There is a saying, which I found out goes back to the year 1854, and we probably all heard it, and it goes like this. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Now, some of you might be surprised that I've never done that. I've thought about it, but I've never done that. But that saying goes back to 1854, and I think the context of it was is that, you know, cats weren't necessarily loved then by some people, and there's more than one way that you can skin a cat. But the meaning of it is this, that there is more than one way to do something. There is more than one way to achieve a goal that you might have. Now, I've never had a double eagle like Jason has. I've had a birdie once in a while, but I've never had a double eagle. I'm usually in the woods. And when you're in the woods, usually what you want to do is chip your ball back onto the fairway. Now some people are very good and they have another way of doing it. They may be able to hit over the trees and make it to the green. I'm usually the one trying to just get back to the fairway. So there's more than one way to get out of the woods when you are a golfer. So there's more than one way to achieve a goal or to do something. Now, the important question that we want to focus on today, is that true with the gospel? Is there more than one way of salvation? Is there more than one way to get to heaven apart from just faith in Jesus Christ alone? Is Jesus just one of many ways to get to God or is he the only way? Now there may be indeed a number of ways to skin a cat. But according to the Bible, I hope we understand and we will see today that there is, according to the Bible, that Jesus is the only way to God and by faith in him. So in this series, we are talking about contending earnestly for the faith that is once for all delivered unto the saints. And today we are focusing on contending for the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we talk about exclusive, we mean something unique, something that stands alone, that Jesus is the only way to God. And again, that salvation comes by faith in Christ and in Christ alone. The reason we're doing this study is that there are many who have grown up in evangelical churches, and they have gone through what they call deconstruction. They have gone through a deconstruction of their faith, of things that they had once believed, once held to, but as they have come along and thought about it, they now are turning away what we would call historic Orthodox Christianity to have different views. It's called progressive Christianity. It's more progressive. It is something that is different from what has been historic Christianity. And especially true on this subject, is Christ the only way to heaven? So there are those who go through this deconstruction of Jesus Christ as the only way. So deconstruction, it takes place with regard to this narrow way of salvation in historic Christianity. So historic orthodox teaching is that Jesus is the only way. Salvation is only through Christ and faith in Christ. But there are those who say, well, that's just too narrow. We can't live with that. It's too exclusive. It's too antiquated. It's not up to date with what's going on in our world. So we must make room for other ways to God. It is one thing for someone to say that Christianity is true for you. You may say that. But to claim that Jesus rightly demands the allegiance of every human being, regardless of one's cultural background or current belief, is viewed as being offensive, it's viewed as being even absurd and even being intolerant. You're just too judgmental and therefore we have to be more progressive. So Jesus only theology is viewed as being that. It's arrogant to hold that your view and your understanding of salvation is the only way. And some even refer to it as being imperialistic. that it's insisting that others of other cultures, other ethnicities, other religions, they must also believe the same thing or they will not go to heaven. So it's seen as being narrow. It's arrogant. And it also delegitimizes the religion of others. that their religion does not get them into the presence of God. It does not make them right with God, and therefore it delegitimizes world religions. And they view them as people who are earnestly seeking after God. That's the way they would understand it. And so they would say that God is bigger than any one religion. And no one religion has a corner on salvation, on absolute truth. And therefore, we must, as progressive Christians, deconstruct this view that Jesus is the only way. And so they deconstruct that, but they also then reconstruct what they would view as a broader way of salvation in this progressive Christianity. And we're familiar with the term pluralism, and this would be a view that many would take. Rather than salvation being narrow in Christ alone, they're viewed as being more broad-minded, and that God's table is big enough for all religious beliefs, no matter what they may be. So Jesus is a way to God, But there are other ways as well. There's more than one way to skin a cat. There are many paths to God and many may call God by the name Buddha or Allah or Jehovah or Jesus, but it's all the same God and there are many ways to get to God. One of the people that is a big proponent of this is Oprah Winfrey. She has, I think, some kind of a religious thing on YouTube. I can never say her name. I see people smiling out there. Oprah? OK. Oh, well. Forgive me, Oprah. But anyway, she's got like 10 million viewers. Now she was raised in a Baptist church and she was raised believing that Jesus is the only way of salvation. But she came to repudiate that and she said there is no possibility that there can be only one way to heaven. And she has all these followers listening to her and she brings all of these people on a program that would also affirm the same thing. So there's this idea of this pluralism. Then there are others who are referred to as inclusive, inclusivism. Rather than excluding other religious groups, they make them apart and inclusive in terms of salvation. They assign some value to the work of Christ, that Christ did die. Christ is the way in which people are made right with God. But they believe that everyone who is saved is saved through the person of Christ. But they insist that you don't have to have a conscious faith of Christ in order to be saved. One such pastor, he's a United Methodist pastor. His name is Roger Woolsey. He's got a lot of stuff on the internet. He wrote a book called, interesting, Christianity for People Who Don't Like Christianity. Christianity for people who don't like Christianity. So here's a progressive Christianity. Here is something that's more palatable, something that you will probably enjoy if you don't like historic Christianity. And he says this. Progressive Christians believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And we believe that all who follow Jesus' teaching, way, and example, by whatever name, and even if they've never heard of Jesus, are fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and His way. That said, we're rather enamored by the uniqueness of the Jesus story and we invite others to join us in sharing that specific journey even if we feel no dire need to convert them. In other words, he is saying that a true Hindu or a Buddhist or a Muslim, if they are really trying to live a good life, a moral life, they're really living out the life of Jesus, what Jesus taught. And therefore, they are viewed as being Christian in their eyes that the work of Christ, they are benefit from the work of Christ even though they don't know Christ and they do not confess Him as Lord and Savior. They're living out what they call the divine Christ that is within them. And therefore, the work of Christ, even though they don't name the name of Christ, the work of Christ is beneficial to them. And they refer to them as anonymous Christians. People that are saved by Christ, they just don't know it. So they are anonymous Christians. And so this is the view of the inclusive, that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. but they all do not necessarily confess the name of Jesus Christ. But it is Christ that saves them. And ultimately, many of these are universalists. Jesus is the source of this universal salvation that is received even by people who don't know or don't confess the name of Christ. One man said this, I confess that I am a Christocentric universalist. I'm a Christo-centric universalist, that Jesus is the way, but there are many ways in which that is expressed in various different religions and all ultimately will be saved. So the question before us then is, Is this true? Or what does the Bible say? What about the exclusive claims that we find in the scriptures? And you know when we hear a lot of these things about people that believe that Christ is the only way, they're arrogant, they're judgmental, they're bigoted, Jesus-only people, they're narrow-minded, they're not broad-minded, they're not open-minded, You know, we can kind of tend to be a little shy away. You know, we don't like to be different, do we? We live in a pluralistic culture now, and there are many even in the professing Christian church that are becoming more and more pluralistic in their thinking. In fact, there was a Pew, I think it's called the Pew Forum, did a poll among professing American Christians, and 52%, one out of two, said that they believed that people that were from a non-Christian faith could be saved. So even among professing Christians, as we've already noted, would not see Jesus as being the only way. And so we can tend to shy away from that, and yet what does the Bible say? We wanna deconstruct maybe doubt that we might have. We might be intimidated by this, but what does the Bible say? And so, first of all, the exclusivity of the gospel is, I believe, the clear teaching of the Bible. The Bible does not make room that there are many ways to God, different ways to God, that you can be saved apart from faith in Jesus Christ. So we want to consider just some of the key texts. There are a lot of things that we could look at, but just some of the key texts that state the exclusivity of the gospel. If you're in John 14, This is this is one of them. And Ray has already read this for us. It is Jesus as he is with his disciples just before he's going to go to the cross. He's going to be leaving them. He's preparing them for this. And he's going to go back to be with his father in heaven. And he's talking about the fact he's going to go and prepare a place for them. He's gonna come again and receive them back to himself. And Thomas says, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? And then we have this statement from Jesus. I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. Here's Jesus, I think, saying, Very clearly, there is only one way to the Father. I am, the statement is, it's emphatic in the text. I am not a way, I am the way, and I am the truth, and I am the life. And then notice he says, no one, no one comes to the Father except for me and i think the rest of the book of john clearly shows us To come to the father is to come through faith in christ. I think we see that in john 6 that was read by tim earlier It's by believing in jesus christ that you will be saved. He's this bread that has come down from heaven He is this bread that gives life to the world and by believing in him And john writes this gospel and at the end of it He says i've written all of these things In order that you might believe that jesus is the christ the son of the living god And that by believing in him you might have life in his name And so I am the way to the Father and no one, no one will come and be accepted before the Father except through me. So this whole text here, the whole book of John is about believing and trusting in Jesus. Why? Because he is the only way to the father. Turn, if you will, to Matthew 7. This is, I think, a familiar verse to us, but I think it would be worth reading. This is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and I think it ties into this theme that we're talking about this morning. And in the latter part of Matthew 7, Jesus here talks about there's a right way and there is a wrong way. There's a right way, there's a wrong way. There are two ways. One leads to life and another does not. There is a rock upon which one must build. And if he doesn't build upon that rock, Jesus Christ, then the destruction will be great if he builds his house on something else, on sand. But here is this idea of a narrow way. In verse 13, Jesus says, enter by the narrow gate. Notice the language of Jesus, it's a narrow gate. Enter by the narrow gate. Who is that gate? It's the Lord Jesus. It's the gospel. Enter the narrow gate, and wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to what? Destruction. All right? There's a narrow way. There is a broad way. It is the narrow gate that leads to life. It is the broad way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way, notice, which leads to life. And there are few who find it. So Jesus himself says, I understand that I am the only way. And I know that that is a narrow way. It's a narrow gate. It's a narrow path that leads to life. There's a broad road. Many are walking on it, but it leads to destruction. So Jesus didn't have this idea of pluralism, this idea that all roads lead to heaven. No, there's a narrow gate and there is a narrow way. And so Jesus isn't reticent. He's not reticent to call people to believe in him, to trust in him. Turn over to John 3, very familiar verses to us. John 3, as Jesus is with Nicodemus and has been speaking with him about the necessity of the new birth. And we pick it up in the middle of this. Verse 12, if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but the son of man who is in earth. who came, but he who came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. Speaking about his cross, it's necessary for the son of man to be lifted up, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He says it twice. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. Now notice verse 18. He who believes in him He who believes in Christ, the one lifted up, is not condemned. But he who does not believe, notice, is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And so Jesus, again, calls people to believe in him for eternal life, so that they will not perish, and there is no other way to the Father. Now, did the disciples, having walked with Jesus, having heard him teach and preach, when they are sent out into the world to preach the gospel, to take it into the Roman Empire, did his disciples believe that there was more than one way to skin a cat? No. They taught exactly what Jesus had taught. Turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 4. Here's another, I think, well-known verse for most of us, where I think Peter makes it clear for us. that salvation is in Christ and it is in him alone. The context is that there has been a man that has been lame and he has been healed and people are coming to hear about Jesus. The religious leaders do not like this. They are upset and they've brought them in to question them. Verse seven, when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name have you done this? And then Peter, notice this, filled with the Holy Spirit. So what Peter is going to be saying here, he's saying by the Holy Spirit. And he said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead by him this man stands here before you whole this is the stone which has which was rejected by you builders you crucified him which has become the chief cornerstone. And now listen to what Peter says. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. All right? It's pretty clear, isn't it? There's only one name under all of heaven whereby you can be saved, where men and women can be saved. It's in the name of Jesus. And to be saved here is the idea of being forgiven of one's sins. The whole context, again, in the book of Acts is being saved from sin, being reconciled to God. And so there is only this one name under all of heaven whereby you can be saved. And we need to understand that the disciples lived and ministered in the Roman Empire and they ministered among a pluralistic culture. It's like our own culture. They would have been okay to say Jesus is a way to God. and made room for all the other gods of the peoples of the Roman Empire. But they said Jesus is Lord. And people didn't like that. Jesus is the only way. People didn't like that. There is only one name under heaven whereby we can be saved. The gospel was an offense. It was an offense to those who heard it. There's only one way. It's only in the name of Jesus that a person can be saved. This is what they preached as they went into the Roman Empire. You must turn from your idols and your gods and you must believe in Jesus. Believe in the name of Jesus alone to be saved, to be reconciled, to be made right with God. So there's only one way to the Father. There is only one name under heaven whereby we can be saved. And then turn, if you will, to 1 Timothy chapter 1. And we'll find here there is only one mediator. There is only one mediator. Here is Paul, a man who was called later in by Jesus to be his an apostle, to be his messenger. And we read in 1 Timothy 2.5, Paul writes and he says, verse five, there is one God, And there is one mediator between God and men. Here it is again, isn't it? There is only one way. There's only one name. There's only one mediator between God and men. And who is that? It's the man, Christ Jesus. And what did he do? He gave himself a ransom for all peoples to be testified in due time. So here is Jesus presented as mediator. Now what does a mediator do? A mediator goes between people where maybe there's a marriage, there's a problem, there's difficulties in the marriage. A mediator seeks to bring them back together again. And Paul says there's only one mediator, there's only one that can mediate for men and bring them back into a right relationship with God, it is Jesus Christ. And the way in which he does this is that he himself, as mediator, offers himself as a ransom. A payment is made. His blood is shed so that they can be forgiven of their sins and be made right with a holy God. But there's only one mediator. There's not a lot of different mediators or a lot of different ways in which mediation can take place. There's only one. And it is through what he has done. It's through the person and it is through the work of Jesus Christ. And I think this is really key to this whole issue here. Why is the gospel exclusive? Why is it only Jesus? Why is there only one that can reconcile us to God? Because there is only one who has made a satisfaction for sin. A satisfactory means by which sin can be forgiven. It is through his atonement. He has made satisfaction for sin. It's the only way. If you go to the store, you go to Kroger, and you're going to get some groceries, and you get your Monopoly game out, and you take out the Monopoly money, and you go to Kroger's, and you want to pay with that Monopoly money, what do you think they're going to say to you? Yeah, sorry. That won't satisfy. That won't work here. It might work at home with Monopoly. That won't work here. And so it is with Christ. There is only one satisfactory sacrifice, a way of atonement, and it is in Jesus Christ. God's holy justice must be satisfied if sinners are to be forgiven and made right and reconciled to God. And God can justify the sinner only on just grounds. And it is Jesus Christ alone who makes satisfaction for sins. And this is the very essence of Christianity. It is a redemptive religion, a redemptive Christianity. It redeems. It makes satisfaction for sin, unlike any other religion. So it proclaims salvation that comes from God, and it is accomplished by the Son of God. God is saving us from his own wrath through his own mediator, Jesus Christ, who makes satisfaction for our sins. And therefore, historic Orthodox Christianity, since the time of Christ, insists on the uniqueness of Christ as the only savior of sinners. Now, again, people might say, well, that just doesn't seem fair, that there is only one way. And who can really, when we think about it, who can really diagnose what our sin has done in terms of a holy God? And what is needed for us to be reconciled? Do we have the ability to do that? We don't. It's only God that can diagnose the problem and provide the remedy. Let me quote. This is from Table Talk by a man named James Anderson. He said this. Surely it is up to our creator, not us, to diagnose our problem and prescribe a remedy for it. The pluralist treats salvation as if it were like a hair treatment. You should be able to choose your color, your style, and so on, all according to your own preference, whatever works for you. We were sitting in a restaurant last night, and Jackie said, look at that lady over there. She was an elderly lady, had blue hair. Well, OK. You can decide, I guess. If you want to have blue hair, you can have blue hair. But what if salvation is more like a medical treatment, not like going to the salon and having whatever done, whatever you want, but what if salvation is more like a medical treatment for a fatal disease? If there is only one medication that can actually cure the illness, it would be extremely foolish to advocate medical pluralism, a have-it-your-own-way approach to treatment. and it would be bizarre to accuse your doctor of unfairness or prescribing the only remedy that works. The point should be obvious. The prescription must fit the diagnosis. If the basic human problem is, as the Bible describes it, that we're sinners standing under the righteous judgment of God, unable even to begin to make an adequate atonement for our own sins, then only Christianity presents a solution that adequately addresses the problem. No other religion offers a perfect mediator between God and man who removes the enmity between us and our creator by bearing the penalty for our sin in our place. Christ makes satisfaction for all the effects of sin. And it is in him alone that the remedy is found for the curse of sin. And so that's why we say that salvation is by grace alone. It's undeserved. It's by Christ alone. And it is received by faith alone. We come as empty handed beggars to receive the gift of a king. And therefore, to God alone must be all the glory. And so faith in Christ is the only remedy for sinners. This is the only name. And the call of the gospel is, look to Christ. Trust in Christ. Maybe you're here today and you've never done that. You've just been like a sheep going your own way, thinking everything is okay with God, but it's not. We have all sinned. We've all come short of the glory of God. Here's a savior who has come into this world to save helpless and guilty sinners. And the gospel is a call to put your trust in him. Come to Jesus Christ the only way, the only truth, the only life, the only way to the father. Come to the one who's the only name given under heaven whereby you can be saved and come to the only mediator that brings sinful men and a holy God together through his person and through his work and put your trust in him. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You will be saved. It is a free gift. If you're here today without Christ, we point you to him, that you would put your trust in him. May God help us as a church and as believers to stand with Peter. I love John 6. Sometimes Peter got it right, sometimes he got it wrong, but I love this where he got it right. where Jesus had many people. They didn't like what he was saying. Unless you partake of this bread, you're going to perish. This bread that has come down out of heaven, unless you partake of me, put your trust in me, you're going to perish. Many people didn't like that. They began to walk away from Jesus. The crowd dispersed. And Jesus turned to his disciples and said, Are you also going to go? Are you also going to leave me? I love Peter, Lord. Where else are we gonna go? Where else are we gonna go? Only you have the words of eternal life. Only you. And we've come to believe that you are the son of God. May we stand alongside of Peter. in our day, in our age, and contend earnestly for the faith that has been once for all delivered unto the saints." Let me close with this quote. This is from Tim Chalice. He said, if we are to return to God, we must go in and by and through Jesus Christ. We must go in and by and through Jesus Christ alone. He demands exclusivity. We cannot use Jesus to hedge our bets, adding a little Jesus to our own efforts or to another guru or deity. We cannot use Jesus as a preferred way while allowing others to follow their own ways, their own paths. For Jesus is not a way, but he is the way. the only way there is, the only way there ever has been, the only way there ever will be. I believe this is what the Word of God teaches. May God help us that we may contend earnestly for the faith, and it is our confession. It's not what our hands have done. It's not what our hands have done that can save our guilty soul.