Jesus And . . . - John 14:6

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

    Perhaps the greatest obstacle facing the Gospel today is syncretism. Lexico offers a fine definition of the word - “The amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.” We find it not only in the Roman Catholic Church but also in many of the emergent church traditions as well as in the hybrid quasi-religious cults of many African, Caribbean, and Latin-American nations. This also includes the personal gods of 21st Century man.
     Regarding the ‘personal gods,’ when asked what is required for a man to achieve heaven we are bombarded by a plethora of ‘feelings’ and ‘opinions,’ none of which meet the Bible’s fundamental position on the subject. Many simply believe that the exclusive claim of Christianity is too narrow-minded, too intolerant of other beliefs. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12. They believe that‘Christ alone’ or ‘Solus Christus’ is far too limited in its scope to be exclusively true. With wide-eyed looks of incredulity they ask, “You mean to tell me that if you don’t believe in Jesus you won’t go to heaven?” The answer is, ‘Yes.’ In fact, the Bible is even more succinct. The Bible declares “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” - John 3:18.
    This is where the issue of syncretism comes in to leaven the loaf of belief in Christ alone. They’re certain that something else is required to find eternal life and that Christ alone is not the answer and that He is certainly not enough. Perhaps a little bit of Jesus with some Eastern religion mixed in. Aside from faith in Christ, maybe some ritualistic rites and practices, a string of beads, an amulet. Some quasi-magical talismans, some incense, perhaps a sacrifice of some kind. It seems they are convinced that heaven is open to those who do Jesus and . . . ‘fill in the blank.’  There are many who believe this despite the Bible’s warnings to the contrary in both the Old Testament and the New - “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” - Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19 - “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
    Believers of this heresy attend to their counterfeit theology ignoring the Biblical doctrine of ‘justification by faith in Christ alone’ as found in Romans 3:21-26. These purveyors of false doctrine bow to the lie because of their unbelief in the saving act of Christ’s atonement for our sins. They fall into folklore and fables - “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” - 2 Timothy 4:4. 
    These heretics choose to believe they can achieve eternal salvation if they add to Christ’s atonement. Their delusions are many. “As long as I am a good person, I will be saved. As long as I attend services on a regular basis, I will be saved.  As long as I pray to a particular historic religious figure, burn a candle, or pray on these beads, I will be saved. As long as I wear this medal . . . .” And the list of doctrinal errors continues ad nauseam. It’s not that they disregard Jesus Christ; it’s just that they believe they need to add their own works to His. They’re sure they need something in addition to Christ and therein lies the heresy. Since Christ’s salvific sacrifice is perfect nothing can be added to it!
    We are awash in mythological errors regarding Christianity. To avoid the pitfalls of such erroneous theology all we need to do is read the Bible! Jesus has never revealed anything about Himself to us in any other form, oracle, special revelation, or apocryphal writing. It is through the revelation of the Bible that we get all our information about Christ and nowhere else! Using the Bible as the litmus test for what is true we will not find ourselves in error.
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21. We must test everything by what the Bible says. In that rests both our truth and our assurance.