JESUS SAID, βI AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. No one comes to the father except through meβ (John 14:6). He added, βI am the door; if anyone enters through me he shall be saved.β But βhe who does not enter into the fold of the sheep, but climbs in another way, he is a thief and a robberβ (John 10:1, 9). The apostle Paul agreed, insisting, βThere is one God and one mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesusβ (1 Tim. 2:5). Peter declared, βNeither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be savedβ (Acts 4:12).
Many people have difficulty accepting these claims because they seem so narrow. After all, there are many claimants to truth in the current marketplace of ideas. Muhammad claimed to be the last of the prophets, giving the final word from God in the Qurβan. Millions hold that Buddha is the truly Enlightened One. Confucius believed he had discovered the way of wisdom. And Hindus affirm that Krishna is an incarnation of God for mankind. Add to this literally thousands of sects and cults who claim to have a direct pipeline to God and one can understand the reluctance of our generations to accept the unique claims of Christ. Moreover, a rising tide of atheists says there is no God at all. And untold numbers of agnostics donβt know if there is a God, and skeptics call on us to doubt the existence of any such being. Who is right? And how is one to know?