomas.” When he looked at the overwhelming evidence as he put his hands into the wounds of his Savior, Jesus saw into Thomas’ soul and said, “Stop doubting and believe.” I love Thomas’ response in John 20:28: “My Lord and my God!” Can you say the same thing? Will you stop doubting and believe?

2. Tell others about Jesus. Brothers and sisters, we don’t have to make Jesus more palatable to people. He is truth and can stand up to thorough investigation. Our job is to tell others about Him. By the way, the exclusive truth claims of Jesus do not mean that we should demonstrate an exclusive spirit. Ravi Zacharias captures this well when he writes: “Without the undergirding of love, the possessor of any conviction becomes obnoxious, and the dogma believed becomes repulsive to the one who disagrees with it. The early church also lived in an intensely pluralistic culture in which it had to deliver an exclusivistic message, but the believers were distinguished and recognized by their love…being possessed of a conviction is a necessary part of following God, but doing so with love and patience are necessary handmaidens.” (“Deliver Us From Evil,” p. 83).

3. Live your life for Jesus. Because Jesus is the great “I AM,” those of us who know Him should have our lives shaped by Him. Are you living for Him right now? Do you need to come back?

Bobby Fong, a former Harvard student, puts it this way: “Truth is not only that which awaits discovery but also that which was once known but is now threatened by forgetfulness.” Let’s not forget.

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