Exclusive teachings of Jesus

The thing that differentiates Jesus is that He doesn't ask us to follow a series of 'teachings', He just asks us to accept His free gift of life, and to use it to love others.

Penumbra said:

Hi!

A lot of people, even atheists and other non-Christians, sometimes say they are followers of the teachings of Jesus. Christians of course say this as well.

I used to be a Christian myself and am relatively knowledgeable about this religion. My question to you is, what are the exclusive teachings of Jesus? What has Jesus taught that is found in no other religions? (At least not in religions pre-dating Jesus, that is. So if other religions have it, but he said it first, it counts for him.)

I'd like to make a lit of things that Jesus taught that other religions before him do not include. Bear in mind I'm looking for things Jesus specifically taught, so I'm not looking for quotes from Paul's epistles. Thanks for any help!

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John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

Christ is God incarnate. Through Him we all have a way to be united to God. Christ defeated sin (missing the mark of being in God's will) and death. Only through Christ is life even possible. The dead in Christ are more alive than we are.

Penumbra said:

Thank you for that verse, it backs up your statement there.

Can you provide references for where Jesus said this? Thanks.

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Matthew 22:31-32
31"But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32'(X)I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

Penumbra said:

Thank you for the swift response. You have provided reference for most things.

This is a segment from your other reply:

If possible, can you please provide a reference by Jesus for this part about Christ defeating sin?

I don't mean to bug anyone, I'm just trying to be thorough!

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Matthew 26:28

28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 8:34-37
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

seashale76 said:

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

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In my own searchings, I've only found this the most distinguishes Jesus' teachings from others.

The only other thing I would add is that it is the whole of Jesus' teachings, and his actions, that distinguish him most; the beatitudes and the Woes, how he treats the woman at the well, the prostitute seeking escape from being stoned, his response to the woman with the jar of oxnard, his parables, his non-resistance teachings followed up by his response to his arrest, interrogation, and finally his crucifixion.

All these distinguish him above any other, at least among those I've researched.

Penumbra said:

Hi!

A lot of people, even atheists and other non-Christians, sometimes say they are followers of the teachings of Jesus. Christians of course say this as well.

I used to be a Christian myself and am relatively knowledgeable about this religion. My question to you is, what are the exclusive teachings of Jesus? What has Jesus taught that is found in no other religions? (At least not in religions pre-dating Jesus, that is. So if other religions have it, but he said it first, it counts for him.)

I'd like to make a lit of things that Jesus taught that other religions before him do not include. Bear in mind I'm looking for things Jesus specifically taught, so I'm not looking for quotes from Paul's epistles. Thanks for any help!

Edit: If you provide a teaching of Jesus that you feel is exclusive to Christianity, please reference it as being taught by Jesus.

Edit2: Here's a compiled list of Jesus' teachings as stated by people in this thread. Please give me new ones, or elaborate on existing ones.

-Only Jesus can give a person access to the Father.
-People that are dead in God are very much alive.
-Jesus' blood forgives sins.

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I think the question misunderstands what Jesus' mission is. If you decontextualise his teachings you'll miss the main point, and yes - you'll find all of them in the OT and most of them in other religions and philosophies. But his words go alongside his actions and his life, death and resurrection itself. In that context they are a part of the sign of the Kingdom of God beginning and an invitation to get involved in that.

Penumbra said:

A lot of people, even atheists and other non-Christians, sometimes say they are followers of the teachings of Jesus. Christians of course say this as well.

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Anyone can say they're a follower of almost anyone if they cherry-pick, right? If Karl Marx at some point said "we should try to reduce poverty" and "all men are equal", I could say I'm a follower of the teachings of Marx, even though I despise Marxism.

The trouble with Jesus is he made cherry-picking impossible by claiming to be the Son of God. I mean you either accept that claim or you don't. If you accept it, you can't logically say "well I like this thing he said, but not this other thing", or "this idea is original to him so it has credibility, but this other thing is unoriginal, so it's..." what? Could unoriginality case doubt upon the Author of reality?

My question to you is, what are the exclusive teachings of Jesus? What has Jesus taught that is found in no other religions?

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I agree strongly with rahmiyn's post, and I think there is really nothing like the Sermon on the Mount in all of human thought. So I'd also add the caveat that teaching is not primarily what Christ was about. When he gives what sounds like moral teachings, I think they mean "this is what men should be like", but much more they mean "this is what God is like" or "this is what ultimate reality is like".

So a few other suggestions from the beatitudes (you can decide):

Did anyone else ever say "love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, etc."? Did anyone else ever say that the poor, and the mournful and the meek were blessed?

Did anyone else ever say that thoughts and desires could be sins? Others have said it's wrong to commit immoral acts, and others have said we should strive to have "right" thoughts, but I'm not sure anyone ever connected the two things as in "if you hate a man, it's as if you had murdered him. If you lust after a woman, it's as if you've committed adultery with her."

Others may have indicated that men will be judged, but Jesus said he would be the One doing the judging (Matthew 7:21-23). I think that's distinct enough to be considered exclusive.

P.S. That's a great idea you have about updating your OP with answers; I don't think I've seen that before. If it turns out you get a large number of posts that could really come in handy.

I just thought of something. It would seem we have to look far and wide, take bits and pieces from other faiths to comprise all the Jesus taught and did in just a few years in a consecrated culture nestled in quite a remote place in the world, at the time.

That alone seems pretty amazing. I also wondered if there is another way to exclude Jesus from all others, and that would be to see if there is anyone who can point to any word or action of Jesus' that was not astounding and reverently pure? For me, this has long been something that lends the most credibility that he is who he said he was.

Dear Penumbra. Jesus gave us 2 Commandments, which contain all 10 Commandments, which God gave us. 1) Love God with all your hearts, with all your souls, and with all your minds. 2) Love your neighbour, (all others,and eachother) as you love yourselves. ( which also means treat others, as you would want to be treated.) Jesus also told us " No-one comes to the Father, but through me." Also follow me. No long lists of do`s and don`ts. Easy to understand and to remember. I say this humbly and with love, Penumbra. Greetings from Emmy, sister in Christ.

Jesus is the only person to state that he must die and be raised again for the forgivness of sins:

Mat 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Mat 26:28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Joh 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

Note also Jesus states that His body is "[the] temple", which is the place where God dwells. So he makes himself God; God dwells in Him. Note also "[Jesus] will raise it again in three days". The bible else where says God raised Jesus body, so again Jesus is linked to God. No other religion had a founder who stated they were God, or made them selves equal to God..

Penumbra posted in message #1 of this thread:

Here's a compiled list of Jesus' teachings as stated by people in this
thread. Please give me new ones, or elaborate on existing ones.

-Only Jesus can give a person access to the Father.
-People that are dead in God are very much alive.
-Jesus' blood forgives sins.

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Greetings.

Note that the third point, "Jesus' blood forgives sins" should be
amended to read "Only Jesus' blood forgives sins", for Jesus taught
that belief in him and his death on the cross is the only way for our
sins to be forgiven by God (Matthew 26:28, John 8:24). This
explains one reason for the first point, why "Only Jesus can give a
person access to the Father", which Jesus taught in John 14:6.

Penumbra posted in message #1 of this thread:

-No divorce except for adultery

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Note that Jesus didn't say that divorce is allowed, even in the case of
adultery; he said that no one should ever divorce (Matthew 19:4-8).
And he said that no divorced person can marry someone else without
committing adultery against their first spouse (Mark 10:11-12). And
he said that no man can marry a divorced woman without committing
adultery against her first husband (Luke 16:18b). The one exception
when divorce and a second marriage is permitted is if a husband
discovers that his newlywed wife is not a virgin, that she had
previously committed fornication (Matthew 19:9).

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Below are some other exclusive teachings of Jesus:

-Jesus taught that belief in him is the only way to obtain eternal life
(John 3:16).

-Jesus taught that he existed with God the Father before the world
was created (John 17:5).

-Jesus taught that he and God the Father are one (John 10:30).

-Jesus taught that as a human he is also the Son of God (John 10:36),
the only begotten (born) Son of God (John 3:16), meaning that he is
the only human who was born with no human father; God the Father
was his only father.

-Jesus taught that God will not forgive our sins if we do not forgive
others (Mark 11:26).

-Jesus taught that in order for someone to be loved by God the
Father and indwelt by God the Father, they have to actually obey
Jesus' commandments (John 14:21-24).

-Jesus taught that those who do not love him and his teachings are
not of God, do not have God as their Father; instead, they are the
children of Satan (John 8:42-47).

-Jesus taught that all of the human children of Satan will be cast
into everlasting punishment in everlasting fire along with Satan and
his angels (Matthew 25:41,46, Matthew 13:38-42, Mark 9:45-46).