Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?

One Way

The answer to this question often is and has often been the factor that breeds enmity toward Christians. After all, goes the thinking, how could Christians be so narrow minded and exclusive? Yet, the direct answer is yes, Jesus is the only way into heaven. There is no other way.  This is what Scripture tells us.

The question that lingers is, “How do we arrive at that conclusion?”

Well, it boils down to a matter of choice, your choice. These days we talk a lot about choice. We discuss all types of choices: abortion, premarital relations, school choice, lifestyle, vocation, etc., etc. In America, the land of freedom, we may choose anything we wish. Some choices are good, some bad. Some choices are legal. Some are illegal.

But we have many choices. The great thing about choice is that it is an individual privilege. No one else can make our choices for us. We must make our own choices. Some choices are leisurely choices and some are required choices. The leisurely choices might be to choose what outfit to wear today or where to go out to dinner. But the required choices are more difficult. We must choose whether to be a productive member of society or not. That choice is mandatory. There is no way around it. Either we become good citizens or we do not. We each have to make that choice.

There is another required choice that every one of us must make. We must choose to believe in God or we must choose not to. Everyone must make that choice. There is no way around it. How we feel about and what we do about God is a required choice. Choosing to do nothing about it is still a choice. It is the choice not to follow God.

I believe that the most important choice we must make is whether or not to believe in Jesus Christ. But that choice may be predicated by other choices. One of those choices is about the Bible. We must individually decide, or choose to believe (or not to believe) that the Bible is truly God’s words. If it is truly the words of God, then we must do what it says if we are to be acceptable to God.

I say that it is a personal choice whether or not to believe in the Bible. There are many voices out there with things to say about the Bible. Some, like me, believe it is the inspired words of God without any error. That is, it was written by men inspired of God and they wrote precisely in every detail what God wanted them to write. There are those who say that the Bible is good literature and that it is worthy of examination because it is good literature. But they reject the idea that it is God’s words. Some say the Bible is a book of mythology and not of God. Some also say it is a work of history—the history of the Israelites. Others say that it is simply the superstitions of the Israelite peoples and cannot be trusted to be accurate. There are some, claiming to be people of God, who say that God’s words are to be found in the Bible, yet it is not without error. And some religious types say it contains the words of God but not every word is from God. There are many other ideas about the Bible floating around, but these are the most prevalent ones.

Those voices are all striving for your attention. The bottom line is still that it is your choice. If you choose to believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant words of God, then you will understand that Jesus is the only way. If you reject that it is God’s words, then you have no basis to believe that Jesus is the only way.

Let me try to influence you. First a philosophical point of view. If there really is a God who created everything including you and me, then would he not have provided a way for us to know Him? If there is not a God, then this is a moot point. But the statistics show that the vast, vast majority of people believe that there is a God. Even the agnostics acknowledge that God may exist. Many atheists really secretly believe in God. I know. I was a professing atheist. But I always knew in some corner of my mind that I was being dishonest to myself. There was always the knowledge of God in my subconscious.

So, if there is a God, and the great majority of us believe there is, then why would we hesitate to believe that He has spoken to us? And if he has spoken to us, then the Bible is the most likely place He did so. Why?

The answer to that question has spawned volumes. But let me quickly outline a few areas of proof that the Bible is indeed God’s Word.

1. The historicity of the Bible. As archaeology has progressed in the last three centuries (19^th, 20^th, and 21^st) it has proven over and over that the accounts in the Bible are historically accurate. Let me give two brief examples. 1.) The Bible tells us that Abraham came from the city of Ur. Ur was considered to be a myth for centuries. Then in the early part of the 20^th Century, Sir Leonard Woolley of the British Museum and his staff of archaeologists unearthed the city of Ur, proving its existence. Prior to the expedition directed by Woolley, another British Museum archaeologist named J.E. Taylor began to dig at the site of Ur. It is now an accepted fact that Ur was a real historical city in the trans-Euphrates area, which is the location in which the Bible places it. 2.) The Biblical story of Jericho (about the walls falling) was also considered to be a myth. Yet in the 1950’s, Dame Kathleen Kenyon, an extraordinary archaeologist named Honorary Director of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem proved that the walls of Jericho collapsed just as the Bible says. Here is a quote from her excavation report: “The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt.” There are numerous other examples of archaeology proving the accuracy of the Bible. Though Kenyon stated that, in her opinion, the destruction of the walls did not occur during the time frame that Joshua’s entry into Canaan occurred, she did state that the destruction of the walls could have been regarded by Joshua as a divine event. In either case, this still proves the historicity of the Biblical writings. However, another prominent archaeologist, John Garstang, found that the fallen walls did, in fact, occur during the time of Joshua’s conquest. The fact that the fallen walls is included in Scripture is evidence of its accuracy.
2. The unity of the Bible. The Bible consists of sixty-six books written over a period of fifteen hundred years by forty different writers. These men did not know each other because they were many times separated by many years; even centuries; even millennia. They could not get together and collaborate to produce such a cohesive work. They did not fabricate it. These writers came from many different walks of life and classes of society. Some were poor, some rich, some powerful, some weak. Some were prophets, some historians, some poets, some farmers, some very wise, and some not as wise. Some were kings, some lowly subjects. Some were respected; some were reviled. They came from all classes, cultures, and experiences. Yet they are in complete agreement. The Bible is a cohesive, relevant, and up to date collection of writings. The Author of the Bible is Almighty God. It is His letter to us, His people. It is a complex living organism whose elements are interlocked, interwoven, and interdependent. God used men who had different personalities and different writing styles. But even so, the Bible is complete, organized, unified, and consistent.
3. Fulfilled Prophecy. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus. Psalm 22 tells us about His hands and feet being pierced, about the soldiers casting lots for His clothing, and about His being reviled on the cross. Jesus actually quotes from Psalm 22 on the cross. David wrote Psalm 22 almost 1000 years before Christ was crucified. Isaiah tells us how he would be wounded for our transgressions. That prophecy was fulfilled when He was scourged, beaten, and crucified. Micah tells us that He was to be born in Bethlehem, which He was. Daniel wrote his prophecy around 500 years before Christ was born. Daniel predicted the birth of Christ to the exact year. He said that the Messiah would be born 483 years after Cyrus decreed the rebuilding of Jerusalem. That is precisely when Christ was born. He predicted the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD. Daniel accurately predicted Alexander’s conquest of the world and how his generals split up his empire among themselves. He predicted how Antiochus Epiphanes would come in and fight against Jerusalem and desecrate the altar of God. His most awesome prophecy was that the four major world empires would rise and fall. He predicted Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Every prediction that Daniel made came true with the exception of those that are scheduled for future fulfillment. The Dead Sea Scrolls prove these prophecies predated Jesus’ time on earth, and prove that these were not later corruptions added to the Scriptures by Christian copyists. The Bible has a 100% accuracy rate on prophecies coming true. This fact alone should sway any doubter.
4. The scientific accuracy of the Bible. Solomon said that the earth is a globe: Proverbs 8:27 “When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:” Isaiah 40:22 “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” Job said that the earth hangs in space: Job 26:7 “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.” Solomon affirmed the hydrology of the earth: Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 “The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. {7} All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.” When Job said that the morning stars sang together, he was scientifically accurate. When sensors are aimed at stars, it has been found that the light they emit can be turned into sound. The sound is musical. And when different stars are checked, it is found that the sounds they make all harmonize¹!

If, after reading these things you do not believe that the Bible is the true and inspired words of God, there is little more I can do to persuade you. Again it is your choice. If you choose not to believe that the Bible is God’s Word, then I have no argument to prove to you that Jesus is the only way to heaven. But if you choose to believe that the Bible is God’s Word then I can show you the verses that prove that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Heaven is where God the Father is. Here are some verses stating that Christ is the only way to heaven:

John 14:6 [Jesus speaking] “I am the way, the truth, and the life: No man cometh unto the father, but by me“.

Acts 4:12 [Peter telling the crowd about Jesus] “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

1 John 2:23 “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

Romans 5:21 “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1 John 5:11 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Jesus is the only way to go into the presence of God. God is sinless and cannot allow sin in His presence because it would stain Him. For example, if you have twelve eggs that are fresh, you have a perfectly fresh dozen eggs. But if you take one out and put in a rotten egg, then you no longer have a perfectly fresh dozen eggs. You have twelve eggs but the dozen is polluted. It is the same with God. He is perfect. If anyone who is not perfect comes into His presence, His perfection is sullied. He cannot and will not allow that to happen.

The Bible tells us that the payment we must make for sin is death. If we sin we must die to pay for that sin. There is no work we can do on this earth to make up for our sins. We are doomed. Like the verse above says, we are already condemned.

The Bible says, in Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” In other words, only the death and spilling of the blood of a substitute victim will allow our sins to be forgiven. In the Old Testament they killed bulls and goats and the blood shed by the animals gave temporary forgiveness and the sacrifices had to be made over and over. But Jesus, the perfect, sinless Son of God gave his life and shed His blood for the remission of sins. He became our substitute victim. If we believe that He did that we are forgiven by the blood He shed. Jesus died on the cross, shedding His own blood for the world. But unlike the bulls and goats, Jesus died and God raised Him from the dead. He is alive today, now, this very second. His blood no longer needs to be shed. He died and shed His blood once for all and His blood never needs to be spilled again like the blood of the bulls and goats.

No one else has shed His blood for us, not Mohammed, not Buddha, not anyone. And not one of the founders of any religion is alive today. Only Christ, who founded Christianity, which is not a religion, but a way of life, is alive today. He is the only one to shed His blood for all and then be raised from the death. He is the only way to get to heaven. There is no other. The Bible says so. If you have chosen to believe the Bible, it is the Bible that tells us Jesus is the only way

Updated November 22, 2014