Episode 155 - We Need Jesus - Religious Pluralism and the Gospel

Scripture Referenced

Daniel 2:47; Genesis 1-3; Acts 17; Psalm 19; Romans 1-2; Matthew 5:45

What the Bible teaches about Human Salvation

Not Every from Every - The Bible does not teach that every  person from every nation will be rescued from sin, death, and hell.

Not all from Some - Nor does God favor any group of people in that all from only some nations will be saved.

Some from Every - The Scriptures are clear that there will be some from every people, tribe, and language in the Kingdom of heaven (Revelation 7:9-12). In a unique way, Jesus' message was as open as can be imagined, yet only some respond. His open call is clear:

The Call of Jesus

All who are weary and heavy burdened...come to Jesus (Matthew 11:25-30)

All who are thirsty...drink (Revelation 22:17)

All who are in darkness...he is light (Matthew 4:12-17; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6)

All who are hungry...come eat and be satisfied (John 6:35-40)

The Deity of Jesus the Christ

He claimed to forgive sin, only what God could do (Mark 2:1-12)

He claimed to be the divine "Son of Man" (Daniel 7:13, 14; Mark 13:24-27)

He claimed to exist before Abraham was born as the "I AM" - the unique name of God in the Old Testament (John 8:48-59)

He claimed that he was "one" with the Father (John 10)

He claimed that if you saw him, you saw the Father (John 14)

He was called "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" superseding the grandeur and authority of all earthly kings and rulers (Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Revelation 9:11-16)

Books Referenced

Huston Smith and Huston Smith, The World's Religions : Our Great Wisdom Traditions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991, 378.

Jean Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), I, xi, 8.

John Hick, Dennis L. Okholm, and Timothy R. Phillips, More Than One Way? : Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1995), 47-51.

The Blind Men and the Elephant is a very old Indian folk tale.  John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) wrote a poem based on the story which you can read at John Godfrey Saxe, WordInfo, accessed 1/30/2018, 2018. http://www.wordinfo.info/Blind-Men-and-Elephant-crop.html

James W. Sire, Naming the Elephant : Worldview as a Concept, Second edition. ed. (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, an imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2015)

Robert M. Bowman and J. Ed Komoszewski, Putting Jesus in His Place : The Case for the Deity of Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2007)