By David ReayTuesday 16 Jul 2019LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 2 minutes
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (NIV)
Jesus sorts out those who are vaguely religious from those who have truly embraced the Christian faith. Statements like the one made here are uncomfortable reading for those who believe all religions lead to God, that all religions are essentially the same. The loving and apparently tolerant Jesus now seems utterly intolerant of such thinking.
The only way we get right with God is through trusting in Jesus’ mercy. Jesus is telling us the truth about this. He is offering us eternal life through such trust. When it comes to entry into God’s family, he is the one offering access.
So what about those Old Testament saints who never heard of Jesus? What about those in other cultures who have never had the chance of hearing about him? Is salvation, after all, a matter of where and when we were born?
Not so. Any who genuinely cry out to God for mercy and want to live his sort of life will be accepted by him. But this acceptance is only possible through the life and work of Jesus. Some may never be conscious in this life of the reality of Jesus, but it is that reality which nevertheless brings them into God’s family.
We need lose no sleep over the destiny of those who haven’t heard of Jesus. God is rich in mercy. If we know we need it and ask for it, we get it. Jesus is the one who makes it possible for mercy to be shown. He is the personification of that mercy whether we know it or not.
Blessings
David
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