DOES JESUS CLAIM THAT HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION?

 

 In many ways, Jesus claimed that He is the only way to be saved:

·       Mark 1:2–3 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice [of John] of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord [Jesus; “Yahweh” in Isaiah 40:3], make his paths straight,’”

·       John 14:6–7 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

·       John 10:7–11 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

·       John 10:27–28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

·       John 10:37–38 “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

·       John 8:23–24 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”

·       Matthew 12:6–8 “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

To be greater than the Law is to be the Law-Giver Himself! Besides, Jesus had prayed:

·       Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup [the crucifixion] pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Had there been another means of salvation, Christ would not have had to die. Evidently, there was no other means of salvation. Our hope must therefore be invested in Jesus alone.

Consequently, when Jesus sent out His 12 Apostles to evangelize the world, they were instructed to teach only His teachings. No mention of the teachings of others, even those of Moses:

·       Matthew 28:19–20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”