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One Lord, One Faith, One God: The Exclusivity of Christianity
Open your Bible to Ephesians 4. And we have been in Ephesians 4 for a month, I think, but we finally have arrived at verses 4, 5, and 6. And this is a very, very important moment to stop and consider a far-reaching reality that is clearly indicated here. Let me read Ephesians 4:4, 5, and 6. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Here is the singularity of Christianity. Seven times, you have the word “one” repeated. This is a declaration of the exclusivity of the true faith, the true religion.
There is only one body: the church; one Spirit: the Holy Spirit; one hope: that of heaven for those in Christ. There’s only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. That should make it abundantly clear that there are no others, no others. But it seems to have somehow escaped this generation of so-called Christians and even so-called evangelicals, because in a recent survey an inexcusable display of ignorance was manifest.
Sixty-six percent of American Christians say many religions lead to eternal life—that’s two out of three. Fifty-two percent of evangelicals say many religions can lead to eternal life. Forty-eight percent of evangelicals said that God accepts the worship of all religious people. Now, let me correct that. One hundred percent of true Christians say no other religion can save. One hundred percent of true evangelicals say no other religion can save. One hundred percent of evangelicals say God rejects all worship other than that which is consistent with His divine revelation in Christ.
How do we get to a place where people declare they are Christians and evangelicals, and basically don’t even understand the most foundational reality of what is true religion? How does this happen? On the face, you might say they lack instruction, and you would probably be right. But even deeper than that, I think they lack courage, because the reason people cave in to say that other religions can give eternal life is so that they don’t wind up offending other people—because that’s hard to deal with.
But on the face of it, it’s impossible that Christianity is true and other religions are true. This is the basic law of reason called the law of noncontradiction. Just from a rational standpoint, the law of noncontradiction is, “A cannot be non-A at the same time in the same way.” Let me spread that out over Christian theology: If Yahweh is the one and only living and true God, there is no other god. If the Bible is the one true revealed revelation of God, there is no other revelation. If the Son of God is Jesus, who is alone Lord and alone King, there is no other lord. If Jesus Christ is the only Savior from sin and eternal judgment, there is no other savior. If sinners can be saved only by the gospel of Jesus Christ, then they can’t be saved by any other means. If people can only escape hell by trusting in the person and work of Christ, they cannot escape hell by any other avenue. If sinners will be in hell forever if they reject Christ, there is no other way for them to escape. If the sole work that saves sinners is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then no other work can save sinners. If the gospel is the only saving truth and all other claims are lies, if there is only one true religion, then all others are false. If there is only one true God, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ—the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit—then there is no other God. So you get the idea.
All of those things that I postulated for you are Bible claims. I was just giving you what the Bible says: one God, one divine revelation, one Lord, one Savior, one gospel, one means of escaping hell. That’s what the Bible claims, and it is essentially that that is its greatest offense. And because it is such an offense, people cave in, and rather than be faithful to that gospel, they come up with ridiculous things like, “You can get to heaven by any religion.” A lie from the devil. Deuteronomy 4:35 says, “The Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.” That’s the exclusivity of the true God. Deuteronomy 4:39, “The Lord, He is God in heaven [alone] and on the earth below; there is no other.” First Kings 8, verse 60, “The Lord is God; there is no one else.”
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One Lord, One Faith, One God: The Exclusivity of Christianity
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