IV. The Exclusive Nature of the Gospel and the Claims of Christ:

“The New Testament and the Gospel claim that Jesus Christ is the only way to God is offensive, narrow-minded and arrogant”.

The New Testament documents make very clear the claims of the Gospel.

1. All men are sinners and are alienated from God by our own willful choices.

2. God has made provision for this separation and the remedy is through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3. The Gospel affirmation is that there is no other way to God and no other means for the forgiveness of our sin except through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23.“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” – I Timothy 1:15“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.“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12.“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” – I Timothy 2:5.“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”– Romans 5:1.

This exclusive claim of the Gospel presents a challenge for people examining the Christian Faith. How can Jesus be the only way to God? Why should the Christian Faith be so narrow minded and arrogant? What makes Jesus so special so as to assert that He is the only way to God? What about all of the other religions? Are they not all equally valid?

First of all, as Christians we should always be humble in our presentation of the Gospel. If we are arrogant, we distract from the message and invite resistance not so much to the Gospel but to our presentation. Second, all religions and many of the ideologies that are communicated in the market place today claim to be exclusive.

Ravi Zacharias, the noted Christian apologist, made the following observations.-“it’s important to understand that Christianity is not the only religion that claims exclusivity. For instance, Muslims radically claim exclusivity – not just theologically, but also linguistically. Muslims believe that the sole, sufficient, and consummate miracle of Islam is the Koran. They say, however, it’s only recognizable in Arabic, and that any translation desacralizes it. And it’s not just a basic understanding of Arabic that’s required, but a sophisticated knowledge of the language.

As for Buddhism, it was born when Gautama Buddha rejected two fundamental assertions of Hinduism – the ultimate authority of the Vedas, which are their scriptures and the cast system. Hinduism itself is absolutely uncompromising on two or three issues: the law of karma, which is the law of moral cause and effect, so that every birth is a rebirth that makes recompense for the previous life; the authority of the Vedas; and reincarnation….As for Sikhism… it came as a challenge to both Hinduism and Buddhism. Then there are the atheists – they reject the viewpoints of those who believe in God. And even Baha’ism, which claims to be a cosmic embrace of all religions, ends up excluding the exclusivists! Therefore, the statement that Christians are arrogant by claiming exclusivity ignores the reality that every other major religion does as well.” – The Case For Faith, Lee Strobel, page 149.

The law of non-contradiction is a first principle of logic that forms the basis of communicating. Without adherence to this fundamental, nothing can be said of truthful significance. When the major world religions and philosophies are examined, they all fundamentally disagree. The nature of God and the reality of truth as taught by these belief systems are diametrically opposite to each other. Based on the law of non-contradiction, this results in only one conclusion. Either all of the world religions and philosophies are wrong or only one is right. We have no other option.

Thirdly, Jesus claimed absolute exclusivity. His diagnosis of the sinful human condition and the fact that He alone has provided the remedy for mankind is firmly taught in the Gospel. According to Jesus Christ, there is no other way to God except through Him. This exclusive claim is not something that Christians have made up, but instead it comes from Jesus Christ Himself and His disciples simply echoed what He taught them. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life . No one else went to the cross and bore our sins. No one else took our place. All the religious men and philosophers who have ever lived were defeated by death and their bodies have long ago decomposed in the grave, but not so with Jesus Christ. He rose from the dead, defeated death and proved that the remedy for sin has been made effective through His work on the cross. This is why Christ alone is worthy of our worship and devotion.