IS SALVATION POSSIBLE APART FROM FAITH IN JESUS?

If there is there is another way to get to heaven apart from faith in God through the Messiah Jesus, Scripture has been absolutely silent about it. According to the New Testament, to believe in other ways to heaven is to deny the absolute need of the Cross of Christ:

·       I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:20-21)

If it were possible to merit (earn) our salvation by following a set of laws, principles, or even loving duties, then Christ died in vain. And if He died in vain, then all that He had suffered to fulfill God’s righteousness and to demonstrate His overwhelming love for the world was also in vain, a needless and costly display. The availability of multiple means of salvation would also invalidate Jesus’ teachings:

·       “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24)

·       Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

·       “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)

Doesn’t the insistence on only one way to heaven make God unjust? It is not right that God would hold humanity accountable for something they cannot believe in! However, Scripture tells us that we are all accountable, since we all know the truth:

·       For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things…Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:20-23, 32)

Therefore, the problem isn’t a matter of a lack of evidence but a willful rejection of the evidence, both objectively perceived and subjectively experienced:

·       For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16)

Consequently, we all know the truth of our guilt and our need for the pure mercy of God procured by Jesus dying in our place on the Cross:

·       Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things…Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:1, 4-5)

However, we suppress the truth that we are under the wrath of God and invent many counter-narratives:

·       God doesn’t exist,

·       God only deserves my hatred,

·       God is love and would never condemn me,

·       I am a truth seeker, but the evidence is simply unavailable, or

·       I am a good person.

Admittedly, substitutionary atonement is an offensive teaching, which runs against our grain. There are many non-Christians who seem to be more deserving of eternal life than we. However:

·       …For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-24)

We all need the mercy of God. Anyone who denies this self-evident truth is in the deepest denial. Such is the human race!