“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6 NKJV
There are currently over 4,000 recognised religions today, each one with its own beliefs and claims about salvation and the afterlife. One prevalent belief is that we all serve the same God, but have diverse means of accessing Him. What do you think? Are there many ways to God?
Let’s begin by taking a trip down memory lane. Recall that in the beginning, God created man in His image, and when He was done, He said everything was good (Genesis 1:26, 31). However, the relationship between God and man was severed because of man’s disobedience. (Genesis 3:23)
The diverse religions we see today are as a result of this severed relationship between God and mankind. Mankind needed God desperately, so we searched for Him everywhere and in every way. However, for us to reach God, the relationship had to be repaired. Sin and its consequences had to be atoned for. Then came the Commandments.
For many years, the Israelites struggled to uphold the Commandments, believing that through their work to stay holy by the law’s standard, they would have access to God. But this was impossible because the Israelites kept failing! (Romans 8:3)
God knew this would happen, and had already made plans to reconcile mankind to Himself, once and for all. Only God could restore man to God, and only a man could pay for the sins of mankind. So, God gave us the perfect saviour—Jesus Christ—who was fully God and fully man. A Messiah to deliver mankind from their atrocities and reconcile man to God. (Titus 2:13-14; John 1:14, 29)
As the anchor verse states, only through Jesus can we gain access to God. Contrary to the belief that there are multiple ways to God, Jesus is the only way to Him! Apostle Peter echoed this same truth in Acts 4:12, when he boldly declared that “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
In 1 Timothy 2:5, Apostle Paul emphasised this by asserting that there is only one God and one mediator between God and mankind—Jesus. It is the united testimony of the New Testament that no one can know God the Father except through Jesus the Son.
So, to answer the question, there is only one God, and there is only one way to get to Him. Jesus is that “one way.” He is the only one who can give that all-access pass to God, and the sole requirement is belief in His name and the work of salvation that He completed for our sake.
Glory to God!
Bible Reading Plan: Judges 19-21