Through Him

       Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:5-7)

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

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  (Hebrews 1:2-3)  

           He is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ 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 4:11-12) 


        There are two points in today’s passage. The less important one is that Paul calls all those to whom he wrote “saints.” The term doesn’t refer to someone who does anything spectacular – merely to someone who followed Christ. That is actually spectacular in and of itself. The title is not something granted by man. 

          Now, on to the more important point. “Through him,” Paul says. “…through me,” Jesus said, according to John. “Though whom he [God] made the universe.” Do you see the pattern? “No other name…by which we must be saved.” Christians don’t claim that Christianity is exclusive. Christ claims it is so. 

         So, here’s the bottom line. If you say that there are other ways to the Father, other means of salvation, you face a famous trilemma. You are declaring Jesus to be either a liar or a lunatic, and you’re saying the same of his early followers. It seems to me that if  you reject what is so foundational to a faith, you can’t claim to live up to that faith.