IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY?

Transcription

1 IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY? Turning Point Church 10/29/17 Jude 1:3 (NIV) Contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God s holy people. My friend is not a Christian but is a very good person and very devout in a different religion. Is he going to hell? What about people who never get a chance to hear about Jesus? If people who have died in the past and weren t given the gospel will they go to hell? Is this fair? Do all people who are not Christians go to hell? Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 1

2 13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. VIEW OF GOD Many gods or incarnations of gods. VIEW OF GOD Many gods or incarnations of gods. VIEW OF GOD There is no absolute God. 2

3 VIEW OF GOD There is no absolute God. VIEW OF GOD One absolute God-Allah VIEW OF GOD One absolute God-Allah SALVATION Personal striving to escape from continual rebirth and reach Nirvana, which is a transcendent, permanent state. SALVATION Personal striving to escape from continual rebirth and reach Nirvana, which is a transcendent, permanent state. SALVATION Escape from the endless round of reincarnation by practicing yoga. 3

4 SALVATION Escape from the endless round of reincarnation by practicing yoga. SALVATION Each person will be judged according to his works and everyone who lives according to the truth to the best of his abilities will achieve heaven. SALVATION Each person will be judged according to his works and everyone who lives according to the truth to the best of his abilities will achieve heaven. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a caricatured view of even the best-known ones. Every religion at its core is exclusive. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. 4

5 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 10 You are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. 5

6 Follow me and I ll show you how to find truth. Follow me and I ll show you the way to salvation. Follow me and I ll show you how to become enlightened, Other Religions: DO Other Religions: DO : DONE No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 6

7 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God s one and only Son. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God s wrath remains on them. He went away a second time and prayed, My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! 7

8 1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 8

9 [God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. 9

10 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means queen of the Ethiopians ). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it. 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading? Philip asked. 31 How can I, he said, unless someone explains it to me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth. 34 The eunuch asked Philip, Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else? 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 10

11 1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, Cornelius! 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. What is it, Lord? he asked. The angel answered, Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 11

12 There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Your will be done", and those to whom God says, in the end, "Your will be done". Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Dear God. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sin. I want to give you control of my life. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life. Help me to know you better and to learn from the Bible how I can live a life that pleases you and helps others. Amen. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. 14 For Christ s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 12

13 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ s behalf: Be reconciled to God. THREE FACTS ABOUT SALVATION 1. ALL RELIGIONS CANNOT BE TRUE IF THERE ARE CONFLICTING TRUTH CLAIMS 2. JESUS CLAIMS TO BE THE ONLY WAY TO GOD 3. JESUS SACRIFICIAL DEATH WAS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT SALVATION 1. GOD HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO EVERYONE. 2. GOD DESIRES FOR EVERYONE TO BE SAVED. 3. IF YOU SEEK GOD YOU WILL FIND HIM CONC: YOU MUST DECIDE FOR YOURSELF CONC: WE CANNOT HELP SPEAKING Follow- Through Guide 13