“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:6
NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, but by Jesus Christ, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. “I am the door:” saith Christ, “by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Salvation can only come through the person and name of Jesus Christ, the virgin-born, sinless, only begotten Son of God. The popular notion that sincerity of the heart matters more than the object of one’s faith is a pernicious lie by which Satan has led many into everlasting destruction. It does matter what you trust for eternal life. It does matter in whom you lodge your hope for heaven. It does matter whether you accept or reject the risen Savior.
I realize you may scoff at these declarations. “Who’s to say Jesus is the only way to heaven?” you snort. “What right does he have to monopolize salvation?” Pray consider your inquiry. You are a sinner ticketed for everlasting destruction in the Lake of Fire, yet rather than gladly receive Christ as your Savior so you may have eternal life, you instead challenge his authority and rail against the exclusivity of his salvation. Sir, do you not comprehend the peril which will meet your soul, should you perish unregenerated? You will be damned to a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, where the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they who burn there have no rest day nor night; a lake where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; a lake of flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This awful fate awaits those who reject Christ, yet you would rather quibble over his authority to “monopolize salvation” than gratefully accept the salvation he purchased for you with his precious blood. Do not be such a fool. You may not like the idea of Christ being the only way to heaven, but he is, and “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
In the first place, Christ is the way. Notice my text does not say, “I am a way”, or “I am one of many ways”, but, “I am the way.” Immanuel is the only way to heaven. No other way will work. No other path will avail. No other method will effectuate. If you desire, dear reader, to walk streets of gold and enjoy for eternity the bliss of paradise, ye must be born again. No amount of sincerity can make false doctrines true; no amount of religious devotion can make a man righteous before God. For whether you choose to accept these facts or not, you are a sinner, and all sinners will pay for their sins for eternity in hell unless they receive pardon through the blood of Christ. The church is not the way to heaven. Social organizations are not the way to heaven. Religion and human reformation are not the way to heaven. The only way to heaven is through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which he shed on Calvary to pay for your sins and which he sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat to complete your redemption. Please do not be deceived into believing there are many different paths to heaven; there is only one path, and his name is Jesus Christ.
Secondly, Christ is the truth. His word is truth (John 17:17). He was born and came into the world to bear witness unto the truth (John 18:37). His record is true (John 8:14). His judgements are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9). And since everything he says is true, it must needs be that everything which contradicts him is false. Therefore, since he says he is the only way to heaven, anything which claims that there are multiple paths to heaven is false. Since he says that eternal life is a free gift which cannot be earned, anything which claims that a man can earn salvation by becoming religious and turning over a new leaf is false. Since he says that his blood is the only thing which can wash away a man’s sins, anything which claims that baptism or other religious acts can wash away a man’s sins is false. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, we read of fools who “perish because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved”; in verse 12, “that they all might be damned who believed not the truth.” Will you choose to do the same by rejecting Christ?
Thirdly, Christ is the life. Indeed, in him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). He is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). To the hungry soul, he is the bread of life (John 6:33-35); to the thirsty soul, the water of life (Revelation 22:17). To we who have believed on his name, he is our life (Colossians 3:4). To you who are unsaved, Jesus Christ is your only hope for eternal life. He gave himself to pay for your sins so that you would not have to go to hell. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). He offers you this eternal life now, and requires you surrender nothing, that you commit to nothing, that you pledge yourself to nothing to receive it, but that you simply acknowledge you are a guilty sinner who deserves to go to hell for sinning against a holy God, and believe that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and was bodily resurrected unto your justification. For when you believe the gospel as your only hope for heaven, you are immediately regenerated by the Spirit of God, pardoned of all your iniquities, and given eternal life. Can you lose it? The Prince of Peace does not say so: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
I include below some of the testimony of him that is true. Will you believe the words of men, or the words of God?
John 17:3: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”
1 John 5:11-12: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Mark 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Revelation 20:15: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
No man can come to God the Father except through Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the only one who can justify a man before God – justifying him freely by his blood and by his grace. For God was manifest in the flesh, was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities. His soul was made an offering for the world’s sin, and he shed his precious blood as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. After he died for our sins on the cross, he was buried, and bodily resurrected unto our justification. Then, he ascended to heaven and sprinkled his shed blood on the heavenly mercy seat to satisfy the justice of God and finish his work of redemption. All this was necessary to save your soul from hell; all this, necessary to give you the opportunity to be saved. Why then would you trust your own goodness, or labor to make yourself worthy of salvation, when the redemption offered through the blood of Christ requires you do nothing but receive him as your Savior?
Please do not reject your only hope for heaven, dear reader. If you will but believe you are a sinner incapable of saving yourself from hell, and will receive Christ as your Savior by believing he died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and bodily resurrected three days later unto your justification, your sins will be forever washed away by his precious blood and you will be given eternal life. But you must accept the truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and therefore your only hope for redemption. Will you realize you do not need understanding in order to have faith in Christ? Will you realize that God’s thoughts are higher than your thoughts, that his ways are higher than your ways, and therefore his plan of salvation does not need to make sense to the human mind? Will you realize that it is the zenith of folly to risk going to hell for eternity simply because you do not like the truth of Jesus Christ being the only way to heaven? I pray that you do so, for “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”