Friday, July 29, 2016

Simply Jesus Pt. 6: “I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life...”

Unity is vital in homes, churches and nations. Jesus said it well in Luke 11:17, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls.”

However, is it possible for unity to be dangerous? Of course it is, if people are unified around a lie. Unfortunately, there are many examples in the Bible where people are united around a false promise or a false hope, where people are bound together in a false unity that leads to disastrous consequences.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve united around the Serpent’s lie that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they could rid themselves of the need for God. Genesis 11 paints an equally troubling scene where all of humanity rallied together to rise into heaven to defeat God at the Tower of Babel. A little over a year after the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt by God’s mighty hand, Numbers 13-14 shows they had an opportunity to enter the Promised Land. However, with virtually one voice they chose to keep wandering in the wilderness rather than to confront the giants across the Jordan.

Moving to the New Testament, Mark 15 depicts the day our Lord and Savior heard the united shouts of those He came to save imploring Pilate to, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” The Apostle Paul never forgot the day he witnessed roughly 25,000 demonically-inspired people shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” in unison for two hours straight due to his work for the kingdom of God (Acts 19). Finally, Revelation 13 reveals that one day almost the entire earth will be deceived into following the Antichrist, and therefore, worshiping Satan.

A. W. Pink wrote this about the false good news Satan offers to the world:

The gospel of Satan … does not promote strife and war—but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son—but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great "brotherhood." … It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.

Don’t sacrifice truth for the sake of unity; doing so can come at the expense of people’s souls.

In January of this year, Pope Francis released a video prayer request, asking everyone to engage in more dialogue with people of other religions because, “We are all children of God.” The video depicts a Buddhist, Jew, Catholic priest and Muslim all declaring that they believe in their particular faith leader, and they believe in love. 1 John 4 says that God is love, so does that mean all these followers of various religions are children of God believing in the same God?

An article has also demonstrated the Pope discussing atheists in a similar light. He said, "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class!”

While it’s true that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross offers redemption to everyone, not everyone has had their sins forgiven, and thus been delivered out of the domain of darkness and into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13-14)And, as John 1 declares, only those who choose to receive Jesus as their Lord and God receive the right to become children of God.

No matter how other Catholic writers or priests want to spin Pope Francis’ words, he is very much insinuating that John 14:6 should not be taken at face value. What does John 14:6 say? Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’”


Though the early Christians genuinely sought to demonstrate God’s love to all people, they refused to soften Jesus’ words to make Christianity more acceptable to the masses. 

No one can know the Father, unless through the Word of God, that is, unless by the Son revealing [Him]. … Therefore the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father through His own manifestation. … He said to His disciples: “No man knows the Son but the Father, nor the Father but the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal Him;” thus setting Himself forth and the Father as He [really] is, that we may not receive any other Father, except Him who is revealed by the Son. …

And for this purpose did the Father reveal the Son, that through His instrumentality He might be manifested to all, and might receive those righteous ones who believe in Him into incorruption and everlasting enjoyment; … but He shall righteously shut out into the darkness which they have chosen for themselves, those who do not believe, and who do consequently avoid His light. … Wherefore did the Lord say to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father but by Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” – Irenaeus 180CE Volume 1, p. 781, 783-784  [CD-ROM]

Like Jesus, Irenaeus had no problem causing holy division. He basically said that if you have not received God’s Son, you are not part of God’s family. If you choose to not believe in God’s Son, you choose to reject eternal life and bring judgment on yourself. There is only one way to God the Father, and it is through the Lord Jesus Christ His Son.

Even though there was no Pope ruling over the vast number of Christians throughout the world in the first three centuries, it is remarkable how unified the early Christians were in their core doctrines and values. They were unified around the person, life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and were fiercely loyal to Him, no matter the cost.

The early Christians believed that since Jesus said He is the only way to the Father, taking Him seriously mattered enormously. Therefore, evangelism and discipleship were matters of great urgency.

So may we be unified in fulfilling the great commission of our true High Priest. And may we sincerely seek to encourage all people to become baptized disciples of Jesus who lovingly obey His commands by grace through faith. May we be unified in keeping the simple words of Christ.

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