The Christian apologist, John Lennox, who holds a Ph.D. from Oxford and another from Cambridge, rightfully contends that Christianity is distinct from every other religion. All of the religions of the world teach that the unsaved must do religious works and earn God’s acceptance somewhere in the future. Christianity teaches that when we “believe,” which is an act of our will to receive Christ as our Savior, God accepts us right then, and then we work for him.
Lennox tells how he proposed to his wife, Sally. When he proposed, he handed her a cookbook and said, If you cook more good meals than bad meals over the next 40 years, I will accept you, and we can get married. Not really; he was illustrating what the world's religions advocate.
That is what the world's religions teach. Acceptance has to be earned and is at the end of someone’s life only if the unsaved has performed more good works than bad works.
The main point of my message is this: The unsaved must believe there is only one God and only one way of salvation through Jesus Christ. We are examining three reasons for the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation.
I. Because the entire Bible (from Genesis to Revelation) teaches that there is only one God and only one way of salvation
II. We must believe that there is only one God and one way of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ, because the Gospel of John teaches that message.
The Gospel of John is where Jesus made His exclusive statement: “I am THE Way.” Also, the purpose of the Gospel of John is to persuade the unsaved that Christ is God and to believe and have eternal life. W. Hall Harris in A Biblical Theology of the New Testament stated that the primary thrust of the entire work [Gospel of John] is summed up in John 20:30-31.[1] D. A. Carson confirmed: “This [John 20:30-31] not only expresses the purpose of the book, but is ‘the shortest summary of Johannine theology.’”[2] Thomas Constable wrote: “John’s clear purpose statement concludes the body of this Gospel. I regard 20:31 as the key verse in John’s Gospel.”[3]
1. The first thrust of the Gospel of John is apologetic (20:31a): John wrote the Gospel of John to convince his readers that Jesus is the Son of God. In John 20:24-28, doubting Thomas demanded evidence and Christ gave him the evidence, to which Thomas cried out in reference to only Jesus, “My Lord and my God” (Jo 20:28). Remember, Keith Thrasher, in his testimony, said when he started reading the Gospel of John, he was an agnostic. Then he read the Gospel of John in two days, and he was no longer agnostic. He was not yet a believer, but he was no longer an agnostic. The Gospel of John did its apologetic work on Keith.
2. The second thrust of the Gospel of John is evangelistic (20:31b). John wrote his Gospel, not just to persuade his readers that Jesus is God, or to cease being agnostics, but to convince each unsaved person to receive the Son of God as his/her Savior. John uses the word “believe” 98 times in John. John wrote his Gospel so the unsaved would receive Christ as Savior and possess eternal life. Thomas Constable affirmed: “This verse unites many of the most important themes in the fourth Gospel. John’s purpose was clearly evangelistic.”[4]
Keith Thrasher went on in his testimony that after the Lord used the Gospel of John to move him to no longer be an agnostic, Keith testified that he opened his Bible to John 14:6 and read Jesus' bold declaration that He, Jesus, is the only way to salvation. Soon after that, Keith trusted Christ as his Savior. The Lord used the Gospel of John, specifically John 14:6, to lead Keith to salvation.
One way the Gospel of John confronts its readers with the necessity of believing in Jesus is by way of the stark contrast from which people must choose. For example, the unsaved must choose belief over unbelief or receiving Christ as Savior over rejecting Christ as Savior. Jesus informed religious Nicodemus in John 3 that he must believe and be born again. The religion of Nicodemus did not believe Jesus was God nor the only way to salvation. In John 3:12, Jesus said, “Nicodemus, you have a choice!” The contrast is made again in 3:18.
We have examined the broad scope of God’s Word, from Genesis to Revelation, and found that there is only one God and one way of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ. Then briefly examined the message of the Gospel of John that teaches there is only one God and only one way of salvation, which is through Jesus is the Son of God.
Now let’s look at the singular statement of Jesus in John 14:6 where Jesus proclaimed, “I am THE WAY ... no man comes to the Father but by me.”
III. We must believe that there is only one God and one way of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ, because that is Jesus’ message in John 14:6.
Jesus teaches the exclusivity of salvation (for his troubled disciples Jo 14:1). Jesus had just dropped three emotional bombshells on his disciples: One of them would betray him, He was leaving them, and Peter, their leader would deny Jesus. Are you troubled today? Maybe you are troubled about your eternal destiny. Jesus has the remedy. Believe exclusively in him for salvation. Leading up to Jesus’ exclusive declaration, He teaches
1. He is God (v.1).
The Gospel of John not only stresses the necessity of “believe” but also that Jesus is “the Son of God” in whom you must believe alone, starting in John 1:1 and then 1:14.
2. There is a Heaven which Jesus calls “my Father’s house” (v. 2a).
The polar opposite of Heaven is Hell! Jesus does not mention hell here, but Jesus spoke on Hell more than any other person in the Word of God. Jesus spoke more about Hell than about Heaven. John refers to Hell indirectly in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Perish is a haunting word for the unsaved. “Perish” does not mean to annihilate but to ruin. Peter used the word “perish” in 2 Peter 3:6 to describe the planet after the flood. The flood did not annihilate the planet, so it still exists, but the flood was a judgment of God that ruined the planet.
Jesus called Hell everlasting in Matthew 25:41: "Depart from Me, into the everlasting fire." Jesus also refers to hell as a "furnace of fire" in Matthew 13:4 and a place of “eternal punishment" in Matthew 25:46. There is a heaven for those who believe Jesus is God and receive him as Savior.
3. He has prepared the way (John 14:2b).
Jesus has prepared the way of salvation by going to the cross and dying for the sins of the world, being buried in John 19, and on the third day rising from the dead in John 20. If your heart is troubled, Christ has prepared the only way to heaven.
4. He is “THE WAY” (vv. 4-6).
Jesus mentions “way” three times. “I am going to my Father’s house or heaven, and you know the way in John 14:4.” Thomas, in John 14:5, was like the student in class who is always raising his hand, “With all due respect.” Thomas said in essence to Jesus, “With all due respect, Master Teacher, the greatest teacher ever, we do not know the way.” Jesus was not raddled. In fact, he enjoyed questions. Jesus responded to Thomas the third time with “way” mentioned in John 14:6: “Thomas, you really do know the way because you know me, and I am the way to Heaven or my Father’s house.” Notice the stress that Jesus made that He is the way three times and climaxes in 14:6: “I am THE way” not a way to heaven or one way among many ways to heaven, but THE ONLY WAY to heaven. And then Jesus added just for clarity, “No man or person comes to the Father but by me.”
Conclusion:
We have seen in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, the Word of God teaches that there is only one God, and Jesus is God, and that there is only one way to Heaven and that is exclusively through Jesus Christ. And the Gospel of John was written to convince us that Jesus is God and we must receive Jesus as our Savior. Lastly, in John 14, Jesus taught that he is God, there is a Heaven, called His Father’s House, not some other god’s house. Jesus has prepared the way to Heaven through His death, burial, and resurrection. That there is no other way to the Father, but by trusting Christ as your Savior.
I was brought up in church. I had made two professions of faith. That is, I went through the motions of trusting Christ as my Savior. I was baptized twice. I was a religious but unsaved Baptist. When I was 18, our church had a series of preaching services from Sunday evening to the next Sunday evening. After each service, I would go home and go to bed, but not fall asleep. God was dealing with me about being religious and unsaved. Has God been dealing with you? Maybe today, for the first time, you have a desire to trust Christ as your Savior. Or perhaps you have been wrestling with the decision to receive Christ as your Savior for some time. I would fall asleep each night arguing with God. God would convict me that, although I was religious, I was unsaved. I would debate with God: “But I go to church. I am a member of the youth group and the church. I have been baptized two times.” Each night, two thoughts kept me awake.
· First, what if Jesus came back during the night? My pastor preached on the imminent coming of Christ. If Jesus came during the night while I was asleep, I would be left behind.
· The second thought that plagued me was, what if I die while I am asleep? I will go to hell. My pastor also preached on Hell. On the last night of the preaching services, I went forward at the invitation. My pastor knelt beside me, “Tim, are you praying for your unsaved dad?” “No, I am praying for my salvation.” My pastor told me to go ahead and receive Christ as my Savior, and I did. Is God giving you the desire to be saved right now? The Gospel is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes.
[1] W. Hall Harris, A Biblical Theology of the New Testament, 175
[2] D. A. Carson PNTC on John 20:31 in Logos.
[3] Thomas Constable at netbible.org on John 20:31.
[4] Thomas Constable at netbible.org on John 20:31.