On one fine morning, a missionary was passing along the banks of river Ganges in India. She noticed a young Hindu woman, appeared to be educated, sitting by the river bank with her children, a beautiful new born baby and a retarded child of about three years. When the missionary was returning home that evening, she saw the young mother still sitting at the river bank. The little baby was nowhere there and the mother was trying to comfort her retarded child. Horrified at what the missionary thought might be true, she walked over to her and asked what had happened. With tears streaming down her cheeks, the young mother looked up and said-
“I don’t know about the God in your country, but the gods in mine demands the best”.
Majority of the Hindus accept the doctrine of transmigration and rebirth. According to Bhagwadgita, (Song of the Lord- C. 200 B.C), a sacred and extremely influential religious text of Hindu religion, there are three main ways to attain salvation. The first means to achieve salvation is the Karma Marga, (the path of duties), the disinterested discharge of ritual and social obligations. The second means is the Jnana Marga, (the path of knowledge), the use of meditative concentration proceeded by a long and systematic, ethical and contemplative training, yoga, to gain a super-intellectual insight into one’s identity with Brahman. The final means to salvation is the Bhakti Marga, the path of devotion), the devotion to a personal god.
The above-mentioned young mother had thrown her beautiful, healthy baby in River Ganges, considered by many Hindus as a goddess, was trying bhakti marga to please goddess Ganges in her effort to attain salvation and blessings.
Almost all religions in the world have their own ways to achieve salvation. Dr. Billy Graham rightly said, “Millions want salvation, but on their own terms; they want to chart their own courses and devise all kinds of routes to lead to God”.
Among the worldly religions, Christian religion occupies a prominent position above all of them. The means to attain salvation mentioned in the Holy Bible uplifts the greatness of Christianity. Comparing various religions, G. Campbell Morgan throws a little light to confirm the superiority of the doctrine of salvation revealed in the Holy Bible.
“All other religions, the highest and noblest of them, having in them light, walking in which men will surely be acceptable to God; all of them are attempts by man to find God, humanity climbing toward Him. The Christian religion declares that God has come to find man, that he bows and stoops toward man….. bringing to him salvation, recognizing his degradation and failure”.
In the Old Testament, the term salvation refers to the temporal and spiritual deliverance of the children of Israel by God. Many times, God delivered them from their enemies. However, in the New Testament, salvation means deliverance from the dominion of the power of darkness through the blood of Jesus Christ.
In a nutshell, according to the New Testament, salvation is the free gift of God to the mankind. Those who accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior can attain salvation.
The embalmed remains of Lenin can be seen in Moscow’s Red Square. On the crystal casket that contains his remains, it is imprinted like this. “ For he was the greatest leader of all people of all time. He was the lord of the new humanity, he was the savior of the world”.
The so-called savior of the world is confined in a mausoleum and presently unable to save anybody. Many great people came to this world pretending to be saviors of the world and proved themselves to be utter failure in their effort to reduce the burdens of mankind.
M.G Easton said, a savior is “one who saves from any form or degree of evil”. Jesus was the personal name of our Lord that means savior. No man born in sin has the eligibility or capability to save a person from his spiritual bondages.
Nobody else other than Jesus deserves to be called as the only savior. He is not one among the saviors, but he is the only savior of the mankind. The anointed Peter boldly said-
“Nor 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).
