“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 a word, a name, which the world finds so repugnant that it will seldom be tolerated anywhere in the public realm. It is a name that will get you removed from restaurants if you use it too often or too loudly. Castigation, rebuke, and ridicule will ultimately follow he who dares use the name without apology. Use this name at a social gathering at your own risk; you will soon find yourself carrying on a soliloquy rather than a conversation. It is a name so offensive that school boards have forbidden its use in the classroom and at graduation ceremonies. It is a name that is forbidden to be used in college debates. No politician today dares infuriate even a portion of his voter base by using it. State legislatures have been warned not to invoke this name prior to opening sessions. Military chaplains have been directed to refrain from using it as an invocation to our service men and women. What word, what name could possibly be so offensive as to be forbidden for use in the public and private sector? There must be power and strength in this name for it to draw the ire and fear of those who oppose it’s use. What is this name which raises the hatred of the world at its mere mention? The name is JESUS!
But why does the world hate the very name of Jesus? What is it about the name Jesus that raises the world’s animosity toward those bold enough to use it? In a word? Exclusivity! “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” - Mark 16:16. How dare believers in the holy name of Jesus Christ suggest they have an exclusive engagement with salvation! “You shall have no other gods before Me.” - Exodus 20:3.
In this post-modernist age which promotes tolerance of anything, multi-culturalism, and “diversity at any cost” the mere notion that there is only one way to do anything, especially one path to eternal salvation, is enough to start a riot among those who profane the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Christianity is far too exclusive for the modern mind-set. How dare we suggest that there is only one way to heaven! “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” - Matthew 7:13-14. This is one of the lynch-pins to the offense of Christ’s name: it is HE who declares the exclusivity of the one path to salvation. We Christians merely echo it. In this lies the fundamental source of the world’s hatred for Christ and His believers. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” - John 15:18.
One might question the world’s hatred for Christ. “Why would the world hate Jesus, whose message was one of peace, love and forgiveness?” It is because of Christ’s underlying message that salvation comes by Him and Him alone! What about Buddhists and Muslims and Mormons and Wiccans? See the title verse for the explanation - there is no salvation except through Jesus Christ . . . period! If in doubt, review Exodus 20:3.
Do not misconstrue the message: you may believe what you like. You may worship as you please, but without belief in Jesus as your Lord and Savior you will not spend eternity in heaven. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” - John 14:6. Herein lies the blackened heart of the enmity between the world and Jesus Christ: the refusal to believe in Him!
May those of us who do believe in the exclusivity of Christ’s assurance for our salvation pray that others also come to believe!
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