Don Stewart :: Can a Person Experience the True God through Religions Other than Christianity?

Humanity has the need to worship. Wherever we find human beings on our planet we find them worshipping something. Temples, shrines, and holy places abound. People have this basic need to worship and experience ultimate reality.

There Is Only One God To Be Worshipped

Scripture reveals that the God of the Bible is the one true God who alone deserves our worship. God has revealed Himself to humankind in the Scriptures and made provision for us to know Him. The Bible also warns us about other religions and other gods.

You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).

There was no other legitimate God to rightly worship.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:4,5).

Pagan Deities Counterfeited The Truth

The Old Testament prophets ridiculed belief in the gods of other nations. They were leading people astray from the one, true God. They were counterfeits to the Lord - the true and living God.

The Contest Between Elijah And Baal

The prophet Elijah had a contest with the prophets of the false god Baal. When Baal did not answer their prayer Elijah ridiculed belief in this non-existent god.

So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened" (2 Kings 18:26,27).

Baal could not answer them because he did not exist.

God Has Made A Unique Way

God has provided a way that individuals may know Him. This is through the person of Jesus Christ.

Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (John 10:7-9).

Jesus said . . . I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

The Apostle Peter made it clear that a person could know the true God only through Jesus Christ:

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

There Is No Salvation Apart From Christ

According to the New Testament, religions that offer the individual a way to know God other than through the person of Jesus Christ are false religions. They offer incorrect ways of knowing ultimate truth. The claim of Scripture is clear—Jesus Christ is the only way through which a person can know the living God. Jesus said.

If you do not believe that I am he you will die in your sins (John 8:24).

Summary

The Bible says there is only one God who actually exists. God has provided a way by which people may know Him, through the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that nobody is able come to God except through Him. If His claims are true, then, by definition, all claims to ultimate truth by other religious leaders are false. There is no other way in which the one, true, God can be experienced.