This requires some serious thought to why I choose to believe the words of the Bible and not consider books of other faiths or religions. In order to answer this question, I need to figure out what makes Christianity different from other religions.
The God of the Bible is considered to be monotheistic. This means there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. A distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, in which the one God is a singular existence, and both inclusive and pluriform monotheism, in which multiple gods or godly forms are recognized, but each are postulated as extensions of the same God. There are other major religions like Islam, Sikhism, and Baha i Faith that have a core tenant of a monotheistic religion. God of the Bible being monotheistic is not going to be a valid answer. There has to be something very specific to Christianity that clearly sets it apart from other religions.
Religions not only teach different things about who God is but also how we “reach him.” Buddhism suggests the 8-fold Noble Path, Islam the 5 Pillars (Shahadah, Prayer, Fasting, Charity, Pilgrimage) and Christianity the gospel of Jesus. Therefore, to say that all religions lead to God is not only unenlightened it is inaccurate. This is the thesis of Stephen Prothero, Boston College professor, in his book God is not One. He writes:
"And it is comforting to pretend that the great religions make up one big, happy family. But this sentiment, however well-intentioned, is neither accurate nor ethically responsible. God is not one." There are many arguments to contend with but I want to get to what I believe sets Christianity apart and from there why I reach a decision that Christianity is the only valid way to get to heaven.
Jesus claims to be the way. He also said there is a narrow path and few find it. It is a hard path. We simply can't make it down the path on our own. We fail to love and serve God all time time because we often love other things more. That in itself is a crime of infinite proportions against an infinite God. As such, the sentence against our crime must be carried out. Jesus as the way means if we embrace Jesus in his sin-absorbing death, we are able to receive his forgiveness.
Jesus claims to be the truth. In John 1, it says that God became flesh and was full of grace and truth. The truth is God is Jesus. Christianity is the only religion where God is born as a man, becomes fully human. All other religions teach we must work our way towards divinity. The truth is Jesus, who died in our place for our crimes and in return, gives us his life. This will become your amazing grace when you realize God came down to humanity and died specifically for you. God made it personal but in other religions, God is impersonal. (ref: gospel project).
Choosing to believe the text of scripture that says Jesus is the way and the truth is what sets Christianity apart for all other religions. Now that I have established Christianity is truly unique and stand alone, I must decide if I am going to believe the rest of the text.
Jesus claims emphatically that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus clearly alluded to His deity which was not missed by the religious leaders He interacted with.
He claimed to have the authority to forgive sin, and the religious leaders thought to themselves that He was blaspheming (Mark 2:5-7).
He called God His Father and equated His work with the Father’s, and they tried all the harder to kill Him (John 5:17, 18).
He said that He and the Father are One, and they picked up stones to kill Him because they said He was blaspheming (John 10:30-33).
He said that He would sit at the right hand of the Mighty One and come on the clouds of heaven. They said He was blaspheming, and they condemned Him to death (Mark 14:61-64).
In order for me to believe that Christianity is the only valid way to heaven, I have to conclude the scriptures are true. To move forward, I am making known I choose to believe the scriptures are true and can be trusted. Because I believe they are true, if it says that Jesus made the claim, then it must be true.
Wow! That almost seems to be a shallow answer. This is a head knowledge response. Some how, some way, there is something inside of me that tells me this is true. It's not my heart because my heart can't be trusted. It could be deep down in my innermost being, my soul longs for God. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end"
In conversations with people, so many times people expose a longing in their life but unable to put their finger on it. Some look for the answer in money, possessions, even looking at spiritual solutions through new age or other avenues. There is theme that runs through every story, the inability to satisfy the longing they have. The eyes of the blind can't see. Jesus revealed himself to his own people and because they (the Pharisees) were blind, they did not recognize him. When we choose to believe and become born again, our spirit bears witness with God's spirit that what I am saying is true because the spirit makes clear it is true. It is not just the print on paper but the faith given to me by God to believe. This saving faith is a free and unmerited gift, granted to undeserving sinners, according to God’s grace, through which we personally receive an irrevocable share in the full salvation accomplished for us by Jesus. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
If Jesus is not the only valid way to eternal life in heaven, my question of why was he beaten beyond recognition? Why did he get nailed to a cross to die a gruesome death like a criminal? The Pharisees (blinded) accused Jesus of violating the Sabbath law (by healing on the Sabbath); threatening to destroy the Jewish Temple; practicing sorcery, exorcising people by the power of demons and; claiming to be the Messiah. When taken to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Rome, he stated several times that he had found no basis for a charge against Jesus, Pilate eventually gave in to the Jewish religious leaders who wanted Jesus crucified. So while he made a show of washing his hands and saying he was innocent of Jesus' blood. The Jewish people shouted in response, “His blood be on us and our children.”
If Jesus is not the only way to heaven, then why would he have allowed himself to go through the process? Why, when he prayed in Luke 22:42, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.”
If God would make a myriad of ways to get to heaven, why did God not remove the cup (of taking on the sin of the world, be crucified, to be raised from death) from Jesus.
I propose the cup was not removed because Jesus was the solution to the worlds curse of sin and death.
For the reasons outlined above, I believe Christianity (that teaches the Jesus of the Bible to be true) is the only valid way to get to heaven.
I did not mention this earlier, but I believe we all have an eternity. The question is are we going to have an eternity with God or an eternity without him. The difference between with and without is no small matter, rather it is extreme.
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