[Faith-talk] Aren't We All Just on Different Paths to the Same Place?

[Linda Mentink via Faith-talk]

Hi all,

I got this from another list I'm on, posted by someone on FaceBook. 
It's rather long, but a good read.

Aren't We All Just on Different Paths to the Same Place?
Posted by Chris Hohnholz

http://slavetotheking.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/arent-we-all-just-on-different-paths-to-the-same-place/

It is a very common belief these days that people of different faiths
are really just taking alternate routes to the same destination.
Often, those who propose this concept cite similarities in the
teachings of these faiths in the areas of love, charity, good works
and forgiveness as proof for their argument. After all, the argument
is made, the different religions really just point out the fact that
we need to cease from selfish acts and work to love and accept one
another. That being the case, people need to understand that, no
matter how different the doctrines appear to be between these
religions, these differences can just be explained as cultural
idiosyncrasies. If it is nothing more than our cultural
understandings that influence our religious beliefs, then there is no
reason to support the notion that one religion is superior to another.
And if people stopped trying to one up each other in the area of
faith, then we can start working together to solve the problems our
world faces. Sounds simple enough, right?
The stark truth of the matter is that this line of reasoning, no
matter how pleasant it sounds, crumbles under the weight of honest
examination. The only way that this concept works is if one of two
things are true: first, that religion is an entirely personalized
experience with no actual eternal consequences; or two, that
universalism is true and everyone goes to Heaven, despite what they
have done in this life. Unless either of these points are true, the
hypothesis above cannot be accurate. If there is an ultimate end to
our faith, an afterlife that results in heaven or hell, then the
competing dogmas of the various religious belief systems are
contradictory and cannot be equally true. Someone is right and
someone is wrong. Alternately, if universalism is the ultimate end,
then doctrine and dogma are pointless because we all will enjoy
eternal life despite what good or evil we do. No forgiveness or
atonement is necessary. Therefore, by necessity, the thesis is wrong,
but what is the true answer?
Jesus Christ taught His disciples saying, "I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,"
(John 14:6). This is a very dogmatic and exclusivist statement.
There is no means by which the Christian faith can be opened up to
include competing faith systems. It is often for this reason that
Christianity is so hated in our culture today. Post-modern tolerance
teaches that all competing views must be given equal weight and
acceptance. Any worldview which is exclusive cannot be tolerated
because it wars against this core belief and must be, by consequence,
excluded (which is in itself exclusivist, but that discussion is for
another time). Christianity, because of its exclusivist claims, is in
direct conflict with post-modern tolerance. Therefore, it is often
seen as the perfect example of conflict in our world and is attacked
virulently by those promoting tolerance.
It is worth noting that, despite post-modern thinking, all existing
world religions are exclusivist in nature. Islam teaches one must
submit to the teachings of Mohammed and practice the Five Pillars of
Islam. Buddhism teaches that all pain and suffering comes from the
sinful desires of man, thus man must go through repeated
reincarnations until he is able to empty himself of all desires. Once
this has been achieved, the cycle of reincarnation can end and one can
reach Nirvana. Hinduism teaches that man's ignorance that he is part
of the divine Brahman leads to a never ending cycle of bad karma,
which causes pain and suffering. Through adhering to Hindu teaching,
one can eventually escape the cycle of reincarnation and be absorbed
back into Brahman.
These are just three of the world's leading religions, albeit the
largest ones following Christianity, yet they all have exclusive
teachings and doctrines. None are consistent with each other and all
claim they have the one true path. It would be illogical to claim
that all are correct as their beliefs and doctrines are vastly
different. One cannot claim that Buddhism is consistent with Islam,
for example. One teaches reincarnation until you have achieved
Nirvana and cease existing, while the other teaches that there is a
god who judges all that you do and either rewards or punishes you
eternally based on your actions. Both have completely different
understandings of the end of man and how we get there. It would not
be possible for both to be true at the same time. Therefore, it is
inconceivable for both beliefs to be separate paths to the same
destination. What must be determined is not how to reconcile different
religions together, but of all the competing faiths, which is one that
is correct?
As we read above, Jesus Christ made an exclusive claim to be the only
path to the Father. In Matthew 7: 13-14, He also stated, "Enter by
the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads
to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is
narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it
are few." Jesus taught there were only two paths, one which leads to
eternal life, the other to eternal punishment. When looked at in
light of the passage in John, it is evident that He was teaching that
all paths which do not lead to Him are by nature paths that lead to
eternal damnation. So to put it another way, there are really two
religions, the religion of Christ and the religion of man. All
systems that attempt to solve the dilemma of man's sin apart from
Jesus Christ are systems that require man to do something of his own
ability to atone for his wrongful deeds. Only in Christianity is the
work of atonement accomplished by God Himself in the form of Jesus
Christ. Therefore, all religions that rely upon the work of man are
paths that lead to damnation because man cannot do anything to erase
the evil of his sin.
How can such a claim be made? In our world, the idea that we can
achieve forgiveness by our works is a common one. As children, we are
taught to say we are sorry when we hurt the feelings of others. As we
grow up, we are taught mistakes are simply a means to learning the
wrong way of doing things. Once we learn the wrong way, we can
correct our error and start doing them right. As adults, if we damage
someone's property, we can pay restitution. Broken hearts can be
healed by the purchase of flowers and a promise of changed behavior.
And, at least on the surface, we claim that crimes can be atoned for
by our imprisonment for a specified amount of time. So it is not
unreasonable to believe that by our own actions, we can achieve
forgiveness and make our way out of eternal punishment. After all, by
nature we believe we are all really good people who occasionally make
bad choices. Since we are good at heart, we can make up for any bad
we have done. But in the eyes of God, nothing could be further from
the truth.
When God set Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He gave them one
command, not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil. Eve was tricked by Satan and believed that it was good for
her to eat of the fruit. However, in direct rebellion against God,
Adam chose to eat of the forbidden fruit. In doing so, Adam brought
sin into the world for the first time. His actions tainted the rest
of mankind so that his descendants would be born sinners. From that
day forward every person born into this world would have a sinful
nature, inclined to serve self rather than obey the Lord. Mankind
would forever be bound by sin, every action, thought and word would
reflect that nature and man would forever be in rebellion against his
Creator.
According to God's Word, "We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment," (Isaiah 64:
6) and, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). No matter how we view
ourselves, we are seen by God as wicked and sinful down to the very
core. We can verify this when we look at the law of God in Exodus 20.
Commonly known as the Ten Commandments, the moral law of God handed
down to the Israelites reflects the perfect nature of God's character.
When we examine our thoughts, words and deeds against this moral law,
it reflects the wickedness of our hearts before the Lord. Anytime we
worship a picture of God we have created in our mind, we worship a
false idol. When we lie, harbor or express hatred against others,
when we lust for a person who is not our spouse, covet the belongings
of others, disobey our parents or steal the property of others, we are
evidencing that our wicked heart is working against our Lord and
Creator. When break those laws, we are sinning. We sin because by
our very nature are sinners. From the day we are born until our last
breath, we build up a laundry list of crimes against God.
God is good and righteous. He is holy and perfect. When we choose to
sin against Him, we bear evidence of the wickedness of our hearts and
He must judge us and rightly condemn us. We are criminals against a
perfect Judge. Were He to allow us to enter into eternity without
bringing judgment against our crimes, He would be capricious and
untrustworthy. If God permitted a man who had raped, murdered and
stolen for the majority of his life into Heaven without addressing the
crimes he committed, He would be unjust, disregarding the harm done
both to the victims and to His nature. Thus, God must judge sin. To
do otherwise would make Him not be God.
As we have seen from Scripture, man is sinful at his very heart. No
amount of "good works" can make up for our sin, because our good works
themselves are tainted by our nature. There is nothing that we do
that is not influenced by our sin; therefore, we cannot do anything
that makes up for sin. Additionally, were we to attempt to erase our
sin by our works, it would be an attempt to influence our good and
righteous Judge to ignore that which we have done. In other words, we
would be attempting to bribe God into rendering an unjust verdict.
Time does not erase our sins and neither will sinful works remove them
from the eyes of God. All mankind stands guilty before God and will
be condemned to an eternity in Hell.
Yet, while God is righteous, holy and just, He is also loving,
merciful and kind. Therefore, He made a way for sinners where there
was no way. God sent His Son, eternally God, to take on human flesh,
born of a virgin (that He might be free from the taint of sin), to
live a life of complete sinlessness so that He might become the Savior
of men. Christ was tempted in all the ways that we are, yet lived
without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He did so in order that He might fulfill
the moral law of God perfectly, the law we could not keep for even a
minute of our lives. Then Jesus willingly, intentionally allowed
Himself to be taken prisoner by wicked men, put on trial in an unjust
court, and be found guilty of crimes He did not commit. Jesus allowed
this so that He might be put to death in one of the most horrific
forms of capital punishment devised by men. His death on the cross
was for the purposes of receiving the full weight of the righteous
wrath of God deserved by sinners. In doing so, Jesus became sin in
the eyes of His Father. He became what we are so that what we deserve
may be poured out on Him.
Jesus died that terrible death, was taken from the cross and placed in
a tomb, yet on the third day, He rose Himself from the grave,
defeating sin and death. In rising from the grave, Christ
demonstrated His divine power of all of creation including life and
death. In defeating the grave, Jesus guaranteed a promise of eternal
life to all those He would redeem from the righteous wrath of the
Father. What God commands of sinners is that they repent -
acknowledge that they have sinned against Him, confess they deserve
His judgment, and turn away from sin and turn to Christ - and trust,
in faith, in the completed work of His Son. Whenever sinners do this,
God has promised He will change their heart of stone to a heart of flesh,
making them into a new creation. No longer are men bound to their
sins, rather they are bound to the Savior who has purchased them with
His blood.
This is why Christ declared that the broad path, the path which
contains all the man centered religions which promise atonement
through human effort, as the road which leads away from the Father.
No act of human will apart from Christ can satisfy the perfect
judgment of God. Therefore, all religious systems, be they Islam,
Buddhism, Hinduism, Baha'i or the multitude of others, are of the
broad path. Only the narrow path which leads to Jesus Christ and His
completed work can grant anyone entrance to Heaven.
There is one respect in which all roads lead to God. The narrow path
leads to eternity with the Savior, forever enjoying fellowship with He
who bought us. The broad path leads to the eternal judgment of God.
He created Hell specifically as the place where sinners would forever
receive the condemnation they have wrought upon themselves. It is His
Hell and His judgment. Therefore, sinners will be in the presence of
God, but it will be in His wrath, not His peace.
To rightly apply the thinking that all paths lead to God, we must
suspend logic. The idea that contradictory teachings all have the
same destination can only be true if ultimately there is no
destination, thus having only personal, subjective benefit; or, if
there is an eternal destination that all people will go to, thus
eliminating the need for any doctrine or dogma, simply because it does
not change the outcome. In reality, there are two paths and two
destinations. The path of man made religion teaches that mankind has
problems, but ultimately can be overcome by one's sheer act of will.
All religions apart from Christ fall into this path in one way or
another. However, as man is sinful at heart, he cannot overcome his
depraved nature and cannot atone for his own sins. Therefore, all
those on this path are on the road to damnation. The other path is
that which leads to Christ. It is the path that reveals the truth
about who we are and that we deserve God's wrath. It is the path that
calls us to surrender our own works to the One whose perfect work on
the cross satisfied the legal and righteous judgment of God. It is
the path which leads to life, because the death and resurrection of
the Son of God is the only means by which we can be freed from the
sins to which we are bound. Which path are you on?