Jesus is the ONLY way!

[Caedmon]

Gerry, could you give us the thread and/or posts that these statements were made in so that we can view the context for ourselves? Thanks.

 

[Brian45]

Originally posted by paulewog
Any of the major ecumenical peoples would be saying Jesus is not the only way, too.... trying to join Muslims, Mormons, Jews, Christians, etc., all together.

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light, no one comes to the Father but through me." Hmmm John 14:6 I think.

Kinda ..... blatant

And there are also people that say you need to work for your salvation, I kinda think that falls into the same category

Work FOR, not work OUT your salvation

 

Hey paulewog , your on the ball man , and the key words are ecumenism and interfaith .

 

[Caedmon]

I think you guys are probably misinterpreting.

Are you telling me that a righteous man living in a tribe situation in the middle of nowhere that never hears Jesus' name doesn't have a chance of getting into Heaven? What if he believes in and is devout to a "pagan" religion? What if he tries his best to live a righteous life in as much as he knows how? Anyone that could say that such a man has no chance of reaching Heaven has one of the coldest hearts of stone that I have ever seen, and should be ashamed. Jesus Christ is all about compassion and love, and I cannot believe that He would condemn a righteous man to Hell for being in a nonChristian situation. That is the cruelest of cruelty, something that the Jesus Christ I know, knows nothing of.

 

[Caleb]

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 

[Andrew]

"Anyone that could say that such a man has no chance of reaching Heaven has one of the coldest hearts of stone that I have ever seen, and should be ashamed."

If anyone -- no matter where he is -- wants to seek out the true God with his heart, God will reveal Jesus to him somehow. My Pastor was one such person in the sense that his dad was a Hindu priest and he grew up in the hindu temple compounds in Malaysia. yet he sought out the true God and now he's a pastor!

you forget that by default men are already condemned to hell becos of sin. Paul clearly says there is no one righteous. also, doesnt the potter have the right to do as he pleases?

so its not a matter of being cold hearted but simply going by what scripture says. Unless you can show us where scripture says that such people are exceptions and will go to heaven.

 

[Caedmon]

Originally posted by Andrew
If anyone -- no matter where he is -- wants to seek out the true God with his heart, God will reveal Jesus to him somehow. My Pastor was one such person in the sense that his dad was a Hindu priest and he grew up in the hindu temple compounds in Malaysia. yet he sought out the true God and now he's a pastor!

But the situation I used has the righteous man never even hearing Christ's name. Did Abraham hear Christ's name?

you forget that by default men are already condemned to hell becos of sin. Paul clearly says there is no one righteous.

You say that "by default men are already condemned to hell". Where do aborted babies go, and why?

also, doesnt the potter have the right to do as he pleases?

Does this allow God to send people to Hell who have not committed sin yet, or who have forsaken their sinful ways?

so its not a matter of being cold hearted but simply going by what scripture says. Unless you can show us where scripture says that such people are exceptions and will go to heaven.

You might interpret this differently, but here you go:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, - Romans 2:14&15, NASB

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Originally posted by Andrew
"Anyone that could say that such a man has no chance of reaching Heaven has one of the coldest hearts of stone that I have ever seen, and should be ashamed."

If anyone -- no matter where he is -- wants to seek out the true God with his heart, God will reveal Jesus to him somehow. My Pastor was one such person in the sense that his dad was a Hindu priest and he grew up in the hindu temple compounds in Malaysia. yet he sought out the true God and now he's a pastor!

you forget that by default men are already condemned to hell becos of sin. Paul clearly says there is no one righteous. also, doesnt the potter have the right to do as he pleases?

so its not a matter of being cold hearted but simply going by what scripture says. Unless you can show us where scripture says that such people are exceptions and will go to heaven.

I can add to this regarding a Japanese women in my church who was Buddist. 

Jesus appeard to her in a dream one night.  He explained who He was.  When she awoke the next morning she contacted her priests and they told her Jesus was just a good man.

She then proceded to call a couple of other churches where she was brushed off as crazy. 

She then called my Pastor, he invited her in for a meeting and led her to the Lord.

I've also heard misssionary stories where missionaries showed up in remote villiges to find that villigers had dreams/visions/etc of Jesus.  They had already repented and were following Him.

It is God's will that none perish.

 

[Defender of the Faith 777]

Has it not been explained a million times?

The Christian word "sin" is a word for imperfection. If we are imperfect, and God is not, then we can't dwell in the same place.

If God were to allow imperfection, sin, into heaven, then His perfect nature would mix with our imperfect nature, and the perfect would become imperfect, causing God to cease being God.

Unless sin is taken care of, you CANNOT get into heaven. Lots of people say God can do anything. Well, here's one thing He CANNOT do.

Christ was perfect. He took our sins, for US, and descended into hell for us, and died for us. And if His grace is bestowed to us, our sins are forgiven because they have justly been propitiated, and we are "clothed in Christ".

"He who knew no sin, became sin, so that through Him, we might become the righteousness of God."

I'm tired of explaining it so many times. YES!!!! Therefore, Jesus is the only way! I don't care if you like it or not, logically, since He's teh only one who atones for sin and imperfection:

HE IS THE ONLY WAY! Enough of this debate, we've done it over and over adn over.

 

[Caedmon]

I'm not saying that Jesus isn't the only way. But just because someone never even hears Jesus' name doesn't mean that that person should be condemned to Hell just for not knowing who He is. God judges all people. He decides if they are righteous. And if God finds a nonChristian to be righteous, then who are we to question God? A nonChristian will never get to Heaven through his own means, but rather it is God, who judges a man as righteous(like Abraham), and brings him to Heaven. So yes, all who go to Heaven do so through Jesus.

Think about this... If you were raised in a tiny, primitive Micronesian religion, and you were never told about Jesus, and yet you tried to live the most righteous life you could, how would you feel if you died and came before Jesus, and He said, "My son, it seems as though you always tried to live the best you could. However, I will not let you into Heaven, because the missionaries missed your village." How would you feel?

 

[SnuP]

Check out the book Eternity in their hearts by Don Richardson. Here is one of the reviews listed for it:

This book is a must-read for every Christian who has a burden for missions. The approach is the one most likely to succeed in opening hearts to the Gospel, to the extent that a human being has any influence over such a task. The basic premise is that God, in His mercy, has permitted every culture in the world to retain a portion of the truth. If the missionary goes into the region searching the culture for its grains of truth, and then affirms that these ideas ARE true, and then presents the Gospel as the REST of the truth, he will be received. The book is heavily documented with specific examples. It will hearten anyone who agonizes over the question of God's justice in regard to people who have never heard the Gospel, and demolish the idea that God is unjust for condemning people to eternal hellfire because of their ignorance.