The Strand Study Bible

G ood men’s opinions will vary on most things and the subject of salvation is no exception. However, if you get salvation wrong, you lose for all eternity, and your opinion will not have mattered. You cannot be wrong on salvation and still end up right ( Rom 14:1b ). Billy Graham in StormWarnings notes: Everyone outside the family of Christ is under the judgment of God. To share in the rewards of eternal life and security in the presence of the God of Revelation, we must first acknowledge His Son, repent, and receive Him. That is not optional, no matter what your instinct or your faith may tell you. 1 According to the Bible, there is only one way to Heaven. CHRIST said in John 14:6, “ I am the way .” He did not say, “I am a way.” He said, “ I AM the way .” The pronoun “I” is emphatic: “I, and none besides me” (Isa 43:10). If a road leads anywhere but through Jesus, it doesn’t lead to God. Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist, in an internet article called Do They Think Jesus Was a Liar? notes: I am shocked and appalled over a newly published survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. It finds most Americans believe there are many ways to salvation besides their own faith. Most disturbing of all is the majority of self- identified evangelical Christians who believe this. Apparently they must think Jesus was a liar, or mistaken, when he said: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by me.’ Look it up. This theological ignorance is a product of several things. It is surely a product of biblical illiteracy by people who don’t read, or selectively read scripture. It is also fallout from political correctness vice that says you are intolerant if you believe anything to be true, because people who have another truth, or no truth, might feel bad and experience rejection. If they feel rejection now, wait until they hear ‘away from me, I never knew you.’ Tolerance is a good thing. People should tolerate and respect people of different faiths, or no faith. But watering down your own set of professed doctrines in order to appeal to the lowest spiritual common denominator is akin to Peter denying Christ three times. If there are many paths to heaven, Jesus suffered and died for nothing. He could have stayed in heaven, sent down a book of sayings and avoided crucifixion. Orthodox Christians have always believed – and their Bible teaches them – there is only one path to heaven and it is through Jesus Christ and him alone. One can believe whatever one wishes, but you can’t be considered a Christian without believing in this fundamental doctrine. Christian churches have a lot of work to do in addressing biblical illiteracy, ignorance and, yes, heresy, in their midst. They might want to pay more attention to fixing what’s gone wrong among their members before expending too much energy on politics and politicians. 2 Sadly, there are some 3 among us who consider Jesus’ view of Christianity as intolerant. However, contrary to their opinion, Christianity isn’t intolerant; it’s inclusive , because a relationship with Jesus is available to everyone. 4

1 Graham, Billy. StormWarning , Nashville, TN, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1992 and 2010. Print. 2 Thomas, Cal. Do They Think Jesus Was a Liar? , Internet article (foxforum.blogs. foxnews.com/June 24, 2008) 3 Lutzer, Erwin W. Oprah Miracles and the New Earth , Chicago, ILL, Moody Publishers, 2009. Print. 4 Steele, C. Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid , Internet article (csteeleonline.com)

6