ARE MUSLIMS WORSHIPPING AND SERVING THE SAME GOD AS CHRISTIANS?

This question continues to arise: "Do we worship the same God as Islam?"

Many Christian leaders have claimed that we do. To illustrate this, WND had reported that:

• Over 300 prominent Christian leaders signed a letter issued by the Yale Center for Faith and Culture claiming that world peace is dependent on Muslims and Christians recognizing “Allah” and “Yahweh” as the same God. This letter, titled “Loving God and Neighbor Together,” was written in response to a signed document by 138 Muslim leaders titled “A Common Word Between Us and You.” 

I don't think that you will hear Muslim leaders saying this in countries where they have already secured control. Instead, such deceptions are intended for gullible Westerners who want to believe that Islam is peaceful. This tends to affirm their multicultural and religiously pluralistic worldview that we can all achieve oneness with Islam.

Instead, it is abundantly clear that we certainly do not worship the same Jesus. While their Jesus condones the violent subjugation of and non-Muslims, our Jesus had refused to take up the sword.

Although Islam regards Jesus as a great prophet, they do not even esteem Him worthy of worship. Besides, Islam regards the worship of Jesus as God as a damning offense - something that will send us to hell.

Likewise, Islam totally denies the Gospel

in favor of a humanly earned, bought, and paid-for salvation and not one that is graciously bestowed as a free gift (Romans 6:23). 

Nor do we have the liberty to worship a different Jesus, as Paul had warned:

• But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)

Was Jesus any more inclusive? No! He told the Jewish religious leadership who were under the Mosaic Covenant that they too needed more:

• “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." (John 8:24)

They too had to believe that Jesus was more than just a prophet. If they failed to accept Him as Savior, they too were worshipping a different God.

Jesus had explained something similar to a Samaritan woman He had met at a well. She too had claimed that Jew and Samaritan were virtually worshipping the same God and that their differences were merely geographic. 

Even though the Samaritans also used the Five Books of Moses, Jesus didn't regard them as worshipping the same God. Instead, He insisted that salvation was a matter of worshipping God according to the revelation given to the Jews:

• Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:21-24)

According to Jesus, the Samaritans were not worshipping God according to the truth. Instead, He insisted that the Samaritans did not know God. Therefore, we have to insist that the Muslims also do not know God.

In light of these sorts of considerations, WND regards the signing of the Yale document as a betrayal of the Christian faith: 

• [Brian] McLaren, [Rick] Warren, Robert Schuller and Bill Hybels were just several of the signatories to this outright betrayal of Christ. Furthermore, both of these documents affirmed Muhammed as a “Prophet” of God and declared that world peace was dependant on mutual affirmation of the “unity” of God. Dr. William Lane Craig, a leading Christian apologist and philosopher, correctly stated that by signing this document, Rick Warren and others were, in effect, signing up to become Muslims! This is because an affirmation of Allah as God is a denial of the Triune God revealed in Holy Scripture. Moreover, the Quran denies that Jesus is the Son of God no less than nine times. http://www.wnd.com/2009/08/108151/#HbA56kzi3ISDG0Jm.99