Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?
How could a Jewish man who lived in Israel over 2,000 years ago affect the daily life of a man who lives in Buckeye, Arizona, in the United States today? That is the question I would like to address.
Who Jesus Christ is and what He says is all important to me today and every day. What is recorded in the Holy Bible literally affects my daily life right here and right now. I read God’s Word and do my best to apply it to my life. It affects what I think, do and say. It affects what I read, write and watch on television and every aspect of my life.
Why does the life of one man who lived so long ago and far away from me in 2021 in Buckeye, Arizona, have any affect on me? Because Jesus said He was the only way to Heaven and He proved it by rising from the dead 3 days after He was crucified. All the other tombs of all the other founders of all other religions are not empty—only Jesus’ tomb is empty!
That is why I am willing to be hated, misunderstood and even persecuted. Hatred and persecution are certainly coming as society runs headlong further away from the Bible and the God of the Bible and toward a secular and inclusive all accepting society. Telling someone that their religion, their leader, and their writings they consider holy are not valid is not going to win you friends in our culture today!
In this modern age of inclusiveness, tolerance, and diversity those who defend the teaching of Jesus Christ who says He is the one and only way to Heaven will certainly be hated, misunderstood, and persecuted.
When Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me,” what did He mean?
Dr. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas points us to the Bible for answers. In Acts 4:12, for example, Peter tells a crowd:
“There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Dr. Robert Jeffress also reports that 57% percent of evangelical Christians today are now saying there’s more than one way to God other than faith in Christ.
Years ago, Robert was on a plane with a man who claimed he used to be a Christian. He told Robert he could no longer worship a God who claimed there was only one way to come to Him.
This was Robert’s response:
“I want you to imagine that this plane were to crash. The plane started filling up with smoke as it crashed; the flight attendant stood at the front of the plane waving a flashlight saying, ‘Follow me. There’s one way out of this burning aircraft.’ Would you accuse her of being hateful or intolerant because she insisted there is only one way out of the burning wreckage? No; you would thank her. And you would follow her.”
Oprah Said There Are Many Ways to God?
“There are millions of ways to be a human being, and many paths to what you call God.” “Well I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.” ~Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey believes that there are many ways to God. If Oprah thinks this to be true, she is an uninformed nominal “Christian” who doesn’t know the Jesus of the Bible personally, but thinks by simply doing her best she will be accepted into His kingdom. She is not alone! At least 57% of evangelical “Christians” now believe as Oprah does!
There are many religions that claim to know Jesus including Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims, and Bahai, but none of them confess Him to be the way, the truth ,the light, the bread of life, the Son of God, or the Jesus of the Bible. We should never be unclear about it or ashamed of the true Gospel. We owe it to people to tell them the truth!
When we present Jesus for who He is people are going to get upset, including Oprah Winfrey. There are so many today that try to soften what Jesus said and give a false hope that there is more than one way to Heaven. This is so wrong!
Penn Jillette first rose to fame as half of the magic duo Penn and Teller (Penn is the big guy that talks.) He is also a passionate advocate for atheism, among other things. Which makes the following heartfelt story so intriguing.
A few years ago, Jillette recorded a short video about someone who came to talk to him after one of his magic shows. He said the guy was about his age and had participated in one of the acts as an audience member.
The man complimented Jillette on the show, then said, “I brought this for you.” The man held up a small book. It was a New Testament with the Psalms, something that could fit in a person’s pocket.
“I wrote in the front of it,” the man said, “and I wanted you to have this.” The man explained he was a businessman and not crazy.
Jillette, moved by the man’s gesture, recalled: “He was kind, and nice, and sane, and looked me in the eyes, and talked to me, and then gave me this Bible.”
“I’ve always said,” Jillette explained, “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward.
“How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Jillette then offered this example to illustrate his point: “If I believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, that that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point that I tackle you, and this is more important than that.”
Only Jesus’ tomb is empty! That is the biggest difference between true Christianity and all other religions. Only one religious leader claimed to be God and that He could rise from the dead on the third day and did just that! So when He says He is the only way to Heaven He has credibility.
Persecution always cleanses and purifies the church. Nobody wants to be persecuted, hated and misunderstood, but church history teaches us that it was during the times of greatest persecution that the church of Jesus Christ was most pure! This is what is coming in America and sooner rather than later for those of us who proclaim there is only one way to Heaven through Jesus Christ and no other. Those who don’t have a real living relationship with a living Savior will not have compelling enough reason to be misunderstood, hated and certainly not enough to suffer any real persecution.
In the last days the Bible says there will be a falling away of the faith, not a big revival! A thinning of the herd is coming and that is not a bad thing, but those of us who are serious believers in Christ need to be prepared for an onslaught of hatred and persecution if we are willing to proclaim the truth that Jesus IS The Only Way To Heaven so that others might hear and be saved.
For questions or comments feel free to email me: mark@markhowerter.com
