Do all roads lead to heaven? Many liberal-minded people seem to think so. There is only one God, they insist, and He (or she, or it) is too nice and loving to refuse admittance to any sincerely religious person. But how does that thinking square with what Jesus said. “I am the way,” Jesus told His disciples. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The apostle Paul, who left religion in the dust when he believed in Jesus, the risen Son of God, as his Savior, wrote in Galatians 1:8, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.”
These are strong words. There is only one way to heaven. Jesus is the Way; and there is only one gospel (message of good news). That gospel announces that Jesus “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Jesus provided eternal life for all who believe (John 3:14, 15), and His resurrection affirms that fact.
But in our eclectic, tolerant culture, liberal minds deflect absolute truth as quickly as an upright deflects a football that hits it in an errant field goal attempt. Nevertheless, without absolutes life would be chaotic. For example, it is absolutely true that 5 plus 5 equals ten, but if you reject that absolute and believe 5 plus 5 may also equal 15, try paying for a $15 purchase with two fives and see what happens. Also, it is absolutely true that we must eat and drink to stay alive. If a person rejects that absolute, he may not be able to argue his point for very long.
If our hope of going to heaven rests on anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ, it is a false hope. But if our hope of going to heaven rests on Jesus Christ, it is a “living hope” made possible by “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). And that’s an absolutely wonderful hope!
