Only Jesus

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  Acts 4:12

Back in 2017, my Sunday School teacher at that time asked the members of the class to pick out three people and ask them, “Who is Jesus to you?”  This was intended as an exercise to give us an opportunity to share our faith.  Most unbelievers do not reciprocate by asking us the same question, but that doesn’t stop us from witnessing about Christ.

The first person that I asked was a young man who was a co-worker.  He answered, “I think He’s God’s Son, isn’t He?”  Which was a correct answer, but not one of confidence.  This young man had been brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness but had turned against that particular church for reasons he did not state.  The second person that I asked, “Who is Jesus to you?” was a young Muslim woman.  Her answer was that Jesus was a prophet.  I replied that I believed that Jesus is God’s Son, but she said that she didn’t believe that.  I don’t know much about Islam, but I do know that Muslims believe that Ishmael, Abraham’s son by the Egyptian handmaid, is the son of promise rather than Isaac, born to Abraham by his wife, Sarah, the actual son whom God promised.

The third person that I asked was a woman who replied that she believed Jesus to be a teacher.  When she asked the reason for my question, I told her that it was an opportunity for me to share my faith.  She responded, “I hoped that it would have been something other than proselytizing”.  She made some more comments and asked what I learned from this exercise.  I said that I was saddened because so many folks are deceived about the truth of God’s word.  She then gave me a lecture regarding how it is judgmental for one to believe that they are right in their belief and others are wrong.  She brought up the fact that all of us are children of Abraham and how Christians were killing Muslims in the Crusades and so on.  A statement came to my mind that I had heard in a movie on the Hallmark channel that I had watched earlier in the day.  A young woman had said something to her new boss, a remark which didn’t come out like she intended, and she apologized.  The boss said, “Never apologize for telling the truth”.

I continued to listen to her almost wishing that I had never asked her the initial question.  They say, “Don’t ask if you don’t want to know”, but looking back on that day, I don’t apologize for asking the question or for sharing what I believe.  My faith was strengthened, and I was obedient to God’s word.  I didn’t criticize her.  I just told her about my experience with Christ and left it at that.  With the Holy Spirit residing in one’s soul, he or she doesn’t have the capacity to understand what it means to be born again.  However, that is no excuse for a believer to fail to be a witness, both in words and behavior, to those who are lost.  I am reminded of a quote by a former Speaker of the House of Representatives who said, “We have to pass the healthcare bill so that we can know what is in it”.  Well, we have to pass from spiritual death unto spiritual life before we know what it is to be born again through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ.

There are an awful lot of folks who do not believe the truth of God but think there are different ways to be right before our holy God.  Once a person hears the gospel, he or she must respond one way or the other.  The question that always comes to my mind when folks espouse their belief in good works or some other god or religion, is “Why in the world would God send His only begotten Son to suffer an excruciatingly painful death if there was another way for humans to be forgiven of their sins?”  I believe that one of the major factors in man’s rejection of the gospel is that he does not understand the seriousness of his sin.  All sin is against God.  Sin is an affront to God, a slap to His face, a fist raised in defiance of His sovereignty and holiness.  I read a quote a few years ago, author unknown, which is the truth of the gospel in two sentences:  “Because we have sinned against an infinite God, either a finite person must pay for his or her sin for an infinite amount of time, or an infinite Person (Jesus) must pay for man’s sins one time.  There is no other option”.

We live in a nation where, so far, the first amendment is still in effect, although there are some who are trying to stifle free speech, especially among Christians.  To share my faith with another who doesn’t believe what Jesus said about being the only way, truth, and life is not judgmental, it is the loving thing to do.  Like the watchman in Ezekiel 33, we are to sound the warning and let the Holy Spirit do His job.  I know that there are many folks who are extremely grateful that someone told them about Jesus and the gospel, and I am one of them.