The Exclusivity of Christ in a pluralistic culture
The Christian faith proclaims that through Christ humanity may be saved from sin. Other religions claim that Jesus was a great Teacher, Philosopher, or Prophet, but not God come in the flesh to die for sin and rise again. Political correctness instructs people that “all religions are the same, and lead to the same God.” Is Jesus just some Savior or is He; the Lord God who came in human flesh, virgin born, sinless, died from cruxification, rose again on the third day, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. My goal today is to get you, the reader to understand who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
Jesus in John 14:1-14 teaches His disciples that He is the Way, Truth and the Life. John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” Believe in God is translated as an imperative (or command), but the Greek could also be rendered as a statement, “You believe in God.” The imperative is probably better in light of the previous sentence. What troubles the disciples is Jesus’ imminent departure (13:36). “Believe,” in keeping with Old Testament usage (Isaiah 28:16), denotes personal, relational trust. John 2:2-3. In light of the context (Jesus going to the Father; 13:1, 3; 14:28), it is best to understand my Father’s house as referring to heaven. In keeping with this image, the many rooms (or “dwelling places,” Greek, mone) are places to live within that large house. The translation “rooms” is not meant to convey the idea of small spaces, but only to keep consistency in the metaphor of heaven as God’s “house”. In a similar passage, Jesus speaks of his followers being received into the “eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9; 1 Cor 2:9).
John 14:6. Jesus as the only way to the Father fulfills the Old Testament symbols and teachings that show the exclusiveness of God’s claim (John 3:18), such as the curtain (Exodus 26:33) barring access to God’s presence from all except the Levitical high priest (Leviticus 16), the rejection of human inventions as a means to approach God (Lev. 10:2), and the choice of Aaron alone to represent Israel before God in his sanctuary (Numbers 17:5). Jesus is the only “way” to God (Acts 4:12), and He alone can provide access to God. Jesus as the truth fulfills the teaching of the Old Testament (John 1:17) and reveals the true God (1:14, 17; 5:33; 18:37; 8:40, 45-46; 14:9). Jesus alone is the life who fulfills the Old Testament promises of “life” given by God (11:25-26) having life in himself (1:4; 5:26), and he is thus able to confer eternal life to all who believe in him (3:16). This is another “I am” saying that makes a claim to deity (6:35).
Jesus statement in John 14:6 forms the basis for the exclusivist view which states that it is impossible to attain salvation apart from hearing the Word (Romans 10:17). The restrictivist view states that those who have heard the gospel are those who have made a conscious decision to accept it, but those who have never heard the gospel are judged on the basis of what he/she know or should have known. The popular view of pop culture is that all faiths lead to the same God. The only problem with the pop culture view is that it views Jesus as some popular teacher, but does not subscribe to His teachings. Jesus Himself said that a disciple is not greater than His master (Matthew 10:24), and a disciple when fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40). If Jesus is just some Savior, or Lord, or He just provides some “good moral philosophy” then why do the words out of Jesus mouth undercut the claims of popular culture and popular religion? Jesus said if people will not take up their Cross and follow Him; then how can the argument be sustained by popular culture and religion?
The argument from popular culture is not sustainable in light of Jesus own words. Jesus is not just some Savior, Lord, Prophet or Philosopher, but the Savior, Lord and God who died for sin and rose again. Men will either come to Him or they will not be saved. The objection from a pluralistic culture is to appeal to fairness. People define fairness as the ability to get their views or opinions out there. When this view is used it is often applied by those who want to have their own way regarding religion and life. The problem is that the Bible does not support this view. Jesus did not come to die for wishes, dreams and wants. He came to die for sin which offended His holiness. The charge that God is unfair is logically inconsistent to the core. Ascribing to knowledge of God but saying that one is God through a claim of fairness is illogical.
Logically if one says that this view is unfair then he/she must also say that he/she is unfair since God is the One who created him/her. The Creator who created the world can destroy the world. The Creator who made all things can deny them eternal life but doesn’t. Jesus who died for sin can withhold forgiveness from sin but doesn’t. The argument from fairness is flawed because it argues on an I, me, you basis which makes it logically impossible to prove not to mention Scripturally unsound.
Jesus is different than all the other “saviors”, guru’s, teachers, philosophers and the like because He not only claimed to be God but was God. When Jesus either through His miracles (Jesus performed miracles which demonstrated His Deity) or through His teaching (people understood Jesus to be teaching that He was God), Jesus incited the Jews and gave hope to the broken, downcast and marginalized of His day. Jesus today offers hope in a world that is falling apart at the seams because of sin. Jesus is the most debated person in all of history, because He is the center piece of all of history. Jesus claimed to be the only Way to God and provides the means from which to have eternal life. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ offers reconciliation between God and men. Through Jesus death and burial all humanity may be saved.
The exclusive claims of Jesus in an age of pluralism are not popular. The truth of the matter is that popular culture does not believe in tolerance though it exalts it as a virtue. If popular culture believed in tolerance it would not seek to suppress Christianity. All other religions are allowed free reign in the public square but the exclusive claims of Jesus. Jesus said that He is the Way, Truth and the Life. Jesus own words form the basis for the Gospel which proclaims that humanity through Christ can be forgiven of sin, be reconciled to God, and be used in God’s service to the glory of God.
In Christ Alone,
Pastor Dave
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