Sermon: Don’t All Religions Lead to God?

Well, I invite you to take a copy of God's Word and open it to the gospel. According to John chapter 14, we're actually gonna be reading two different texts this evening. So John 14 verses five and six. You can find that on page 9 0 1 of the Pew Bible. And then first Timothy two verses five and six. And you can find that on page 9 91.

Before we read God's word together, let's ask our Lord for his help and blessing.

Our Father in heaven. Your word is truth, and your word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path. We thank you that you have chosen to speak to us, that you have chosen to make known to us your holy precepts in your word. And we thank you that you have given us new life, that you've given sight to our blind eyes and ears so that we may hear your voice. So as we open your scriptures and hear from them, once again, we pray that in your grace

and by the power of your spirit, you would give us understanding and establish us in the truth. For we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Join me in John chapter 14, reading verses five and six. And then in first Timothy two, Thomas said to Jesus, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way Jesus said to him, I am the way in the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. And turning then over to one Timothy

chapter two verses five and six,

for there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Amen. Well, dear friends, and the Lord Jesus Christ, tonight we consider our ninth hard question in our series 10 hard questions for Christianity. This ninth question is an oldie, but it's still very much relevant and it is still a hard question for Christianity. And this is the question, do all religions lead to God? Do all religions lead to God? I know that the question is being asked of me to answer, but if I were to ask you right now, put each

and every one of you on the spot, how would you answer that question? How would you answer it? If I were to ask you, and if I were to ask this whole room, I think there'd be several initial reactions, several initial responses. First, I would expect that in a group this large, some of you are going to answer either with some hesitation or maybe without any hesitation at all. Yes, yes, all religions do lead to God. I believe that if this describes you,

I want you to know that tonight I intend to address your concerns, the concerns that you have that lead you to answer that question. Yes. And just gonna get right to the point I I'm gonna explain to you tonight and to all of us, why from a Christian perspective, the answer must be no. Okay? So I expect that some of you are going to be thinking, yes, that's how I would answer that question. Others of you are gonna answer that question, no.

But when you answer it, no, you might not be able to confidently articulate why it is that you're saying no, you, you think that the answer's no. If you had to head your betts, you're gonna say no, but you might not really be able to tell me why. And that's okay. Part of what I hope to do tonight is to help you if that's you, to be able to confidently answer no to this question.

Some of you, I suspect, are not thinking about this question at all, but you're thinking about related questions. They might be circling around in your head or perhaps they've come up before and you've spent time thinking about these other questions. And I think they're, they're different, but I think they're related in some ways. So questions like, is Christianity the right religion or could my beliefs about God, my beliefs about Jesus, my beliefs about religion,

my beliefs about salvation, could it be that they're not right, that something else out there is, right? I'm not going to directly answer those particular questions, but I do hope that in the course of answering this question, do all religions lead to God? You're gonna find some things there that will hopefully help you as you're thinking about those questions. Okay? Then finally, in this room, my guess is that if I were to ask you this question, you would say,

no, no. All religions do not lead to God. And I would guess that that would be the majority of you and out of you who would say no quickly, my guess is that there are many of you who would be able to take me to a place like John 14, be able to say, I, I can defend why I'm answering the question the way I am. And if that's you, my guess is that you don't think this question needs to be answered tonight. You have a pretty good idea of how

to navigate this question. You might wonder really outta 10 questions. This is one we're spending time with.

I think though, that this question needs to be addressed, I think it's worthwhile to spend our time thinking on this question. And that's where I want to begin. Why? Why is it worthwhile to address this particular question? And the reason why is because the prevailing cultural worldview of our day thinks, requires, I might say even more strongly, requires that this question be an open question. That is, you cannot settle this question.

There is no answer. There's no right answer. Or maybe even more strongly the prevailing cultural worldview of the day would be, this question is a closed question, but there's only one right answer. And that is yes, you have to answer, yes, all religions lead to God. Now if that doesn't describe you, you don't think that, you know people who do think that way.

You have neighbors in your neighborhood who think that this question is not an open question, it's a closed question and it must be answered. Yes. Or people in your school, your friends, your peers, or people that you might run into at the grocery store, at your kids' basketball game, the prevailing cultural worldview of the day requires, I think that you must answer this question. Yes, I, and I think if I were to try to articulate why that is,

it's because of three common forms of thinking, three common forms of thinking in the culture, pluralism, postmodernism, and a pragmatic view of religion. And I just wanna briefly touch on these ideas, and I want you to hopefully be able to see where these are coming up in our culture and how this will lead people to say, you have to answer this question. Yes. So first, pluralistic thinking, pluralistic thought. It's the idea that there's not one unified way of thinking

that there are multiple valid perspectives. And because there are multiple valid perspectives, we must allow for multiple valid perspectives. Now that doesn't sound like such a bad idea. Um, it's good to be able to reason together, right? That's the idea of universities that you should be able to exchange ideas, but it becomes a little bit more problematic here in just a moment. Here's what philosopher James Anderson says about,

um, pluralistic thinking in regards to religion. Okay? So not just pluralism as an idea, but specifically as it regards religion. He writes, pluralism is the view that there is more than one valid religion. There's an ultimate reality, but no single religion has a monopoly on the truth about that reality. Each religion represents a different but legitimate perspective on it. And here is where it becomes more of an issue, more problematic.

He writes in the same way, pluralism insists that no single religion holds a monopoly on how we are to be saved. No single religion holds a monopoly on how we are to be saved. As an agent saying puts it, there are many paths up the mountain. So that's pluralism. Here's postmodernism. Postmodernism says that reality and truth are not objective but subjective. So there can be your truth and there can be my truth. And those truths might not be the same

because truth isn't out there. Truth is in here, it's in your heart, it's in your mind, it's what you believe. So we can have different ideas about truth or reality. And so when it comes to religion, there can be a God if you think there is, but there's no absolute God. There's no God in absolute terms that is outside of us that everyone can agree on. And there's no truth abs in absolute terms or objective truth that we can identify altogether.

So that's postmodernism a lot of subjectivity. And then there's the pragmatic view of religion. And this idea is that religion, and by that I mean religious beliefs. Religious practices are acceptable. They're good, they're worthwhile, they're valuable if and only if they're good for society, there's some pragmatic good in them. So you'll notice that for many people, religion isn't about truth and error. It might not even be about good morals.

Religion is good only if it's good for them or only if it's good for the society. And so if you're evaluating religions from this perspective, you're gonna be thinking again, subjectively, you're gonna be asking, does this work for me? Rather than, is this right? Does this work? Okay? So pluralism, postmodernism and and a pragmatic view of religion exist in our culture. Do you see this? Have you noticed this? Whether it be in politics or the entertainment

and art scene or in schools or in your workplace? If someone is answering the question before us tonight, do all religions lead to God with these, with this worldview? They're going to be answering, yes, yes. Because there's not just one truth. There's not just one reality. There are many. And any religion that can be good for me can be good for others. And so we cannot declare that one is not good or bad even. So that's why I think it's worthwhile

to study this question tonight, to answer this particular question because you will run up against people with these perspectives. And their answer to this question is gonna be drastically different from the majority of us in this room. So what I wanna do now is go back to the passages I read just a minute ago, okay, John 14 and one Timothy two. And from these two passages, what I want to do is explain why the answer to do all religions lead

to God must be answered no from a biblical worldview, a biblical perspective from a Christian worldview. So why not, not exactly what the answer is. I've kind of already said it by taking you to these passages. But why? Why is the answer no? Why don't all religions lead to God? So start with me in John 14, open your Bible and and uh, take a look. Jesus is speaking here to his disciples and he's telling them that he is going to the Father.

Now, the disciples didn't initially understand what Jesus is talking about. They don't get it. They're missing something. And so Thomas, one of Jesus's disciples speaks up in verse five and he says, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?

It's an understandable question if you don't know the destination, how do you know how to get there? But he was missing something he should have known. And Jesus then responds plainly and powerfully in verse six, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So let's unpack here what Jesus is saying. First of all, Jesus is saying, I, I am the way, I is a personal pronoun, right? Personal pronoun. He is speaking about himself.

The way to God is not a philosophy. The way to God is not a principle or it's not even a set of principles. The way to God is through a person, a person. Jesus. Jesus is not like the road signs that you see on the highway on 1 27 or around 96 that simply points the direction. So you wanna find your way to Spartan Stadium, you look for the sign and it gives you an arrow that way, you know, okay, I gotta go this way. That's how I'm gonna get there. Jesus is not like

a road sign which points out the way to a particular place. Jesus is himself the way he is, the way to get to the Father. And Jesus plainly states that he is the only way he uses a definite article. I am the way, not a way the way. And then he also adds, no one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is shutting out all other ways to God but himself. That's what he's saying. Now, if you were to pull out your phone

and you were to get Google maps up and you were to plug in your vacation destination, which I know for some is Holt, Michigan, probably for most of you, it's somewhere like Florida. Okay? So you're to, you're gonna plug in your vacation destination and what's gonna pop out for you is two to three different good routes, good options for you to get there, right? And you're probably gonna have one that's highlighted that's going to be the best route

because it's either the fastest or it has the least amount of turns or it avoids toll roads or whatever it might be. The way to God is not like the way to your vacation destination. There are not multiple ways to get there. Jesus is not one way among many ways. Jesus is not even the best option among many other good options. Jesus is the only options.

So if we're to ask Jesus this question, do all religions lead to God? It's very plain in what he says, I am the way and there is no other way to God except through faith in me. Why? Why is it that Jesus claims that there is that without faith, there is no way to God without faith in him, there is no way to God. We could stay in the gospel of John and we could answer that question. Why is it that Jesus claims that there is no other way except through faith in him?

We could stay in the gospel of John. The gospel of John would give us that answer. But part of the reason why I wanted us to go to one Timothy two is to make sure you don't think that I cherry picked one verse in the Bible to answer this question. The reality is that the entire Bible answers this question. No, the entire Bible from the beginning of the New Testament, all the way through the end, there is one answer and the answer is no.

So I wanted to take you to at least one other verse. So join me now in verse Timothy two

verse Timothy two in verse seven. We didn't read that, but in verse seven, Paul says that he was sent out as an apostle and as a preacher to proclaim the same message as Jesus proclaimed that there is, but one way to God, okay? That's he's telling his purpose. He's an apostle sent out to preach this message. And what he does in verses five and six is first affirm the central message of the entire Bible. That there is one God. There's one God.

So Deuteronomy six, verse four, the famous Shama that the Israelites would recite together says this hero, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, the Lord is one. And Paul affirms the central teaching of the Bible. And then Paul adds right after that, that between this one God singular one God and between all men, men is plural. There is but one mediator. One mediator, Boys and girls. Do you know what a mediator is?

Do you have any idea what a mediator is? What does a mediator do? A mediator is a go-between. So when you have a dispute between you and your sibling and you call out for mom or dad to come solve the dispute, you're calling for a mediator. Come be our go-between help us resolve this dispute. She was picking on me. Come help us resolve this. That's what a mediator does. And you see that in our society when there are two

irreconcilable parties, a mediator is called in to come help solve that dispute. So when the Bible says that there is a mediator between God and men, it's drawing our attention to the fact that there is something wrong. There's something that's not quite right. There is God, and men are hostile. They're not on the same page, they're not reconciled. There's estrangement. That's why a mediator is needed. You don't have a mediator if there's no problems.

And what one Timothy two is saying, what the whole Bible says at the is that there is just one qualified person. There's only one qualified person for the job of mediator between God and men. And it's Jesus Christ. Why? Why is there only one qualified person and why is it Jesus? Well, verses five and six, give us some reasons. The first is that Jesus is a man. It tells us in verse five, the man Christ Jesus, because Jesus is a man, he can perfectly

represent men.

Second Jesus is, God speaks here Christ Jesus Christ is a title it. It refers to Jesus's office as the anointed Messiah. He is God. And because he's God, he can perfectly represent God. Okay? So you see the the two parties that are at odds, mankind and God. And Jesus is God and man. And so that makes him a perfect candidate for mediator. But there's a third reason,

And it's because of what Jesus did. It's what Jesus did that no one else could do. Jesus gave himself as a ransom. He gave himself as a ransom. The Bible will often talk about Jesus giving himself. When Jesus gave himself as a ransom, what is it speaking of? It's speaking of the cross, right? It's speaking of his crucifixion, the historical event where Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. And so that's what's in view here.

What Jesus accomplished on the cross makes him the only person that can be the mediator between God and men. Because the problem between God and men is sin. When mankind sinned against God, it created hostility. It made us mankind, an enemy of God. God hates sin. He will punish sin. And so there was a debt that we owed because of our sin. And when Jesus gave himself as a ransom, the debt, which was insurmountable because it, it was against an infinite holy God

was paid in full, it was paid in full. There was nothing more to add, it wasn't lacking in any way and there wasn't anything to add. The debt is gone and because of that, God and men can be reconciled. It's only because of that that God and men can be reconciled. The issue between God and men is resolved.

One of the TV shows that is getting a lot of airtime in our house these days is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Anyone else? Okay, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's a show that features Mickey Mouse and his friends and it's produced for young children. So unsurprisingly, the show follows a very predictable story arc, okay? Mickey and his friends throughout the show run into a bunch of problems. And when a problem arises, they need

to figure out a way to get through the problem. And the way that they do it is that they call out for their young viewers to assist them, to interact with them, to help them. And so Mickey and the young viewers are to call out O Tooles and then Tooles a flying computer flies in and on the screen gives you options of the way to solve the problem, a bunch of tools. And because it's for kids, the kid is supposed to be able

to identify which is the tool that will help Mickey solve this particular problem that he's facing. Okay? And through that, obviously I would think the hope is kids learn how to problem solve. That'd be the goal, right? What is the most basic problem solving? Uh, what is the most basic thing that you need for problem solving? You need the right tool to solve the right problem, right? Not just any tool will. Do. You need the right solution.

That's what Mickey Mouse is trying to teach our young kids. And that's what one Timothy two is saying. You need the right solution to solve the problem. Not just any solution will do. God is so holy and man is so sinful that there are no other solutions except for one to reconcile men and God. It's Jesus in His Jesus alone. You can't solve it on your own. I can't solve it on my own. No mere man can make satisfaction for the sin of mankind.

Only Jesus, who by virtue of his sinless life, his atoning death could atone for our sins and reconcile us to God.

And Jesus is not just the solution. For some, Jesus is the solution for all. That's what it says in verse six.

The man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all. This does not mean that all people will be saved. What it does mean, what it does indicate is that there is one mediator between God and man for all peoples. For all peoples. There's not one mediator for Jews and another mediator for Gentiles. There's not one mediator that's gonna work for Christians and one mediator that's gonna work for Hindus and one mediator that's gonna work for Muslims.

There is one mediator between God and men, and the for all reinforces that Jesus is the only mediator. Think about it. If other religions could get you to God, if there were other potential mediators or ways of mediation, would Jesus have died willingly? Would he have willingly gave himself up as a ransom? There would be no need, but Jesus is the only way. It was the only way to solve the problem between God and men. So when you put these two verses together, which again just

represent the entire teaching of the Bible, you have the reason why all religions cannot lead to God.

So what I wanna do now is briefly say a word to you all. I wanna say a word first of all, to those of you who would answer this question, yes. And then I'll come around to those of you who would've answered this question, no, to those of you who who would answer this question, do all religions lead to God? And you would answer it. Yes. Let me just reiterate what I have just covered. Okay? Christianity says that mankind has a problem

that has separated man from God, that has separated you from God. And that problem is sin. Christianity has the solution to sin, the only solution that can reconcile God to man, man to God.

It is not religiosity. So being sincerely religious isn't gonna work. It's not moralism meaning being a good person or trying to be a good person, however you define that the solution is a person and the person is Jesus Christ. Without him, there is no way to God. Without him, there is no way to God.

I'm aware that this message might sound to you sour rather than sweet.

I realized that it might actually be, that I might be viewed as distasteful as preaching a distasteful message. And I want you to know that it's not been my intention to cause offense. Simply what I want to do is I want to let Jesus speak for himself. I've wanted to let the Bible speak for itself. I want you to know what Christians believe. But more than that, I want you to know why we believe it. And even more than that, I want you to consider the claims

of Christ for yourself. If Jesus is who he really says he is the only way to God, the only mediator between God and men, will you not believe in him?

Jesus is bidding you When he tells you that there's no other way, what he's trying to do is to get your attention and bid you to come to him and his father, the Father who sent him, he is bidding you to come to him through His son, That you might find salvation from your sins. Will you not come tonight and to forsake all other ways or all other means? Jesus is the the only way.

To those of you who would answer this question, no,

I want to, I'm gonna lean here on some thoughts from my former professor, Michael Krueger from his book, surviving Religion 1 0 1. But here's what I wanna do. I want to exhort you as Paul Exhorts Timothy in two Timothy three 14 and 15. Here's what Paul says, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know from whom you have learned it and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Dear friends, we live in a pluralistic, relativistic world and in such a world it is hard to stand for truth. It is hard. That's kind of the point of why we've been doing this whole series in the first place, that there are legitimate hard questions and they're not easy to answer. It's hard to stand up here and to answer these questions, but it's hard to live these questions

because these questions exist in your own lives, in your own spheres of influence. It's hard to stand for truth. And so you need to be prepared to experience hostility, to experience

mockery for what you believe. The world isn't going to agree with you, that Jesus is the only way to God. You need to be prepared to be canceled by your peers. You might need to be prepared to be fired from your job or to not receive the promotion that you're hoping for. Believing this may cost you that much and maybe even more. It certainly will cost you socially because to believe that Jesus is the only way to God is going to be viewed as intolerant,

as judgmental, as arrogant. People will think you are that way no matter how kind you are. So you need to be prepared.

But remember, remember that the re, the reason that you believe what you believe, the reason you believe that Jesus is the only way is because Jesus himself said it. The claim that you are making this exclusive claim that you are making, you are just following in what Jesus has already said about himself. Is it arrogant to simply believe what someone else has said about themselves? I don't think so. And you believe that

God has revealed himself to you by grace, right? By grace. And if it is by grace, then it's not because you think you're smarter than somebody else. It's not because you thought you were more deserving than somebody else or that you were better than somebody else. God had grace to communicate himself and to reveal himself to you. Remember that. But let me also say this. You can be kind and stand firm at the same time.

It is possible some Christians stand their ground but are unkind to those who disagree. Other Christians are kind to those who disagree, but in the process, they abandon their faith in Christ altogether. My friends, you are called to do both, to stand your ground on the uniqueness of Christ and to be kind. These two things are not mutually exclusive. They belong together, stand firm and be humble and kind.

In closing, I want to read you a quote from JC Riel. JC Riel here in this quote, I think summarizes this whole matter quite well. And I've just addressed some of you who would answer yes. And I have addressed others of you who would answer no. But this is addressed to all of you. No matter who you are, no matter what you're thinking, no matter where you're at. I want you to hear it from JC Ri.

JC Riel writes it avails nothing that a man is clever learned, highly gifted, amiable, charitable kindhearted, and zealous about some sort of religion. All this will not save his soul if he does not draw near to God by Christ's atonement and make use of God's own son as his mediator and savior. There is one door, one bridge, one ladder between earth and heaven. The crucified son of God, whosoever enter in by that door may be saved,

but to him who refuses to use that door, the Bible holds out no hope at all. It is not true that every man will be saved by his own religion no matter what he believes. So long as he is diligent and sincere, sincerity will never wipe away our sins. Christ has said, and Christ will stand to it. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me, do all religions lead to God? The Christian answer, the biblical answer is no. There is no way to God, no way to the Father,

except through the Son. Let's pray and ask God to help us to believe that message.

Father in heaven, we give you thanks that you have not left us on our own, to

be left in our own sins, but that you have sent your son, your only begotten son, to be our mediator, the God man, the one who could resolve the issue that stand that stood between us and you, our sin. I pray, oh Lord, that tonight you would give us faith, the faith that accounts to us Christ's own righteousness and the faith that accounts to, to Christ our sin so that we may find salvation. There is no other name under heaven

by which we have been saved except for the name of Christ. And so I pray that you would apply this word to us and establish us in the truth of your word. For I ask it in Jesus' name, amen.