Hwww.dakotavoice.com/2008/06/all-road-lead-to-heaven-or-most-to-hell.htmlC:/Documents and Settings/Bob Ellis/My Documents/Websites/Dakota Voice Blog 20081230/www.dakotavoice.com/2008/06/all-road-lead-to-heaven-or-most-to-hell.htmldelayedwww.dakotavoice.com/\sck.f87x[I Dakota Voice: All Road Lead to Heaven, or Most to Hell?

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

All Road Lead to Heaven, or Most to Hell?

The Christian Post features an article on the results of a Pew Forum survey of 35,000 adults last year on their religious views.

Here is the (relatively) good news:

By many measures, Americans are strongly religious: 92 percent believe in God, 74 percent believe in life after death and 63 percent say their respective scriptures are the word of God.

Now here's the bad:
Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: 57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching.

Nearly across the board, the majority of religious Americans believe many religions can lead to eternal life: mainline Protestants (83 percent), members of historic black Protestant churches (59 percent), Roman Catholics (79 percent), Jews (82 percent) and Muslims (56 percent).

This obviously separates the sheep from the goats, as you simply cannot believe that "all roads lead to heaven" and be faithful to one of the most foundational tenets of Christianity.

In fact, Jesus made it clear that the road to Heaven is a narrow one, and most folks aren't going to find it:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. - Matthew 7:13-14

Christ says it even more strikingly in Luke 13:23-27:
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"

He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'

"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'

"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'

"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'

Jesus spells it out that he is the only single way to get to heaven.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

Notice that Jesus didn't say he was A way, or A truth; he said he was THE way, which means the ONLY way. He also said "no one" comes to the Father except through him. That leaves out every religion and belief system other than Christianity.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12

Consider also John 3:36 which says
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

Or 1 Timothy 2:5 which says
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

Or 1 John 5:11-12 which says
And this is the testimony: 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.

It sounds like Barack Obama isn't the only person who needs to go back and read the book they profess to believe in.

There is only one single road to Heaven, and it goes through Jesus Christ.

This exclusive truth is not one Christians should be arrogant in, because none of us has done anything to deserve salvation.

But it is a truth that Christians should be clear on; it's foundational to the religion they profess to believe in. And if they want their non-Christian friends to escape eternal judgment, it's something they should make sure their friends know.

What's worse: risking offending someone in order to help them, or seeing them miss heaven and end up in eternal judgment?

Posted by Bob Ellis at 12:15 PM

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