Eternal Life

Are There Many Ways to Heaven?

I remember the first time I heard someone say that there was only one way to be saved--only one way to get to heaven.

Is there only one key to God's heart?

I was sure they were wrong. What difference did it make if Buddhists wanted to call God one thing, Muslims another, and Christians something else. I thought it was judgmental for Christians to think they had better answers than people of other faiths.

Very Different Gods

Then I studied these other religions and read more of the Bible, and I realized that the Christian, Muslim and Hindu Gods are very different in character and purpose. We are not all worshiping the same God.

I also read these verses in the Bible:

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11,12

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3;16

Christ's death and resurrection--the only answer for sin

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except though me.’” John 14:6

The Bible and Jesus Himself say He is 

the only way of salvation. It wasn't something Christians had come up with on their own.

More Questions

I still had so many questions. So I continued to seek answers.

I didn't understand everything I read, and that bothered me. But the most difficult thing for me to understand was why God the Father would send Jesus to save mankind after all the stupid and evil things mankind has done.

Other things were easier to understand:

• Jesus is the only God who bases salvation on belief.
• Other religions base salvation on good deeds, religious practices and/or enlightenment
• The Bible has the only answers for man's sin problem.  
• Christ's payment on the Cross is man's only hope.
• Christ doesn't need us, but He invites us to be His children.
• All we need to do is believe.
• But Christ wants more than "easy belief'--He wants lifestyle-altering belief.
• Every person has an opportunity to seek the Truth about God and God promises that if we seek Him, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7-11). 
  

Committed to the Mystery

I committed my life to Christ based on these things I could understand and the greatest thing I couldn't understand—His incredible, saving love.

As I've gotten to know Christ and the Bible better, I've found great comfort in my inability to understand God—it proves He is far greater and wiser than I am.

If you haven’t committed your life to Christ, I encourage you to read the Bible and seek God. If you genuinely seek God, you will find Him (Matthew 7:7-11).

For another view of salvation read "Can A Simple Misunderstanding Keep You From Heaven?" 
For in-depth information on other religions and how they differ from Christianity, see the site: Many Paths to One Goal?
Photo of Christ: Image source

                               
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