October 21, 2024

Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Bible Teacher, Novelist, and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, October 21, 2024, and this is episode #19 in Series 2024. This episode is titled, “Why Jesus Is the Only Way to Heaven.”

Recently, Pope Francis told the world that there is more than one way to Heaven. Well, with all due respect, the pope is wrong.

The Holy Scriptures make very clear that there is only one way to Heaven, and that one and only way is through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said as much.

Let’s look at the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 6: Jesus was talking with his disciples and was explaining that He would be leaving them soon to prepare a place for them and that He would one day return to take them with Him. He added that they knew the way to the place where He was going.

Thomas, one of the twelve Apostles, questioned Jesus: “Lord, we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered Thomas’ question with these words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

To say that there are many ways to Heaven is to believe a lie. And believing that lie is sending countless numbers of people to Hell.

So, I want to set the record straight in this blog post and podcast by explaining why Jesus is the only way to Heaven and why believing in Him is the only way to be saved.

In order for Jesus to be able to save us, He had to be two things:

1) He had to be God.
2) He had to be a man.

Jesus Christ was both.

But why did the Savior of humanity have to be both God and man?

1) The Savior of humanity had to be God because only God could satisfy the wrath of God. Sin is an offense against a perfect, infinite God and demands the payment of a perfect, infinite price. Only someone who was perfect and infinite was qualified to pay that price. Jesus alone was qualified. No other human being fit the bill because no other human being was perfect. Not Buddha. Not Mohammed. Not Hare Krishna. Not anyone but Jesus.

2) The Savior of humanity also had to be man. He had to be human because He had to represent the human race He was saving. In order to represent them, He had to be one of them in order to stand in their place. No other so-called god gave his life to save his followers. Only Jesus Christ did.

So, let’s put our heads together and do a little reasoning together, shall we? In other words, let’s have a rational discussion about why believing in Jesus is the only way for anyone to be saved.

In an outstanding article titled “3 Reasons Why Jesus is the Only Way,” Dr. Tim Stratton says this: “There are three fundamental Laws of Logic that are always required in rational discussion.” We will use these laws of logic in our discussion. These laws are:

1) The Law of Identity
2) The Law of the Excluded Middle
3) The Law of Non-Contradiction.

The Law of Identity states that a thing is what it is. In other words, a thing has specific qualities that make it what it is. For example, a square is a square because it has four equal sides. If it had three equal sides, it would not be a square. It would be a triangle.

The Law of the Excluded Middle, attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, explains that a a statement that asserts or denies something is either true or its negation is true, thereby eliminating a third option. In other words, either a statement is true or its negation is true. There is no third option, no middle ground.

For example, I can say that water is wet or water is not wet. Water is wet is a statement that asserts, and water is not wet is a statement that denies or negates. It has to be one or the other. There is no middle ground because water cannot be half wet and half dry.

Applied to Jesus, we could say that He either rose from the dead or He didn’t. There is no middle ground. He could not have half risen from the dead and half not risen from the dead. Either he rose from the dead or He didn’t.

Next, let’s examine the Law of Non-Contradiction. This law states that when two statements contradict each other, one of those statements must be false and the other statement must be true. They cannot both be false.

For example, if one person says that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven and another person says that Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven, one of the persons must be right and the other person must be wrong. When applying the Law of Non-Contradiction, both statements cannot be true and both statements cannot be false.

(NOTE: Be careful here not to confuse the Law of Non-Contradiction with the Law of Contradiction. They are not the same. With the Law of Contradiction, both statements could be false. For example, Joan could say that the earth is a square and Jenny could say that the earth is a triangle and both of them would be wrong.)

In our discussion, we are talking about the Law of Non-Contradiction because there are no contradictions in the Bible. Even though at times there may seem to be contradictions, there are none because, upon close study, all seeming contradictions are resolved within the context of the Bible itself. Psalm 119:160 says this: “The sum of Your words is truth.”  This means that the Bible is solidly and undeniabily true in its entirety when considered as a whole. Logically speaking, if one part of the Bible is wrong, the entire Bible is wrong. But this is not the case. The entire Bible is true.

Now let’s look briefly at two of the most widespread specific examples of the Law of Non-Contradiction as applied to our topic: These two specific examples are Atheism vs. Theism and Islam vs. Christianity. I again refer to Dr. Tim Stratton’s excellent study, the link to which may be found in the footnotes.

Atheism vs. Theism
Here we have an example of the Law of the Excluded Middle which states that a statement that asserts something is either true or false or its negation is either true or false. Atheism asserts that God does not exist, while Theism asserts that God does exist. Both of these positions cannot be true. While a person may not know which of the theistic belief systems is true (whether Christianity, Judaism, or Islam), a person can know without doubt that atheism and theism cannot both be true.

Islam vs. Christianity
Islam teaches its followers to kill all unbelievers opposed to Islam. Christianity teaches its followers to love one’s enemies. According to the Law of the Excluded Middle, only one of these statements can be true. Which one is it? I think you know.

So, back to our starting proposition: Why Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. Here are three reasons:

1) Jesus physically rose from the dead. Historical and scientific evidence prove the Resurrection of Jesus. Furthermore, only Jesus rose from the dead. No so-called other god rose from the dead. Buddha did not rise from the dead. Mohammed did not rise from the dead. Hare Krishna did not rise from the dead. Nor did any other so-called god rise from the dead. In fact, Buddha, Mohammed, Hare Krishna, and all these so-called other gods are still dead in their graves.

Only Jesus Christ is alive!

Moreover the wooden and metal idols of the Buddhists were made by men’s hands. Is it not illogical to believe that the idol a person creates with his own hands is more powerful than the person who created the idol? No one created Jesus, but Jesus created man.

2) Jesus is God. He is the only way to Heaven because He is the only One who is God. Only God could pay in full the perfect price for our sin that was due to the perfect God. No other so-called god paid the price for sin. Only Jesus Christ perfectly paid the price in full because He is both God and man.

3) Christianity is the only belief system in which salvation is a gift. It is the only belief system wherein man does not have to earn his way to Heaven. Every other belief system requires a man to work for his salvation. This is an impossible feat because, as I explained earlier, sin requires the payment of a perfect price to a perfect God. No human is perfect and, therefore, no human can ever pay a perfect price for sin.

You see, my friend. Jesus Christ paid that perfect price for your sin and mine because He loves us. He offers salvation as a gift to all who will receive it. He offers it free of charge. No strings attached. At this very moment, He is offering you that priceless gift of salvation. Will you receive it? Will you accept Christ’s infinite love for you in taking the punishment for your sin?

If you are willing, pray this simple prayer with me now:

Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. I admit that I am a sinner in need of Your mercy and grace. I repent of my sin, and I ask You to come into my life to be my Savior and Lord and to fix my broken heart. I receive your gift of salvation. Thank You, Lord. I pray this prayer in Your Name. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer sincerely from your heart, you are now a born-again child of God. Write to me at drmaryannn@maryanndiorio.com, and I will send you a free PDF booklet titled After You’re Born Again.

In case you are not aware, I write heart-mending fiction that deals with the deepest issues of life. In my stories you will find characters just like you who struggle with what look like impossible issues. You can check out my books on my online bookstore at shop.maryanndiorio.com.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are, and that He will help you to keep on Winning with the Word.

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Sources cited:
“3 reasons Why Jesus Is the Only Way” by Dr. Tim Stratton
https://crossexamined.org/3-reasons-why-jesus-is-the-only-way/

“What Is the Law of the Excluded Middle?”
https://www.gotquestions.org/law-of-the-excluded-middle.html

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Copyright 2024 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved.

https://www.gotquestions.org/law-of-the-excluded-middle.html

In addition, the Savior of humanity had to demonstrate His power.