What To Say To Those Who Deny There Is One Way

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man
–Romans 1:22-23

Several years ago, I was invited to Washington, DC, to participate in a debate in front of about 180 religion reporters from all over the country. After the debate, one of the reporters raised his hand and said, “Dr. Jeffress, you have said that Hinduism, Islam, and Mormonism are all false religions. But what about Judaism?” I said, “Well, it’s funny you asked that question, because this Sunday in my church in Dallas, I’m preaching a message entitled, ‘Why Every Other Religion Is Wrong.’” The reporters broke out in laughter. I had not tried to be funny. But it reminded me how preposterous it is to the average person to make the claim that every other religion in the world is wrong. If you make that assertion, you will be met with ridicule, if not with outright anger.

Last week, we examined four popular objections to the idea that Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved, and therefore all other religions are wrong:

• Objection #1: If you believe in the exclusivity of Christ for salvation, you are intolerant.
• Objection #2: The exclusivity of Christ promotes hatred and religious persecution.
• Objection #3: How could billions of people be wrong about God?
• Objection #4: All religions teach basically the same thing. Why is yours the only right way?

Now let’s look at perhaps the most prevalent objection to the exclusivity of Christ for salvation: it is unfair for God to send people to hell just because they have not believed in Jesus. After all, Acts 17:26 tells us, God is the one who determines where we live. If God has placed somebody in an area where the gospel has never been preached, how in the world could He be justified in sentencing them to hell just because they have never believed in Jesus? In his book “A Wideness In God’s Mercy,” Clark Pinnock said he rejected the idea that “the unevangelized, most of whom have endured oppression and misery in this earthly life, will go on suffering in hell forever because they did not believe in Jesus, even though this is something they could not have done.” Adding insult to injury, Christians who believe the Bible are also saying that a person who lives a godless, immoral life but at the very last moment trusts in Christ as Savior is going to spend eternity in heaven. How could that be?

Have you heard questions like that before? How can you respond when people reject the exclusivity of Christ for salvation? This week, we are going to look at four things you can say to those who deny that there is only one way to God.

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “What To Say To Those Who Deny There Is One Way” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Clark H. Pinnock, “A Wideness In God’s Mercy” (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), 151-52.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.