In USA Today this morning, the article began, "Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey finds. Of the 65% of people who held this open view of heaven's gates, 80% named at least one non-Christian group — Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all — who may also be saved, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life."
One of the clearly defining issues of our time is the exclusivity of Christ...the idea that Jesus is the only way of salvation. This view has become particularly offensive to many in our pluralistic culture. So many wish to believe truth is relative and regardless of what people believe, if they believe, or choose to disbelieve - everyone will go to heaven.
There are certain arguments for those who do not claim to believe or trust the Bible. God's truth still stands and there are issues to discuss with this group. The other group is made up of those who say they believe the Bible yet deny what it teaches clearly. Those are the ones who most disturb me in the USA Today article. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me" (John 14:6). A person either believes the Bible is true or that it is not. In the Bible, Jesus is the only way of salvation - forgiveness of sin, relationship to God and eternal life.
Such exclusive claims make us uncomfortable. In the Bible we find that most contact with Almighty God makes people uncomfortable. It also makes them what God created them to be. God is good. He has made a way. He only asks that we follow His Way - Jesus.
