The Exclusiveness of God
Ephesians 4:1-6
There has been a trend in America today to have churches become all-inclusive and embrace or incorporate the teachings of other faiths into Christianity. One such movement is Chrislam which seeks to build on a statement of Malcolm X when he said, "We are brothers; we are a family of God. Not one of us is better than the other in His eyes. He loves us both. The future can only be won against the "Evil one" by all of us standing strong together." On June 26th, churches from nine different denominations including Baptist joined with Muslims and Jews conducting inter-faith worship services which included reading from the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah. They seek to tell you that there are many avenues to God. They desire a potpourri faith. Ephesians 4 tells us that Christianity is exclusive in that it worships an exclusive God. Understand that there is only one true God, Who wrote only one book, has only one begotten Son, and only one plan of salvation.
I. There is only one true God
A. John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
B. Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”
C. There are those who advocate that Christians, Muslims, or any other religion pray to and worship the same God. But understand that isn’t so.
D. Allah is NOT God.
1. Allah is seen as the Author of Evil – Evil is abhorrent to God
a. Allah called a schemer and deceiver in the Koran Surah 3:54 and Surah 4:142
2. God hates sin and cannot sin
a. Habakkuk 1:13 “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity”
b. James 1:13 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man”
3. Allah is not seen as a personal god.
a. Of the 99 names for Allah in Islam not one is “Father” or has a personal connotation.
4. God is the Father of every born-again believer
a. Matthew 6:9 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”
b. 2 Thessalonians 1:2 “Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
E. There is only one God
1. Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD”
2. The Father is God; Jesus Is God; the Holy Spirit is God.
3. Within the one Being or essence of God, there eternally exists three distinct yet equal Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
4. Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
II. God wrote only one Book
A. There are a myriad of religious writings – the Veda, Quran, Book of Mormon, the writings of Ellen G White, are a few. But none of them compare to the infallible, inerrant, inspired, holy Word of God, the Bible. The Bible is unique among “Holy Books”. The Bible is the written revelation o f God to man.
B. In the book, Reforming Fundamentalism, by George A. Marsden, informs that 85% of the students in one of America's largest evangelical seminaries stated that they do not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. Beyond that, a poll of 10,000 U.S.A. clergymen (of whom 74% replied) by sociologist Jeffery Hadden in 1987 clearly reveals the effects of this significant change of belief through the passage of time. When asked if they believed that the Scriptures are the inspired and inerrant Word of God in faith, history, and secular matters:
95% of Episcopalians said "No."
87% of Methodists said "No."
82% of Presbyterians said "No."
77% of American Lutherans said "No."
67% of American Baptists said "No." - The Gideon, January, 1994, pp. 12-13
C. The Bible is
1. Inspired –
a. 2 Peter 1:20-21”Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
b. 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”
2. Inerrant –
a. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works also in you that believe.”
b. John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
3. Preserved –
a. Psalm 12:6-7 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
b. 1 Peter 1:25 “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
4. Unchangeable –
a. 1 Peter 1:23-25 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.”
b. Revelation 22:18 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.”
III. God has only one begotten Son
A. Islam calls Jesus Christ a prophet. But He is more than a prophet or an angel. The Bible declares Him to be the only begotten eternal Son of God.
1. John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
2. John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
B. God the Son.
1. John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
2. 1 John 4:15 “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God.”
C. "I know men," said Napoleon in exile on the island of St. Helena to Count Montholon, "I know men, and I tell you that Jesus was not a man! The religion of Christ is a mystery, which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find in it a marked individuality which originated a train of words and actions unknown before. Jesus is not a philosopher, for His proofs are miracles, and from the first His disciples adored Him. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires but on what foundation did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth, to become food for worms. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, and adored, and is extending over the whole earth!" And turning to General Bertrand, the Emperor added, "If you do not perceive that Jesus Christ was God, I did wrong to appoint you general!"
IV. God has only one plan of salvation
A. Did you know that in 1997 members of the Reformed Church in America actually called a nationwide vote on whether it was really true that salvation can only come through faith in Jesus Christ? And if that were not bad enough, Jesus lost. Only 22 of the denomination's 46 regional districts nationwide voted that Yes, Jesus is indeed the only way to heaven that's fewer than half, and far less than the two-thirds vote that would have been necessary for the measure to be passed. Can we really believe the claims that America is still a "Christian nation" when even the official statements of belief of our churches are saying otherwise? - Western Recorder, 4/97
B. No other way - John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
C. No other Name – Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
D. No other salvation – 1 John 5:12 “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
