SERIES: “ANSWERS FOR SOME OF LIFE’S DIFFICULT QUESTIONS”
TEXT: JOHN 14:6
TITLE: “IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD?”
INTRODUCTION: A. You’ve probably never heard of Walter Chaplinsky but in 1940, he caused quite a
ruckus in Rochester, New Hampshire. He loudly and publicly denounced organized
religion as being a “racket” and condemned several Christian groups by name. He
was arrested and convicted under a state law that made it a crime to speak “any
offensive, derisive or annoying word to any person who is lawfully in any street or
other public place.” While being placed under arrest, he called the law-enforcement
officer a “Fascist.”
Chaplinsky believed that his free-speech rights were violated and appealed his case
all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1942, the court unanimously upheld his
conviction and said that “fighting words” like the ones he shouted fell outside the
protection of the First Amendment.
B. If you’ve ever watched old Westerns, you’ve probably heard someone say something
like this: “Pardner, them thar’s fightin’ words!”
1. “Fightin’words” arouse a gut-level reaction in people making them ball up their
fists and desire to strike back in retaliation.
2. Jesus’ claim in Jn. 14:6 – “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.” are “figthin’ words” to a lot of people.
a. We live in an age where religious pluralism, tolerance, and political correctness
are the by-words of the day.
--Many people consider the statement “Jesus is the only way to God” as being
arrogant, narrow-minded, and bigoted.
b. In our age, no fact is considered universally true at all times, at all places for
all people, and in all cultures.
--66% of all Americans now deny there’s any such thing as absolute truth
3. Charles Templeton: “Christians are a small minority in the world. Approximately
four out of every five people on the face of the earth believe in gods other than the
Christian God. The more than five billion people who live on earth revere or
worship more than three hundred gods. If one includes the animist or tribal
religions, the number rises to more than three thousand. Are we to believe that only
Christians are right?”
C. While those of us gathered here for worship this morning have no problems with
seeing Jesus as the only way to God, there are many more who live around us who do
1. One of our reasons for our existence is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with
those around us
--We need to know their mindset and their operating philosophies if we’re going to
be effective in doing that
2. Jesus many times effectively answered a question with a question.
--this morning, I’m going to ask and answer several basic underlying questions to
the main question: Is Jesus the only way to God?
I. ISN’T IT ARROGANT TO CLAIM THAT JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY?
A. It’s important to understand that Christianity is not the only belief system that claims exclusivity
1. Muslims radically claim exclusivity
a. They believe that the sole, sufficient, and consummate miracle of Islam is the Koran.
b. However, they claim that it’s only recognizable in Arabic.
--Any translation removes the sacredness of the miracle
c. To understand the true miracle of the Koran, you can’t have just a basic understanding of Arabic.
--You must have a sophisticated knowledge of the language.
2. Hinduism is absolutely uncompromising on several issues:
a. The ultimate authority of the Vedas (their scriptures)
b. The law of karma (the law of moral cause and effect)
-- causing every birth to be a re-birth
c. The law of re-incarnation
--The law of karma causes every birth to be a re-birth and each re-birth is recompense based on the
previous life
3. Buddhism came about when Gautama Buddha rejected some of the fundamental assertions of
Hinduism
--especially:
. a. The authority of the Vedas
b. The caste system
B. It’s important to understand that all truth, by definition, is exclusive
--If truth does not exclude then no assertion of a truth claim is being made
1. Any time you make a truth claim, you assert something contrary to that truth claim is false.
2. Anyone who denies the exclusive nature of truth is making a truth claim and is thereby claiming that
your stance is false.
3. In logic, there is a principle called the law of exclusion
--The law of exclusion basically says that something cannot be A and non-A at the same time; i.e. if
something is an apple, it cannot also be a chair or even a plum
C. When Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, he taught us:
1. Truth is absolute
--His claim of exclusivity means categorically that anything that contradicts what He says is by
definition false.
2. Truth is knowable
--Jn. 8:32 – “…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
D. One thing we need be careful about: The truth of Jesus Christ must be presented in a way that doesn’t
sound smug or superior.
--Too often, we come across that way
1. There’s a proverb in India that says that once you cut off a person’s nose, there’s no point in giving
him a rose to smell.
2. If we’re arrogant in the way we present the truth of Jesus, we can damage people’s receptiveness to the
Gospel.
a. Mahatma Gandhi: “I like their Christ, I don’t like their Christians.”
b. Friederich Nietzshe: “I will believe in the Redeemer when the Christian looks a little more
redeemed.”
c. We need to hear their words and heed their warnings
d. A preacher friend of mine, Dr. Steve Pattison, says, “The fact that we Christians fail doesn’t make
Jesus less true. But shame on us if it is our arrogance keeps them from listening.”
II. AREN’T ALL RELIGIONS BASICALLY THE SAME?
--Aren’t they all teaching the same fundamental truths at their core, using different language, diverse
images, and various traditions to communicate basically identical beliefs?
A. Those who believe this claim see all the world religions as essentially teaching the universal fatherhood
of God and the universal brotherhood of humankind.
--Only someone who doesn’t understand the world religion would claim they basically teach the same
thing
1. What do they mean by the universal fatherhood of God?
a. Buddhists make no claim that there is a God
b. Shankara, one of the most respected Hindu philosophers, said that the belief in a God is only a
child’s way to ultimately get to the top, where you ultimately find out God is not distinct from you.
c. The father-hood of God is not an across-the-board religious doctrine
2. What about the brotherhood of humanity?
a. Yes, we’re all brothers and sister as fellow human beings
1). But the only reason we are is because God created us
2). Ravi Zacharias says, “Once you take that foundation away, then brotherhood ends up with more
hoods than brothers!”
3. In sum total, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity do not claim the same things in these
regards
a. There’s another rule in logic called the law of noncontradiction
b. It states that if two statements about one particular issue contradict each other, then there are only
two possible answers:
1). Only one of them is true, or
2). They’re both false.
--They cannot both be true in the same sense and at the same time.
B. We need to be careful here
1. There are aspects of truth in virtually all the major religions
2. However, Jesus Christ is the sum total of truth
a. Some proponents of the claim that all religions are basically the same have drawn an analogy to the
old story about the three blind men and the elephant. Each felt a different part of the elephant and
claimed knowledge of the truth. One felt the elephant’s leg and claimed an elephant was like a
tree. Another felt the elephant’s trunk and claimed an elephant was like a rope. The third felt the
elephant’s ear and claimed an elephant was like a fan.
--Those who propose this analogy say that each religion is a sincere but inadequate attempt to
explain the mystery of God and therefore each one is valid in its own way
b. There are several problems with that analogy:
1). The parable already reveals that it is indeed an elephant
--A blind man may think it’s a tree, a rope, or a fan. A seeing man knows it’s an elephant and
sees the elephant in the sum total of all its parts
2). The seeing man knows the truth because his sight has revealed it to him
c. God has revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ
1). Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
2). Jn. 1:1, 14 – “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.” “14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
III. WHY IS JESUS’ CLAIM TRUE?
--Lee Strobel: “Anyone can claim to be the only path to God. In fact, quite a few crackpots have made
that assertion throughout history. The real issue is why anybody should believe Jesus was telling the truth
when he said it.”
A. Every religion seeks to answer four basic questions: origin, meaning, morality and destiny
--Only Jesus Christ gives a compelling coherence in his answers to these questions
1. Where did humanity come from?
-- We are created by God, in the image of God, to live out God’s will.
2. What is meaning of our existence?
-- We exist, not for ourselves, but to love God through the act of worship and to love others in
humanity because we have been loved and want to share that love with others.
3. How is morality defined?
-- Morality is the very character of God. It is not culturally or human based, but rests solely in
he intellectual, moral, omnipotent, infinite God of creation.
4. What is our final destiny?
--Our destiny rests in our acceptance of the God’s grace-filled gift of forgiveness and continued
Spiritual leadership. The Resurrection of Christ opened that door to eternal life for everyone who
will follow him
5. Every other world religion gets hung up on one or more of these questions
--For Christians, the Bible gives us the answers we need for salvation and for living out our salvation
B. The circumstances around Jesus’ life validate His truth claims:
1. The prophets validate Jesus.
a. The prophets point to Jesus in a way that is uncanny.
b. When you read what they wrote, and then you read the story of Jesus, he was everything they
hoped for and more.
--He fulfilled their dreams and went beyond anything they expected.
2. His character validates Jesus.
a. Most of the time, the better you know someone, the more you understand their flaws.
b. The opposite was true of Jesus.
--The more time people spent with Jesus they more convinced they were of his purity, and his
holiness, and his integrity.
c. No one was closer to Jesus than John or Peter. They were by his side for three years.
1). And yet John wrote, “In him there is no sin.”
2). Peter wrote, “He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
3. His miracles validate Jesus.
a. They were powerful clues as to his identity
b. He didn’t do his miracles in some dark room with a few gullible witnesses.
--He healed the sick, cast out demons, controlled the elements, and raised the dead in broad
daylight, in front of skeptics and cynics.
4. More than anything else, his own Resurrection validates Jesus.
a. The historical record concerning his Resurrection is powerful and compelling
b. As Jesus walked out of that tomb, God was saying, “This is my Son, listen to him. He is the way,
he is the truth, he is the life. You cannot find your own way, you cannot make your own truth, you
cannot earn your own life. You come to me through him.”
IV. WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL?
--What about those people who live in places where the gospel isn’t routinely discussed or where
proclamation of the gospel is actually outlawed?
A. The fact of the matter is that people are born into one culture or another and have no control over where
they’re born
--However, he Bible does speak clearly on this subject
1. In Acts 17:26-28, the apostle Paul tells the philosophers in Athens about God: “‘From one man he
made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set
for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.’”
--We’re clearly taught that where we live – in whatever culture, in whatever nation – that God is
within reach of everyone of us.
2. Rom. 1:18-20 – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God
is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s
invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood
from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
--God’s infinite power and deity are revealed through creation
3. Rom. 2:13-15 – “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those
who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law,
do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have
the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their
consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)”
--God put the law in our hearts and consciences that we might seek him
4. Heb. 11:b tells us something very important – “…anyone who comes to him must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
B. Here’s another area where we need to be careful
--Not everyone has to have a complete understanding to come to saving faith
1. All people know enough to condemn them
a. Not everyone has to hear and reject Jn. 3:16 to be lost
b. They’re lost because they’ve already rejected what God has spoken to them through creation, their
conscience and in other ways.
2. A good analogy would be an infant to its mother.
--What does an infant know about its mother? He knows she nourishes him, changes him, embraces
him, kisses him – she must be a friend. That child doesn’t know his mother as well as he will when
he’s eighteen. But he knows her enough to love her.
V. WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO LIVE GOOD LIVES BUT NEVER ACCEPT CHRIST?
A. I know this sounds hard but I speak the truth in love:
1. You can’t turn your back on the Son and expect the favor of the Father.
2. When God sends his own Son to open the gates of heaven you can’t push him away and expect the
embrace of the Father.
B. Why not?
1. The Bible says that anyone spending eternity with God in heaven is there because of the grace and
provision of Jesus Christ
--We have trusted his grace and provision and received it into our lives
a. If a person has rejected that grace, then were they a good person or a bad person?
b. The answer to that question is that scripture tells us that no one is good until they’re first redeemed.
c. God’s pattern is always threefold:
1). Redemption
2). Righteousness
3). Worship
--Unless you’re redeemed, you’re not righteous. If you’re not righteous, you cannot worship
because the Bible asks, “who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord but he who has clean
hands and a pure heart?”
2. Ravi Zacharias: “No human being consigns anybody to heaven or hell. In fact, God himself doesn’t
send anybody to heaven or hell; the person chooses to respond or reject the grace of God…”
C. The Bible is very clear: without Christ you are forever lost
1. Acts 4:12 – “‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved.’”
2. 1 Tim. 2:5 – “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…”
3. 1 Jn. 5:12 – “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
CONCLUSION: A. The claims of Christ are exclusive. They rule out any other religious leaders statements
1. Other religious leaders say, “Follow me and I will show you how to find the truth.”
--Jesus said, “I am the truth.”
2. Other religious leaders say, “Follow me and I will show you the way to salvation.”
--Jesus said, “I am the way to eternal life.”
3. Other religious leaders say, “Follow me and I will show you how you can become
enlightened.”
--Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”
4. Other religious leaders say, “Follow me and I will show you that many doors lead to
God.”
-- Jesus said, “I am the door.”
5. Other religious leaders say, “Follow me and I will show you how you can find
spiritual nourishment.”
--Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”
B. Other religious leaders talk about what we do to reach out to God, to earn the favor of
God.
1. All religions can be spelled with two letters: D-O.
--Why? Because fundamentally they teach that you have to do something – some sort
of religious ritual or some way of living – to make yourself right with God
2. But Christianity is different. It says you can’t D-O anything to earn the favor of God.
Christianity is spelled D-O-N-E - it’s done! IT IS FINISHED!
--Our sins are paid for. All that’s left for us to do is to place our hope and trust in
Jesus Christ and become obedient to him
3. Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.
a. Without Jesus, you are dead in your sins.
b. With Jesus, you are alive forevermore
