I once saw Billy Graham’s daughter Anne Graham Lotz on a popular news talk program. The interviewer asked, “Are you one of those who believe that Jesus is exclusively the only way to heaven?” He added, “You know how mad that makes people these days!”
Without blinking, she replied, “Jesus is not exclusive. He died so that anyone could come to Him for salvation.”
Jesus excludes no one!
What a great response! Christianity is not an exclusive club limited to an elite few who fit the perfect profile. Everyone is welcome regardless of color, class, or clout. When he was on earth, Jesus made many gracious, very “inclusive” offers to help all kinds of people. Here are a few offers of hope to any of Jesus’ hearers without “fine print.” I’ll use italics to emphasize the key words…
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). By the way, Jesus made this statement to a woman whom most of Jesus’ countrymen would have considered a societal outcast, unworthy of civil conversation, much less an offer of eternal life!
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:38).
In spite of the wonderful reality of Christ’s generous offers to all takers, his claim to be the only way to God continues to offend many: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Then, why “only through Jesus”?
Yet Jesus is the only way to God—it’s the truth and the only option that works. Think about it…God is the one we have all sinned against. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Since we’re the “offenders,” it makes sense that God is the only one qualified to say how things can be set right with him! Even in our courts the offenders don’t set the amounts of their fines or the terms of their punishment! Why would we think the God of the universe would require less?
All of us are guilty before God. We are sinners and cannot help ourselves. Our sin had to be dealt with. Jesus, as God in the flesh, died to pay the penalty for our sins and then rose from the dead. The Bible puts it this way: “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). And Isaiah 53:6 goes on to say that “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” No other religious leader offers what Jesus provides in His victory over sin and death. And no other leader rose from the dead!
The gospel of Christ is offensive to some, but it is the wonderful truth that God loves us enough to come and take care of our biggest problem—sin. Jesus’ gracious offer to solve our basic sin problem is still valid today: “Whoever hears my word and believes him [God] who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).
And as long as sin is the problem, the world needs Jesus, the only one with our problem’s solution! Are you willing to trust him for forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life in Christ?