Have you ever heard that one? Chances are you have. Maybe not put exactly like that, but more than likely you have been told by some ‘well meaning’ person something similar. Who knows, you may even have told someone that yourself.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father but by me.”
Did He say that if you don’t believe in Him then you will go to hell? Many think that. But He did not say that. He said that He will be the one to decide. He will make the choice. It all depends on Jesus.
There are many “true churches” here on earth. There is the Roman Catholic Church. There are the Mormons. There are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are the Seventh Day Adventists. So on and so forth. And of course, even within churches that don’t officially believe that they are the only way, there are people that do believe that if you don’t believe just as they do then you don’t stand a snowballs chance of going to Heaven.
Do you smell a hint of self-righteousness in all of this? I have been guilty of this same attitude from time to time. It’s natural.
But I think we ought remember Jesus’ words, “Don’t judge others lest you be judged by the same standard.”
None of us deserves to be saved from the fires of damnation. Not a one.
I pray that Jesus will be merciful to the undeserving and those that do not know Him. I pray that He will send forth His people into the paths of those that have not heard of the great things He has accomplished for them, and that He will fill the poor words of His people wih the power of His Holy Spirit that the unbelieving, by His grace alone, might believe.
For those of you that believe you belong to the only true church, I hope you understand that by excluding and judging others, you are just heaping more judgement upon yourself.
Filed under: Judging others | 11 Comments »
The Old Adam Lives! 