The Lowe Show

The countdown is upon us.  Only 6 days until Christmas.  Many folks are busy wrapping up their Christmas shopping, wrapping up their Christmas gifts, and wrapping up bags of baked Christmas goodies.  But, just as Linus needed to share the real “reason for the season” with Charlie Brown, Christians need to be reminded to share with others the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ.  We attempt to accomplish this task in our ever-increasing secularized culture by wishing others “Merry Christmas” rather than “Happy Holidays”, participating in Christmas plays and programs, and conducting live nativity scenes.

However, it appears that many of us who celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior don’t really understand or comprehend the true magnificance of this gift, if the results of a recent report from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life are even remotely accurate.  In that report, a slight majority (52%) of American Christians think that at least some non-Christian faiths (such as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, atheism, etc.) can lead to eternal life.  If that is true, then what are these confessing Christians really celebrating at Christmas?

It certainly cannot be the birth of the one and only true Son of God, as He is revealed in the Bible.  For the Bible clearly teaches that explicit faith in Jesus Christ is the only way that a person can be saved.  Consider the following Scripture passages:

John 3:16-18: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

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.’”

Acts 4:11-12: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.  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.”

Romans 10:9-10: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

This is the clear teaching of Scripture that Jesus Christ is the only Savior.  This is known as the exclusivity of the gospel, and it is not a popular message in our culture of tolerance and inclusivism.  Increasingly, it is not even a popular message in our churches, as evidenced by the results of this Pew Forum study.  The challenges of the exclusivity of the gospel are nothing new, as history has shown us 4 basic views.

1.  Universalism – this view holds that there’s really no need for a savior since everybody will be saved.  Hence, Jesus Christ is not the only Savior.  John 3:16-18 (quoted above) is only one of many passages that disprove this view.

2.  Pluralism – this view holds that there are many paths to God.  In other words, one can be saved through many types of religions.  Hence, Jesus Christ is not the only Savior.  John 14:6 and Acts 4:11-12 (both quoted above) disprove this view.

3.  Inclusivism – this view holds that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, but explicit faith in Him is not necessary in order to be saved.  Thus, the truly sincere Jew, Hindu, or Muslim is saved through Jesus, but they just don’t realize it.  A well-known proponent of this view includes C.S. Lewis.  In his popular book Mere Christianity, Lewis states “We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him.” (Mere Christianity, p. 64) However, Romans 10:9-10 (quoted above) disproves this view.  Only 3 verses later, the Apostle Paul states, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’  But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  (Romans 10:13-17)

4.  Exclusivism – this view holds that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, and explicit faith in Him is necessary in order to be saved.  This is the true biblical teaching as shown above.

So, contrary to what half of American “Christians” believe, Jesus Christ is the only Savior, born of a virgin roughly 2000 years, who would later die on a cross in order to pay the debt for our sins so that we could be saved.  The fact that God loved us so much that He would sacrifice His only Son for our benefit is magnificent, and it is truly something to celebrate. 

And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.