“Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my
Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)
I have used John 14:6 on many
occasions and would like to make some observations concerning both verses six
and seven.
1: “JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE WAY,”
To say that Jesus is the only
way to God these days, really angers those who do not know Him. We hear things
along the line of:
“You’re mean, close-minded,
arrogant, and stupid.”
“Christians are intolerant of
other religions and think Christianity is the only way to God.”
“Christians are haters.”
And of course since Oprah
Winfrey, and others of like kind, believe there are many ways to God, it must
be true, right? Not hardly.
Have you ever noticed that
the root word for “Christian” is “Christ,” and the root word for “Christianity”
is also “Christ?” Hmmmmm, is there a pattern here? Could this be a clue? Of course!
Christians are called “CHRISTians” because we believe in Jesus CHRIST, who is
God in the flesh, the Creator, and the Author of His Holy Word, the Bible. The
same holds true for the word, “CHRISTianity.”
As a Christian, Jesus Christ
is our Savior and He is our Lord. He is our God and His Word is final. He is
our Savior because of our faith and His grace. He is our Lord because we bow
the knee to no other.
If your faith is not in Jesus
Christ, you are not a CHRISTian. If you bow the knee to other gods, Jesus is
not your Lord, and you are not a CHRISTian.
Several well-known Christians
have been confronted about Christianity’s insistence that Jesus is the only way
to God. Only a few (very few) have replied with something like, “It doesn’t
matter what I believe. What matters is what God says.” That is the correct
answer, and God (Jesus) says He is the only way to the Father (God).
To repeat, Jesus Christ is
God. The Bible is His Word, and He says in His Word, “…I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye
should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have
seen him.”
Your argument is not with me
or any other Christian. It is with God.
2: “JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE TRUTH,”
Pilate asked Jesus, “What is
truth?” (John 18:38) The sad thing is that this elite class, wealthy politician
was looking right at “Truth” and didn’t see it. His carnal mind was so full of
Satan’s delusion; he walked away from “Truth.”
Pilate said he found no fault
in Him, but he only meant that he found no guilt of a crime committed. He did
not see the guiltless, sinless, holy Son of God standing before Him. He could
have bowed his knees before the only Way to God and sought His forgiveness. He
could have been saved and become a Christian that very day, but ignorance and
pride doomed his soul to hell.
Pilate thought he was the one
with all the power, but if only he had known that the One standing before him
held his soul in His hand. One day Pilate will stand before the very One who
stood before him, Jesus Christ, and be judged. There will not be a beating with
the cat-of-nine tails and a cross, but the eternal fires of an everlasting hell
in the Lake of Fire.
Are you like Pilate? The Truth
is right in front of your face, and you don’t see it? Don’t let the Truth pass
you by as it did Pilate, or you will stand in line with him to be judged by the
very One you both ignored.
3: “JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, I AM THE LIFE,”
Jesus is referring to life
that is eternal, such as in John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.”
Not only that, all things
exists because of Him. Without Him, there would be no life in anything, human
or otherwise. When we look at the trees around us, the garden vegetables that
grow, the flowers that bloom, birth of a newborn, there is life. None of this
would be possible without Jesus Christ, because all life is through Him.
The opposite of life is
death, and therefore the opposite of eternal life is eternal death. Notice the
following verse”
“And fear not them which kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
When Jesus uses the
terminology “destroy both soul and body in hell,” the word “destroy” means “to
devote or give over to eternal misery in hell.” Jesus gives all mankind life,
some will spend their life in Heaven for all eternity and others will spend
their life in hell for all eternity. Someone said, “We are not a body with a
soul, but a soul with a body.”
We all have a soul. Our soul
is the real us, not our body. Therefore, we all have life. We spend the temporary
portion of our life on earth. Where we spend the eternal portion of our life
depends on what we do with Jesus.
Jesus provides us an earthly
body (perishable) to live in while we are on earth. It will only last a few
years. For those of us who are Christians, He will provide us with a heavenly
(imperishable) body for Heaven that will last forever. For those who are not
Christians, I believe He will provide an imperishable body designed for the
Lake of Fire that will last forever.
Jesus has stated thus far
that He is (1) the way, (2) the truth, and (3) the life. Reminder … He is God.
He says this. So don’t argue with me or another Christian about whether or not
Jesus is the only way to God.
“Oh but all the other
religions can’t be wrong. They have such beautiful rites and they believe so
firmly in their religion. You can’t be the only one with the truth and everyone
else wrong. And besides that, there are just too many intelligent people, who
are very religious, who believe there are many ways to God, so it must be so.”
Your problem isn’t with the
messenger. If you won’t listen to the messenger, then you need to speak with
the One who wrote the message. The messenger only repeats what he/she has been
told to say.
4: “IF YE
HAD KNOWN ME, YE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN MY FATHER ALSO:”
We often think of the Father
as God, but Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also part of the Godhead … one God,
three manifestations. The three are one God; i.e. the Trinity.
So we say there is one way to
God. Jesus says that if we know Him, we also know God (Father). Jesus says they
are one (John 10:30). They are the same. There is no difference. Therefore,
from simple common sense, Jesus is the only way to God, because He is God. If
you want to know God, you must know Jesus Christ. He is the only way. There is
no other.
5. “NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME.”
There you have it. It isn’t
what Christians say. It isn’t what the Church says. It is what Jesus Christ the
Son of God says about the path of salvation.
“Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
(Matthew 7:14)
Directly from God we are told
that few will believe that it is only through the Son of God that anyone can
come to God the Father, and they are One. Only a few will follow that narrow
path and obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ, because their narrow minds
will keep them from the narrow path.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
