Other Ways to Heaven

[Tim]

Are there other ways to get to Heaven (be saved, etc.) other than faith in Jesus Christ? Will one way "work" just as well as the other? Does it really matter just as long as I am believing in or doing something commanded by Christ? Or is salvation in Christ alone and what does that mean? Finally, upon what do you base your argument?

[JacksonS]

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

[Tim]

What does that mean? I.e., How do we "go through Christ" to get to the Father?

[Raquel]

-No.
-If you're not doing it because of/through Christ, then it's works. Which is bad jujus.
-Yes. It means that the only bridge that exists between us and Unworthy, Unholy, Unjust is Christ. It is in the recognition of His worthiness, His holiness, and His sacrifice that we are saved. It's recognition that gets us across the bridge.
-I base my beliefs on the Bible. Unless you want my to whip out the usual Bible verses. Okay... I'll limit it to Romans.

[Tim]

Is there any other way to give this recognition apart from faith in Christ that will save (i.e., get me to Heaven)? Perhaps baptism? The sacraments? Or simply going to Church or reading my Bible? What about beliving plus something else, does faith really have to be alone?

[Raquel]

Tim,
I have a feeling you already know this but alright.

Faith is never by itself. Faith is the gas in the believer's motor that helps get us to partaking in sacrament, baptism, engaging in a local body of believers, reading the Bible, etc.

It says, "I believe this and so I do that."

If you're hearing, "I do this so it means I believe," then you aint listenen to faith.

[JacksonS]

so what are you getting at brother?

Read the book of Galatians.

[Dave Z]

Christ alone. Our sin-debt must be paid to satisfy God's perfect justice and there is no other acceptable sacrifice than the cross. For God to just accept us on any basis other than Christ's sacrifice would be to violate justice. Can't happen. So... Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Anyone coming to God can only approach through the sacrifice of the cross. That applies to everyone who has ever lived. Old Testament believers, though they never heard of Christ, are still saved through Christ. I am not certain that only those who hear and believe can be saved. IOW, some who have not heard and believed may still be saved, but still through Christ and his sacrifice. I think God's justice also demands that everyone have an equal chance at salvation. Not sure how that works, and Calvinistic"sovereignty of God" issues make it even more complicated, so in the end I just trust God to handle it.

I affirm "faith alone," but am a little troubled by the fact that, while Paul is very clear on faith alone, the Gospels are much more ambiguous. As often as Jesus says "believe in me," he says "follow me," which has different implications. Salvation in the Gospels often seems tied to what we do, as with the sheep and goats. Still, I think works are the result of faith - the fruit of salvation, not the cause.

[Tommy Higgins]

What does salvation in Christ alone mean?

1. All men [mankind] are sinful because they inherit a sinful nature from Adam and they sin every day.
2. "The wages of sin is death" - Romans 6:23 [And this can be seen in Genesis where God tells Adam that if he eats of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then he will die.]
3. So, in order to pay back our sin, we must die. That's obviously a problem because, if we die for our sins while we are still sinful, God will judge us instead of forgiving us of that debt because our death only serves as the just result of sin, not as a payment to remove sin.
4. Christ lived without sin and died for sin. Therefore [Hebrews 7:26-27], He was able to pay for sins without having to serve a punishment for His own sins.
5. Since Christ lived without sin, He lived perfectly; that is, He was righteous.
6. So, after He took our sin, He imputed His righteousness to us, so that we were no longer seen as sinful in the sight of the Lord but as righteous because of the imputed righteousness of Christ.
7. So, the only way for us to be saved is through Christ, who takes and pays for our sin and imputes His righteousness to us.

[Jack]

David; I think that, to teach that there might be another way, of salvation, for those that never heard or believed in Jesus Christ, is preaching another gospel. Pls read the letter to the Galatians.
Also to teach that it would be unjust to condemn someone who "never had a chance to believe, one doesn't recognize the difference between Grace and justice. If we all got the Justice we deserve, not one would enter heaven! And If God had not, by sovereign Grace, chosen some to be saved, and then also provided the means of salvation, at the cost of His only son, then all would continue to be condemned, forever! We must not base our faith on "what feels good", but based upon the clear teaching of God's Word!

David Zierenberg said:

Christ alone. Our sin-debt must be paid to satisfy God's perfect justice and there is no other acceptable sacrifice than the cross. For God to just accept us on any basis other than Christ's sacrifice would be to violate justice. Can't happen. So... Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Anyone coming to God can only approach through the sacrifice of the cross. That applies to everyone who has ever lived. Old Testament believers, though they never heard of Christ, are still saved through Christ. I am not certain that only those who hear and believe can be saved. IOW, some who have not heard and believed may still be saved, but still through Christ and his sacrifice. I think God's justice also demands that everyone have an equal chance at salvation. Not sure how that works, and Calvinistic"sovereignty of God" issues make it even more complicated, so in the end I just trust God to handle it.

I affirm "faith alone," but am a little troubled by the fact that, while Paul is very clear on faith alone, the Gospels are much more ambiguous. As often as Jesus says "believe in me," he says "follow me," which has different implications. Salvation in the Gospels often seems tied to what we do, as with the sheep and goats. Still, I think works are the result of faith - the fruit of salvation, not the cause.

[Jesse Wisnewski]

@ Tim:

Great question. To many Christians this is a no brainer. THe real quicker is this: How do you explain this to someone that doesn't have the foggiest notion of Christianity?

Check this out. I've had conversations with people recently that had no idea who Adam and Eve was and even thought that Jesus was hung, as if with noose.

What I'm finding out is that I can even begin with Genesis. With some I've found I have to go back to providing evidence for the existence of One God and the meaning of truth. After attempting to bumble along in a story of redemption, I attempt to focus on Christ.

I emphasize that He was a real person in history that said some lofty things, such as, I am the way the truth and the life, that were backed up with miraculous deeds, even is own bodily resurrection from the dead. If these things didn't really happen, then it doesn't matter what He said because He would have been numbered along with countless loonies who mutter similar gibberish.

Well, that's my two cents, perhaps ten?

[Tim]

Let me ask you all a question. Do you view faith as the ONLY way to God? What I'm getting at is, is God "picky" over what way you come to Him? It sounds like you're all saying it's through Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection it sounds. So let's talk about this. If Christ death and resurrection saves us why do we need to do anything else? And why just faith? Does one need ONLY to "believe in Jesus" to be saved? To reiterate my point, is it ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT EXCEPTION put one on the side of Heaven or Hell whether they have faith in Jesus or not? In other words is faith ALONE a must or just faith (cause it sounds like ya'll say at the least faith is necessary)? BTW thanks so much for your comments so far.

[Dave Z]

Jack, I understand your concern, but you must realize that my view is by no means uncommon even in evangelical circles. My thinking (very briefly) is this - the Old Testament saints were saved without ever hearing of Christ. Abraham was saved because he believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (BTW, I do not buy the "looking ahead to Christ" line of thought - the promise was very vague in those early days. There wasn't even any scripture that we know of.) So unless the standard of salvation has changed, it must be broader than exclusivists (they'd say "only those who hear and believe will be saved") would generally accept. Otherwise, no one prior to the New Testament would be saved. But even though faith brought salvation to Abe and other OT saints, forgiveness comes only through the sacrifice of the cross. No one comes to the Father but through Christ.

Yes, justice means we all stand condemned, but for God to judge different people by a different standard is a form of injustice, therefore incompatible with God's attributes. IOW, it's unfair for some to be given a chance that is refused to others. And we know it's God's desire that none should perish. So on what basis would God deny the possibility for all to come to repentance? It goes against his stated desire.