Happy Wednesday

Is Jesus the Only Way?
A December poll released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reveals that “a majority of all American Christians (52 percent) think that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life.”
This finding is troubling because it indicates that many people—namely, those calling themselves Christians—are being deceived by modern concepts suggesting that there are multiple paths to heaven.  It appears that the age of diversity may have crept into some contemporary church pews, if not a few pulpits.

However, I wish to argue that diversity is completely unimportant when it comes to matters of eternal life.  There is only one thing that is important: what God has to say on the issue.

Here is the bottom line for Christians: if we are to believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word, we must live according to its precepts.  Further, the primary instruction of the Bible is that the only way to heaven is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which means that we must fearlessly and lovingly preach this message and never stray from the path, no matter who challenges it.

For Christians, I believe the toughest question we will ever have to answer is: Do people who do not believe in Jesus Christ really go to hell?  When we answer yes, a follow-up question is often applied: How can a loving God send good people to an eternal hell?

First, our loving and compassionate God desires that no one should suffer eternal damnation.  Hell, according to the Bible, was created solely for Satan and other fallen angels (Matthew 25: 41).  However, when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, a vast breach between man and heaven was generated.

But Jesus bridged that gap, my friends.  Through His miraculous birth, death on the cross and glorious resurrection, He defeated the grave and provided THE WAY to heaven for all who will believe.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (NKJV), Jesus declared without hesitation in John 14:6.

You may ask, How could Jesus legitimately make this claim?  It is because He was and is the unique, singular and sinless Son of God.  John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  The Apostle Peter said of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Through Him, everyone can experience New Life—spiritual cleansing and forgiveness of sin that comes only through Jesus Christ.

I don’t preach the Gospel of Christ to condemn others or to set myself up as better than those who do not believe.  In fact, I see myself as the lowliest of sinners in need of the Savior.  Through this column I hope only to encourage every reader to ask himself/herself the most important question of the ages: “Did Jesus really come to this earth to save me?”

I believe that He did.  I believe that He is the only way to heaven, as He said.
Fashionable, feel-good doctrines have come and gone over the course of the ages, but the Truth of Jesus Christ has stood the test of time (Hebrews 13:8).  And He stands today with arms held open waiting to receive unto Himself all who will trust and follow Him.


In The News:

Gosnell's Defense Attorney Says U.S. Needs 17-Week Abortion Ban, Yearly Clinic Inspections

Jack McMahon, defense attorney for abortionist and convicted murderer Kermit Gosnell, shocked America last Wednesday during his first live cable news interview since the jury's verdict in his client's case, the Christian Post reports. McMahon twice spoke the words "Thank God" and revealed to Fox News host Megyn Kelly that he believes banning abortion after 17 weeks should become law and all abortion clinics must be inspected annually. "I've come out of this case realizing that 24 weeks is a bad determiner," he said. "It should be like 16, 17 weeks. That would be a far better thing, and I think the law should be changed to that. I think there will still be the right to choose, but they've got to choose quicker. I think that's something that should come out of this. I think more regulations should come out of these locations." McMahon also partially blamed lax regulations of abortion clinics for the horrific conditions found in Gosnell's Women's Medical Society in West Philadelphia. "I'm not going to tell you that things didn't get out of hand at that location," he said. "There was no oversight for over 18 years, and no one came and looked at that location."

India: Pastor Beaten During Church Service

A pastor in India's Uttar Pradesh state was recently attacked and beaten during his church service, Voice of the Martyrs reports. Near the end of the service, a group of Hindu men attacked Pastor "Caleb," tied him to a tree and beat him. The attackers, who apparently were directed by Hindu leaders in the village, broke Pastor Caleb's arm during the beating. VOM partners are helping provide medical treatment and urging police to prosecute the attackers. Pastor Caleb's church has been threatened in the past by high caste families. About five families who have faithfully remained with the church had angered villagers by refusing to offer a gift to a Hindu goddess, and a group from the village also became angry when the Christian families refused to help with the wedding of a high caste family's daughter.

'Fetal Pain' Abortion Bans Face Court Scrutiny

As abortion laws in states such as North Dakota, Alabama, Arkansas and Kansas have become more restrictive, critics have taken the new "fetal pain" restrictions to court, Christianity Today reports. In one of the first rulings by a federal appeals court on such bans, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco struck down Arizona's ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The court cited "40 years of Supreme Court precedents that allow a woman to terminate her pregnancy if the fetus is not yet viable," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Nine other states have similar bans on abortions before 20 weeks of pregnancy -- the point at which a fetus is thought to be able to feel pain. Idaho's fetal pain law was the first to be struck down, but at the district and not appellate level. Arkansas faces an injunction against its newly passed ban on abortions after 12 weeks; meanwhile, North Dakota's only abortion clinic has also filed suit after the state approved a bill to ban some abortions as soon as six weeks into pregnancy.