Is Jesus the only way to Heaven? How do you interpret these scriptures?

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shart1780

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John 14
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.



Acts 4
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.


1 Corinthians 8
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.


(Forgot the exact scripture)
I tell you the truth. The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and out and find safe pasture.


This is directed to those of you whop believe in the Bible of course. I don't want a bunch of "The Bible is just an outdated book about an angry God" BS. I just want to hear what you have to say about these pastures.
 
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shart1780 said:
(Forgot the exact scripture)
I tell you the truth. The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and out and find safe pasture.

John 10


And, yes, Jesus is the only way.
 
shart1780 said:

1 Corinthians 8
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

I think that is the crux of the matter. "Yet *for us*"

I refuse to believe that Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and all of the world's assorted tribal faiths, plus every ancient who came along prior to the New Testament, are all condemned because they do not follow one particular version of the truth.

Ultimately, that is what I believe--that we follow the same thing, under different names. And that it matters more what kind of person you are, and the life you lead, than what church you pray in or what book you read.
 
No, I believe there are multiple paths to the truth.
 
shart1780 said:


What do you mean.

I asked what you think of the scriptures.



scriptures are used to devide

to separate

us / them

it is not good

these scriptures are just words

serving the purposes of the writers
 
Re: Re: Is Jesus the only way to Heaven? How do you interpret these scriptures?

AvsGirl41 said:


I think that is the crux of the matter. "Yet *for us*"

I refuse to believe that Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and all of the world's assorted tribal faiths, plus every ancient who came along prior to the New Testament, are all condemned because they do not follow one particular version of the truth.

Ultimately, that is what I believe--that we follow the same thing, under different names. And that it matters more what kind of person you are, and the life you lead, than what church you pray in or what book you read.

Nicely said. :yes:
 
Re: Re: Is Jesus the only way to Heaven? How do you interpret these scriptures?

AvsGirl41 said:


I think that is the crux of the matter. "Yet *for us*"

I refuse to believe that Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and all of the world's assorted tribal faiths, plus every ancient who came along prior to the New Testament, are all condemned because they do not follow one particular version of the truth.

Ultimately, that is what I believe--that we follow the same thing, under different names. And that it matters more what kind of person you are, and the life you lead, than what church you pray in or what book you read.

Yes. Very well said (as Martha already mentioned).

And I do think you have to question of the validity of the Bible...why would you base your entire life (and even your possible afterlife) on anything without some sort of verification...at least for each individual? Some people question and decide it works for them quite quickly, but for others it is a lifelong process (and some fine that it is not valid for them at all).
 
ditto. the word "faith" is predicated upon doubt. otherwise you'd know, and there ain't nobody who *knows* God, or that Jesus is the Son of God, or whether or not the Bible was written by a bunch of dudes tripping on milennia old acid.

they *choose* to believe. hence, they have faith. faith strikes me as much more powerful and worthy should it arrive after years of innter struggle, discussion, debate, etc. faith handed down by culture and family without reflection and with passive acceptance means little more than the paper a bible was printed on.

not that any FYMers who believe do that. to the contrary, i am (mostly) quite impressed with the depth of reflection in the posts i read --- it's given me a new perspective on those who do call themselves Christian, since they are so different from the ones i've encountered thus far in my life.

but what else should we expect from U2 fans?
 
you either believe Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God or he was a liar or an idiot. what kind of person you are and the life you lead is not the path that Jesus offers through Him. It's your acceptance of His grace. You accept it or you don't. If you don't believe it that's fine, but it is not the same thing as other religions that do require certain behavior and actions on your behalf to have a relationship with God or some other spiritual entity or entities.

I agree with Deep, these verses are used by humans to divide, control and brain wash, but if you take out the human's nature to distort these verses for power, control, etc; they're simple, clear and profound. You accept them as Truth or you don't. If you don't, that doesn't necessarily make the one's that do accept them as Truth as divisive, seperatists or elitists. Sadly, "religion" has been used for the greatest tragedies in human history. Being a follower of Christ is not about a religion (i.e. you and I doing things to have a relationship with God), but rather an acceptance of Jesus's claims that He was the Son of God. If you believe Him then you follow what He says, but following what He says out of some "religious traditionalism" does nothing in regards to trusting Him and His offering of Grace as the only bridge to a relationship with a righteous God.
 
I believe the only way to Heaven is to recognize and accept God's Grace. The easiest way to recognize God's Grace is through Jesus, b/c he was a human manifestation of that Grace so it makes it a bit easier for us to understand. Anyone can accept God's Grace a go to Heaven. You can be a Christian all your life or not at all - as long as you have that faith in something larger than yourself and acknowledge that YOU cannot get yourself into Heaven. To me, the word "Christianity" (or Jew, or Muslim, or Hindu, or whatever) is just a way to categorize. "Christian" describes my lifestyle, my worship habits, and my values; it doesn't mean I've got a pre-paid ticket to Heaven.
 
softhackle said:
you either believe Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God or he was a liar or an idiot.

Not true. Jesus said through him. I have never taken this as "you must know me to get to heaven." I have gone through many paths in life through doors people have opened for me without me having a relationship with them or even meeting them.

There's no way a loving God would deny heaven to any of his children just because they lived in a certain part of the world and have never heard of Jesus.
 
softhackle said:
you either believe Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God or he was a liar or an idiot.
Jesus claimed he was the only way to the father. I don't think you can compromise on that. Some found him to be just a good moral teacher. I think that either he had to be the messiah, or he was a liar. I don't see much of an in-between.
 
softhackle said:
you either believe Jesus is

1. the only way to a relationship with God


or

2. he was a liar or an idiot.



perhaps numbers 1 and 2 are just perceptions based on what people with interests wrote about the life and story of Jesus of Nazareth.
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:


Not true. Jesus said through him. I have never taken this as "you must know me to get to heaven." I have gone through many paths in life through doors people have opened for me without me having a relationship with them or even meeting them.

There's no way a loving God would deny heaven to any of his children just because they lived in a certain part of the world and have never heard of Jesus.


Thinking that any of us deserve to be in heaven is to not understand the reason Jesus came to earth. None of us are worthy of being in the presence of a righteous God, and there is nothin we can do to get there.

LivLuvAndBootlegMusic, you're right, a Christian lifestyle does not give anyone a prepaid ticket to Heaven. However, God's grace is only offered through His son Jesus, not carte blanche to anything that's religious or makes one feel good. You can't accept/receive God's grace through anything other than Jesus, at least according to Jesus and the rest of the New Testament. BTW, this model of grace is consistent with the Old Testament, but that gets into a lengthy discussion.
 
Macfistowannabe said:
Jesus claimed he was the only way to the father. I don't think you can compromise on that.

Did he say that? Did he claim it? Or did a man who was not Jesus write that down some years or decades later? Was he an apologetic? Was it a polemic? Whom was he writing for and to?

There is not a single person on this forum or elsewhere who can answer those questions with any sort of certainty.
 
anitram said:


Did he say that? Did he claim it? Or did a man who was not Jesus write that down some years or decades later? Was he an apologetic? Was it a polemic? Whom was he writing for and to?

There is not a single person on this forum or elsewhere who can answer those questions with any sort of certainty.

From that mindset, you can believe anything you want for whatever reason.

Without inherecy of Scripture, Christianity can be reduced to just another social group or a self-help program.
 
Originally posted by softhackle


Thinking that any of us deserve to be in heaven is to not understand the reason Jesus came to earth. None of us are worthy of being in the presence of a righteous God, and there is nothin we can do to get there.
No one said anything about anyone deserving heaven, I just don't believe in opening the doors for some and not others based on geography. There will be some that never even here the word Jesus, but live a more loving life than most Christians, yet they get denied because of where they were born? No, not my God.
 
softhackle said:


However, God's grace is only offered through His son Jesus, not carte blanche to anything that's religious or makes one feel good. You can't accept/receive God's grace through anything other than Jesus, at least according to Jesus and the rest of the New Testament.

So what does through Christ mean?
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:


So what does through Christ mean?


exactamundo. it means whatever those who toss such a phrase around want it to mean. their terms, their defintions, their interpretations, their biases, and their own prejudiced readings (as all reading is prejudiced).
 
St. Thomas Aquinas once said "I'm met those who have never heard of the name Christ, but were closer to God than either a priest or a nun."

To me, this means that anyone could have salvation despite their beliefs or being born before Jesus or living in an area that never heard of Christianity. I've known people who were not Christian, but probably did a better job pleasing God than some Christians.

But in the end, God is the final Judge. Only He decides who gets to go be saved. I don't think its a good idea to wonder who goes to heaven and how, because only God really knows.
 
i think it's entirely possible for a Hindu who has never heard of Christ or an atheist to live a life that is 100% in step with Christ's teachings.
 
nbcrusader said:

Without inherecy of Scripture, Christianity can be reduced to just another social group or a self-help program.

Or one of many paths to the same God who created all of us.
 
softhackle said:



LivLuvAndBootlegMusic, you're right, a Christian lifestyle does not give anyone a prepaid ticket to Heaven. However, God's grace is only offered through His son Jesus, not carte blanche to anything that's religious or makes one feel good. You can't accept/receive God's grace through anything other than Jesus, at least according to Jesus and the rest of the New Testament.

Yeah, so what exactly does that mean "through Jesus"? To me, it means accepting God's Grace in your heart and recognizing you are NOT your own and NOTHING you could ever do on your own will ever make you even close to worthy. I didn't say you could accept Grace through "anything religious or makes you feel good"; I'm pretty sure I was saying the exact opposite.... :scratch:
 
softhackle said:
you either believe Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God or he was a liar or an idiot.

Actually, there is a third option, and it's been alluded to here. Jesus is one way. He was neither a liar nor an idiot, but one of the ways to God.

It doesn't have to be as simple or as exclusive as you'd like it to be.
 
Did it ever occur to anyone that maybe Hindus, Buddhists, tribal religionists don't give a flying flip about getting to heaven?

Why is everyone concerned whether everyone is going there? Put your own feet on the path (the way, the truth, the life) and let others worry about themselves and wherever they want to go.
 
I don't want to argue with anyone about wheather you should believe in the Bible or the God I try to follow. I just wanted to understand how those of you who believe in the Bible and Jesus Christ's teachings as absolute fact (any of you?) can take what Jesus (Who the Bible says was God) said as anything but the pure truth.

Again, I'm not trying to argue with anyone. It's just that the Bible does say that Jesus was our only savior. Period. If you're saying he meant any form of a "higher deity", then what do you think he meant when he said those things in the scriptures? Do you think the scriptures are unreliable? If so, why even read the Bible.

Jesus said he was the only way. Why should we not believe this? Jesus would not have even been a noteable historical figure if it were not for the fact that he said this. There's no doubt that he claimed to be the Messiah, the only way to Heaven. This is why he was persecuted and crucified (a historically recorded fact). If he was not the Messiah then he was a liar. That's also simple to see. What he said was either true or false. This is also the heart of the Bible. This is the heart of all christianity. How can you say that the Jews truly elieve in the God of the Bible when they openly deny that Jesus was our savior? They deny the central idea of christianity. They deny Jesus.

I'm not trying to convert anyone to christianity, I'm trying to get you to question how much you really believe the Bible. The way I see it, if the central idea of the Bible was Jesus' grace, and you deny it, how can you believe the Bible?
 
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