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Add to FavoritesThose professing to adhere to the "fundamental" tenets of Christianity seem to get some perverse sense of personal gratification by constantly reminding those of us who do not accept the core argument of their worldview, which is that the only "way" to personal "salvation" is Jesus of Nazareth. This essay will directly challenge that contention.
Since we can say that "salvation" is the act of being "saved" or "rescued" from something, it seems that the first question to arise is "salvation from what?"
The answer most frequently given is our "sins." This usually means "the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden" or "original sin," which is something that everyone is born with by virtue of the fact that everyone is a descendent of the first man and woman.
This seems to be a valid argument until we pause to consider its inherent weakness: that there is an overwhelming body of evidence that Adam and Eve were not real and that the Garden of Eden is no more (or less) real than the Elysian Fields of the Classical Greeks. In other words, no Adam equals no original sin and thus no requirement for "salvation."
We can also apply the same argument to another claim from the fundamental believers that, since Christianity is the "revealed" will of God, only Christianity can provide the answers regarding what is acceptable in the eyes of God. This argument also collapses from its own unsoundness.
If Christianity is the only "true" word of God, then other beliefs would not be able to arrive at identical principles because they would, by definition, lack a suitable philosophical foundation on which to build. When Jesus of Nazareth asked for his definition of the greatest commandment, he replied that the "greatest commandment" was the "love one another" or "do unto others." If this was the greatest commandment to have been revealed by God, then it could not arise from an unbeliever. However, since this same principle was known to the followers of the Buddha and to Confucius, both of whom lived 500 years prior to Jesus of Nazareth, they must have arrived at it without having it revealed to them. Strike two.
The contention that salvation is the exclusive franchise of Jesus of Nazareth not only reaches the heights of arrogance, it also neglects to consider the very real problem of the supposed eternal fate of those that lived and died before Jesus arrived on the scene.
Before, and even since, the life of Jesus there were millions upon millions that died without knowing (or caring) who Jesus of Nazareth was or was supposed to be. Since there were undoubtedly many who lived virtuously within the contexts of their own faiths, what was their fate? Since that question was never addressed in the Christian scripture, are we to assume that a supposedly "merciful" God is simply ignoring this "unsaved" multitude. If the answer is "yes," then the God of mercy isn't very merciful. If the answer is instead "no," then it must be the case that these peoples' "salvation" was assured via some other intermediation which would, in turn, invalidate the position that belief in the role Jesus of Nazareth is a precondition of "salvation."
Given that their position of the "necessity" of Jesus of Nazareth in the process of "salvation" rests upon an unsound foundation, those insisting that others adhere to such doctrinal "purity" might be well-served by recalling the "... judge not..." portion of the scriptures that they purport to hold dear.
Learn more about this author, Robert W. McDonald.
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Yes
Jesus the Christ firmly declared that " I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.(Matt 10:6)" Many people believed what he said, and many did not, even though they saw the miracles that he did right in front of them. The Scripture also declares we as people must enter through the narrow gate; just what is the 'narrow gate"?
Matthew 7: 13-14 - 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.
We see that there are two roads described for us, one is wide and leads to destruction, and one is narrow and leads to life. Tell me, if there was another way of salvation as some say, would not have God told us about the other path? But instead he declares unto us that there is a narrow gate that one must pass through in order to reach Heaven, what is this narrow gate, and how do we find it?
The wide open gate represents the road that many men are on today, it is full of sensual pleasures of the flesh, and it flows with every kind of intoxicating drink available. The road is wide to accommodate the masses who try to obtain their own path to heaven by being a good person in, only in their own minds of course. For if we were to examine most of these characters, we would find them to be less than perfect, and unable in their own efforts to meet God's standard for Heaven. I mean, It's God's heaven is it not, so he sets the rules not us right?
Matthew 10:7 - "Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep."
There is a significance there that only some have come to fully understand, let me explain. If you were to go to Israel today, and look at the gates of the old city, you might just see a small opening in the wall near the larger gate, this is called the sheep gate. It is very tight squeeze because it is how they got the sheep in and out of the city, without opening the main gate, and exposing Jerusalem to dangerous intruders. You can try and squeeze through yourself if you want to, but it is a very low and narrow opening, and I would not advise trying it.
Jesus said "I am the door for the sheep", the sheep gate, the narrow gate for the sheep to enter into. Here is a picture for us of Christ, the narrow sheep gate that all his sheep must enter by. You see, without Jesus, without his blood, there is no other way into heaven, you MUST enter by the narrow gate along with the rest of the sheep.
I stated earlier that if we examined those who were walking the wide road, we would see that they aren't as good as they claim to be, this is accomplished by looking at God's gold standard of moral excellence, the Ten Commandments. How many of the Ten Commandments do you think that you have broken? Let's take a closer look shall we, for without the Law of God, men cannot see how they have broken it.
So have you ever told a lie at anytime in your life? Be honest now, we all have at one time or another haven't we? Since the answer is yes, we all have lied at least once in our lives, we now have a huge problem, and that is that we have broken God's Law. What about using God's name in Vain? People say 'GD, and "JC" all the time without even hardly thinking about it. Have you done this? Have you cussed using God's or Jesus name? How about "Oh my God!" Well you see God calls that blasphemy, and that is also another strike against us isn't it?
So what about lust? or hate? Have you ever lusted sexually when you saw a half naked woman on TV? Or have you hated someone? God calls hate, murder! When we examine ourselves honestly in the light of God's laws, we find that we are guilty of breaking every one of them, not a pretty picture is it?
So having broken God's Laws, and admitting to it, how do you hope to cover for your crimes against God? Do you think your good works can take care of the problem? God say's that it takes blood to cover for our breaking his laws, how do you suppose you are gonna do that?
God came in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and shed his blood on our behalf, so that we don't have to die, or be put to death to cover for our breaking God' s laws. Why would anyone want to spend there time working for something that's already bought and paid for for us?
This is why Jesus is the ONLY way of Salvation!
The narrow gate is for the sheep to enter and be safe from the wrath of God to come. Jesus paid it all so we don't have too, isn't that awesome to think that God would allow his only Son to pay the penalty for our misdeeds? Friend there is nothing you or I could ever do to satisfy God's anger against us for violating his Holy Standard. Nothing we ourselves could pay that could ever suffice for our sins. Only the Blood of Jesus can cleanse you, and make you right with God.
Jesus truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
Learn more about this author, KCWriteWinger.
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