When it comes to the truth about God, the claims of Christianity are unique and, its gospel message of salvation through Christ alone, the exclusive way to finding the one true God. When Jesus said in (John 14:6): “…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” He was not claiming to be one of the ways to God, but the only way. Exclusivity and Christianity are like two sides of the same coin because you can’t separate the two.
The issue here is not that Christians are intolerant of other religious views but what they are intolerant of is anything that is not truth. For you see for the Christian the truth about Jesus and the Bible are nonnegotiable. And quite frankly since Jesus is God, He alone is worthy of worship and He alone provided the only way back to the one true God. Exclusivity is a hallmark of Christianity since we know that God is a jealous God and clearly states in the Ten Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3).
Pastor John MacArthur eloquently states the case for the exclusivity of Christ as God and the non-negotiability of the truth in this long synopsis:
“Plenty of tolerant people out there say, “Okay, you’re into this cross thing, and Jesus being crucified, and that’s your truth. Good for you—we are an inclusive people. You’re welcome to your foolish view of religion, your foolish perspective, your simple, silly story of a crucified Jew, and that’s fine if that’s your truth. But that’s not our truth.” Well, here’s the rub: It is your truth. It’s everybody’s truth. It’s the only truth. The power of the crucified Christ is the only power of God by which He saves. Salvation comes only through a belief in that gospel, the gospel of Jesus. No gospel, no salvation. The absolute exclusivity of it has always been a shameful, embarrassing, inconvenient message to worldly-wise sinners, but the truth is nonnegotiable. Other religions are not truth and lead only to eternal damnation. Islam is a damning system. Buddhism is a damning system. Hinduism is a damning system. Simply not believing the gospel is itself enough to damn a person. People in false religions do not worship the true God by another name, as some suggest. They unwittingly worship Satan’s demons. Here is what the Bible says: “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20). Even so, a book called The Christ of Hinduism actually exists, and it argues that Hinduism’s symbols and doctrines contain the Christian message. But there is no Christ of Hinduism, nor has the true God any part in Hinduism. Christ is the only way to the one true God, and biblical Christianity is the only way to the one true Christ. Misguided people who recognize any other god and engage in any other religion are not worshipping and sacrificing to God, but to demons. I didn’t make this up. This isn’t my theology. This is Christianity 101.”1
And since Jesus is the only true God to try to negotiate away the exclusivity of the gospel message, in order to make it more popular and appealing, in reality is an infinitely wicked sin, since God clearly states He will not share His glory with anyone. In addition, Christians, because of their message, will never win a popularity contest with sinners, whose sadly, want to worship God on their own terms. The Bible tells us that we are created in the image of God, but sinners choose to create a god in their own image, and thus, worship man-made deities, or as John MacArthur says they worship demons.
Yes, exclusivity is the truth that nobody wants to hear, but we must boldly proclaim the one and only truth that Jesus is God. If we are negligent here, we stand the risk of leading our family and friends down the road to eternal punishment. My friends, eternal destinies are at stake and the battle for the truth is on trial. So, let’s get busy sharing this awesome truth that Jesus is the one and only God!
1 John MacArthur – Plenty of tolerant people out there say, “Okay,… (bibleportal.com)
Hi Curt. Very good message here and one that really hits where it counts! Happy new year to you and Mei Ying! I hope we can meet together sometime in the spring when the weather is better but until then, may God bless you both in this new year with good health, peace, and joy!