All Religions Aren’t Equal
You Can’t Eat Soup with A Fork
Imagine a steaming bowl of tomato soup in front of you. To the left of the bowl is a fork. To the right is a spoon. Which utensil will you use to eat the soup? Why?
For almost 2,000 years Christianity has been the only “vehicle” designed by God to take human beings from earth to heaven. Getting people like us there is unimaginably difficult. Many believe all religions lead to the same destination. The truth is that all except Christianity have a serious flaw. They don’t solve our most pressing spiritual problem.
Stranger in the Mirror
We see the dark, downward pull of sin at work in others with 20-20 clarity. It’s soooo obvious! Their pride is as glaring as the morning sun in an eastbound traveler’s face. Their pettiness is disgusting. They drive like idiots! Their kids are a mess. They’re so self-centered!
When it comes to seeing our own faults, however, we’re legally blind! What about our pride, pettiness, driving habits, kids, and self-centeredness? “Mirror, mirror on the wall, I can’t see myself at all!” Why are we so blind to many of our own faults?
Did You Hug Your Serpent Today?
Sin dominates us. We’re like alcoholics who insist they’re perfectly in control of their drinking. Sin has us by the throat, but we won’t admit it. Our natural rebelliousness seems like no big deal, and self-rule seems virtuous. Independence from God and “sin-dependence” are closely connected. We dwell in a God-centered universe, but live like we’re in control. Which is more natural for you—to give God control of your life or to control it yourself? Why?
A foolish combination of independence, self-sufficiency, and imagined invulnerability sank the Titanic. Its builders gravely underestimated the destructive power of icebergs. Humans consistently misjudge the sinking power of sin. According to Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and according to Romans 6:23, “the wages of sins is death.”
Wearing Exactly Wrong Glasses
Imagine wearing glasses that distort everything. Airplanes look like bluebirds and vice versa. Trees look like weeds and weeds like mature oaks. Black is white and white is black. Girls look like guys and guys like girls. Your view of the world doesn’t correspond to reality at all. Your glasses are to blame.
The teachings of the Enlightenment of the 18th century are glasses that have influenced us to believe that people are basically good and have within themselves the resources to live a moral life, manage society, and solve all their problems. 1 If that were true, every day in every way civilization should be getting better and better. Is it? Explain.
The belief that all religions are similar arose during the Enlightenment. Supposedly, religions look very different on the surface, but the deeper you go in each, the more similar they become. All are rooted in a common religious consciousness in the human heart. 2 Many share similar moral values. None approve of adultery, theft or murder. The essence of the golden rule (“Do to others what you would have them do to you,” Matthew 7:12) is contained in almost every religion since Confucius. 3
We now know these 18th century ideas were exactly wrong! Religions are most alike at the surface. Imagine ten department store Santa Clauses in a lineup. Underneath the white beards and red suits are ten very different people. Similarly, each major religious tradition has its own distinct way of looking at the world.4 Religions aren’t the same and don’t claim to be.
Do Many Roads Lead to God?
Religions aren’t interchangeable belief systems that lead to heaven by different routes. They often contradict each other. For example, Judaism rejects Jesus as the Messiah; Christianity affirms him. They can’t both be correct. Either tolerance or truth must give way. Which is more important to you? Why?
Christianity alone teaches that people can have an intimate personal relationship with God. How does that agree or disagree with your understanding of the Christian faith?
Number One vs. Number Two
Different religions don’t believe the same basic things at all. Let’s contrast Christianity with Islam, the second most common religion in the world.
Muslims don’t believe that man is at heart a sinner or that sin wrecks man’s relationship with God.5 Christianity teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Muslims consider Jesus a prophet but not God’s Son. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us that God “has spoken to us by his Son.”
Muslims say Jesus didn’t bear the world’s sins, didn’t die on the cross, and that every person has to bear responsibility for personal sin. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul wrote that Christ died for our sins, and that he was buried and was raised the third day.
Muslims teach that almost everyone will spend at least some time in hell and perhaps all eternity. The only hopes for escaping it are Allah’s will, the prayers of Mohammed and saintly Muslims, and one’s own good deeds. 6 According to 1 Timothy 2:3-5, God’s doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in hell. There is one person who “goes to bat” for us before God and that person is not Mohammed, but Christ Jesus. According to Ephesians 2:8-9, escaping hell is by God’s grace received through faith. It is not the result of works so that no one has any room to boast before God or men.
Four Key Differences
Islam teaches: (#1 - regular print) ; Christianity teaches: (#2 - bold print)
1. One cannot know that he is forgiven.
2. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9).
1. The Holy Spirit doesn’t live in the believer. 7
2. The Holy Spirit lives in believers (Romans 8:11).
The Uniqueness of Jesus
In John 14:6 Jesus claimed that no one comes to the Father except through him. What he did on the cross has no counterpart in any other religion. “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). “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Jesus is uniquely qualified. He is the “Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14). He was without sin (1 Peter 2:22). He’s the only one capable of paying the penalty for our sin because He was sinless and therefore had no penalty of his own to pay. The early church worshipped Him as God. 8
Jesus lifts crushing guilt off fragile human shoulders. He gives strength to conquer the passions and desires that control us like the wind turns a weathervane. He gives peace to replace a petrifying fear of God’s condemnation. He has already experienced that condemnation when He took our place on the cross. Do the things Jesus offers correspond to the things you need in your innermost being? Explain.
No other great religion has a savior. None has a God who personally paid the price to set his people free. No other forgives through undeserved favor alone. None has a religious leader who rose from the dead.
God’s Truth Standard
Henry Rowland taught physics at Johns Hopkins University. At a trial in which he was an expert witness, he was asked about his qualifications. He said, “I am the greatest living expert on the subject under discussion.”
Jesus is the greatest living expert on truth. Through Him God has revealed Himself in a form we can understand. He is God’s “Show and Tell.” He lived and spoke the truth.
God Will Deal Fairly with Those Who Never Heard about Jesus
If Jesus is really the only way to God, what about those who’ve never heard about Him? We can be sure that God will be just. Genesis 18:25 asks, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The expected answer is “Yes.” No one will be saved because he is a Methodist, Hindu, or Buddhist. All receive salvation who accept God’s unmerited forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice in their place.
The tax collector said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and went home with a right relationship with God (Luke 18:9-14). The key requirements are a God-given sense of need for divine mercy, and trust in God to give it. 9
The Good Works Flaw
We can’t pave a road to heaven with our good deeds. That’s like trying to lay a concrete four-lane highway across the United States from a single wheelbarrow of cement mix. That’s the fatal flaw of almost every religion. The problem—we don’t have nearly enough building material. Especially when that material is limited to the good things we’ve done for the right reasons. What are some self-serving reasons for doing “good” things?
We can get to heaven from here, but there’s only one way. It’s narrow and impossibly steep. The good news — it’s an escalator! God Himself constructed it at tremendous cost. It ends in heaven and begins one faith step in front of every person. According to Jesus, He is the only way to get there (John 14:6).
The Narrow Way to Life
The issue is truth, not a superiority complex. A math teacher expects her students to add two plus two and get the same answer she does. Four isn’t the best answer. It’s the only right one. There’s no room for pride. No other answer will do.
Let’s imagine a surgeon has a scalpel that hurts more than any other. It’s also the only scalpel that unfailingly cures cancer. Suppose you have cancer. Would you submit to that scalpel? Why?
The Christian message has never been wildly popular. The scalpel hurts before it heals. It’s painful to admit a total inability to meet God’s right-living requirements. It’s humbling to accept His unmerited forgiveness through trust in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection alone. The unrelenting, stubborn fact is that no other way leads to life.
Notes
1. Hunter III, George. Church for the Unchurched. Abingdon. 1996. p. 21.
2. Ibid. p. 22.
3. Gumbel, Nicky. Searching Issues. Cook Ministry Resources. 1996. p. 32.
4. Hunter, p. 23.
5. Green, Michael. Evangelism Through the Local Church. Oliver-Nelson Books. p. 55.
6. Ibid. p. 55.
7. Ibid. p. 56.
8. Gumbel. p. 29.
9. Gumbel. p. 35.
You Can’t Eat Soup with A Fork
Imagine a steaming bowl of tomato soup in front of you. To the left of the bowl is a fork. To the right is a spoon. Which utensil will you use to eat the soup? Why?
For almost 2,000 years Christianity has been the only “vehicle” designed by God to take human beings from earth to heaven. Getting people like us there is unimaginably difficult. Many believe all religions lead to the same destination. The truth is that all except Christianity have a serious flaw. They don’t solve our most pressing spiritual problem.
Stranger in the Mirror
We see the dark, downward pull of sin at work in others with 20-20 clarity. It’s soooo obvious! Their pride is as glaring as the morning sun in an eastbound traveler’s face. Their pettiness is disgusting. They drive like idiots! Their kids are a mess. They’re so self-centered!
When it comes to seeing our own faults, however, we’re legally blind! What about our pride, pettiness, driving habits, kids, and self-centeredness? “Mirror, mirror on the wall, I can’t see myself at all!” Why are we so blind to many of our own faults?
Did You Hug Your Serpent Today?
Sin dominates us. We’re like alcoholics who insist they’re perfectly in control of their drinking. Sin has us by the throat, but we won’t admit it. Our natural rebelliousness seems like no big deal, and self-rule seems virtuous. Independence from God and “sin-dependence” are closely connected. We dwell in a God-centered universe, but live like we’re in control. Which is more natural for you—to give God control of your life or to control it yourself? Why?
A foolish combination of independence, self-sufficiency, and imagined invulnerability sank the Titanic. Its builders gravely underestimated the destructive power of icebergs. Humans consistently misjudge the sinking power of sin. According to Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and according to Romans 6:23, “the wages of sins is death.”
Wearing Exactly Wrong Glasses
Imagine wearing glasses that distort everything. Airplanes look like bluebirds and vice versa. Trees look like weeds and weeds like mature oaks. Black is white and white is black. Girls look like guys and guys like girls. Your view of the world doesn’t correspond to reality at all. Your glasses are to blame.
The teachings of the Enlightenment of the 18th century are glasses that have influenced us to believe that people are basically good and have within themselves the resources to live a moral life, manage society, and solve all their problems. 1 If that were true, every day in every way civilization should be getting better and better. Is it? Explain.
The belief that all religions are similar arose during the Enlightenment. Supposedly, religions look very different on the surface, but the deeper you go in each, the more similar they become. All are rooted in a common religious consciousness in the human heart. 2 Many share similar moral values. None approve of adultery, theft or murder. The essence of the golden rule (“Do to others what you would have them do to you,” Matthew 7:12) is contained in almost every religion since Confucius. 3
We now know these 18th century ideas were exactly wrong! Religions are most alike at the surface. Imagine ten department store Santa Clauses in a lineup. Underneath the white beards and red suits are ten very different people. Similarly, each major religious tradition has its own distinct way of looking at the world.4 Religions aren’t the same and don’t claim to be.
Do Many Roads Lead to God?
Religions aren’t interchangeable belief systems that lead to heaven by different routes. They often contradict each other. For example, Judaism rejects Jesus as the Messiah; Christianity affirms him. They can’t both be correct. Either tolerance or truth must give way. Which is more important to you? Why?
Christianity alone teaches that people can have an intimate personal relationship with God. How does that agree or disagree with your understanding of the Christian faith?
Number One vs. Number Two
Different religions don’t believe the same basic things at all. Let’s contrast Christianity with Islam, the second most common religion in the world.
Muslims don’t believe that man is at heart a sinner or that sin wrecks man’s relationship with God.5 Christianity teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Muslims consider Jesus a prophet but not God’s Son. Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us that God “has spoken to us by his Son.”
Muslims say Jesus didn’t bear the world’s sins, didn’t die on the cross, and that every person has to bear responsibility for personal sin. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Paul wrote that Christ died for our sins, and that he was buried and was raised the third day.
Muslims teach that almost everyone will spend at least some time in hell and perhaps all eternity. The only hopes for escaping it are Allah’s will, the prayers of Mohammed and saintly Muslims, and one’s own good deeds. 6 According to 1 Timothy 2:3-5, God’s doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in hell. There is one person who “goes to bat” for us before God and that person is not Mohammed, but Christ Jesus. According to Ephesians 2:8-9, escaping hell is by God’s grace received through faith. It is not the result of works so that no one has any room to boast before God or men.
Four Key Differences
Islam teaches: (#1 - regular print) ; Christianity teaches: (#2 - bold print)
- The Bible is corrupted and untrustworthy.
- All scripture is God-breathed and useful (2 Timothy 3:16).
- There is no religious assurance.
- We can know we have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
1. One cannot know that he is forgiven.
2. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9).
1. The Holy Spirit doesn’t live in the believer. 7
2. The Holy Spirit lives in believers (Romans 8:11).
The Uniqueness of Jesus
In John 14:6 Jesus claimed that no one comes to the Father except through him. What he did on the cross has no counterpart in any other religion. “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). “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Jesus is uniquely qualified. He is the “Holy and Righteous One” (Acts 3:14). He was without sin (1 Peter 2:22). He’s the only one capable of paying the penalty for our sin because He was sinless and therefore had no penalty of his own to pay. The early church worshipped Him as God. 8
Jesus lifts crushing guilt off fragile human shoulders. He gives strength to conquer the passions and desires that control us like the wind turns a weathervane. He gives peace to replace a petrifying fear of God’s condemnation. He has already experienced that condemnation when He took our place on the cross. Do the things Jesus offers correspond to the things you need in your innermost being? Explain.
No other great religion has a savior. None has a God who personally paid the price to set his people free. No other forgives through undeserved favor alone. None has a religious leader who rose from the dead.
God’s Truth Standard
Henry Rowland taught physics at Johns Hopkins University. At a trial in which he was an expert witness, he was asked about his qualifications. He said, “I am the greatest living expert on the subject under discussion.”
Jesus is the greatest living expert on truth. Through Him God has revealed Himself in a form we can understand. He is God’s “Show and Tell.” He lived and spoke the truth.
God Will Deal Fairly with Those Who Never Heard about Jesus
If Jesus is really the only way to God, what about those who’ve never heard about Him? We can be sure that God will be just. Genesis 18:25 asks, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The expected answer is “Yes.” No one will be saved because he is a Methodist, Hindu, or Buddhist. All receive salvation who accept God’s unmerited forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice in their place.
The tax collector said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” and went home with a right relationship with God (Luke 18:9-14). The key requirements are a God-given sense of need for divine mercy, and trust in God to give it. 9
The Good Works Flaw
We can’t pave a road to heaven with our good deeds. That’s like trying to lay a concrete four-lane highway across the United States from a single wheelbarrow of cement mix. That’s the fatal flaw of almost every religion. The problem—we don’t have nearly enough building material. Especially when that material is limited to the good things we’ve done for the right reasons. What are some self-serving reasons for doing “good” things?
We can get to heaven from here, but there’s only one way. It’s narrow and impossibly steep. The good news — it’s an escalator! God Himself constructed it at tremendous cost. It ends in heaven and begins one faith step in front of every person. According to Jesus, He is the only way to get there (John 14:6).
The Narrow Way to Life
The issue is truth, not a superiority complex. A math teacher expects her students to add two plus two and get the same answer she does. Four isn’t the best answer. It’s the only right one. There’s no room for pride. No other answer will do.
Let’s imagine a surgeon has a scalpel that hurts more than any other. It’s also the only scalpel that unfailingly cures cancer. Suppose you have cancer. Would you submit to that scalpel? Why?
The Christian message has never been wildly popular. The scalpel hurts before it heals. It’s painful to admit a total inability to meet God’s right-living requirements. It’s humbling to accept His unmerited forgiveness through trust in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection alone. The unrelenting, stubborn fact is that no other way leads to life.
Notes
1. Hunter III, George. Church for the Unchurched. Abingdon. 1996. p. 21.
2. Ibid. p. 22.
3. Gumbel, Nicky. Searching Issues. Cook Ministry Resources. 1996. p. 32.
4. Hunter, p. 23.
5. Green, Michael. Evangelism Through the Local Church. Oliver-Nelson Books. p. 55.
6. Ibid. p. 55.
7. Ibid. p. 56.
8. Gumbel. p. 29.
9. Gumbel. p. 35.
