ODJ: the only way?
August 18, 2011
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (v.12).
READ: Acts 4:1-22
Meryl Streep played a nun in the movie Doubt, so, of course, she was asked her opinion on religion. She answered that the teachings of various religions “form a kind of fence that divides us from each other,” and that as a mother “I deeply resent the idea that if you’re not a member of a church, temple, ashram, synagogue or—what else is there?—that you are somehow denying your children the meaning of life. I feel I’m a deeply moral person. But often religion is a club, out of which people are excluded.”
Streep’s comments resonate with our generation. Our culture’s highest value is inclusion—we want everyone to feel as if they belong. While this is a noble aim, it can become silly when every child receives a trophy just for participating, and it can become dangerous when we think that every religion leads to God.
Jesus is the only way to life, because He alone can heal our sin disease. This was Peter’s point in Acts 4 as he addressed the religious leaders. As the crippled man “was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ,” so there is “no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10,12).
Peter’s insistence that Jesus is the only way strikes people in one of two ways. If they believe that people are basically good, they will think it is unloving to insist that everyone must believe in Jesus. But if they agree with Scripture that we are all sinners (Romans 3:10-12), they will understand that everyone needs a Savior.
Any path will not do. For we who are crippled by sin can’t take a single step toward righteousness without God’s help. We need a healer, and there’s only one candidate for that job. His name is Jesus. —Mike Wittmer
It’s popular to think that a loving God wouldn’t require sinners to believe in Jesus. How might this view be disrespectful of Jesus and what He did for us? Who is Jesus to you?
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