Can You Know Which Religion is True?

 

By Ryan Itzel

Can You Know Which Religion is True?

At the core of all religion is a simple question that must be answered, “How does one get right with God?” Pretty much every religion can be simplified down to these terms, they all believe in some form of deity, they all believe in man, they all (for the most part) recognize there is an issue between this deity and man, and they all claim to have the answer to resolve it. What is amazing about the Bible and Christianity, is that it is the only message that actually can solve the problem. Briefly, we will look at three realities of the gospel that differentiate Christianity from the rest of world religions, three realities that are essential if man is to be reconciled to God!

A Message of Grace

            All world religions hold to some form of a works-based salvation message. For Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hindus, and Catholics and more, getting right with God is a matter of personal merit. All of these, apart from Hinduism which believers that evil is an illusion, recognize that there is a problem between us and God. If we are to get right with God what is the solution? My personal merit! I can do it, with just a little bit more effort, a few more good works, with just some more time fulfilling the righteous requirements of my religion, I can set things right with God! Even in Hinduism, your deeds are what get you to the ultimate state of union with Brahman, their supreme god. But is this claim one that would be acceptable in the eyes of a truly holy and just God? Would God be ok with accepting personal merit as payment for sin and never bringing true justice to bear on the wicked acts of the saved? The Bible says no! In Exodus 34:7, we see God’s righteous requirement for sin, “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” How can a God who is just, sweep sin under the rug? How can a God who is holy, forgive sin and never justly pay for the unrighteous deeds of those He saves? Can God really choose to sometimes be just and sometimes be merciful? If He does, He is not truly just or truly merciful! If a judge is only just on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and merciful on Tuesday and Thursday, he is neither truly just nor merciful.

            God forgiving sins by good works is like a man who steals a car. Imagine he stole your car! Eventually he is caught and brought before the judge. The judge asks him, “Why should I let you go?” The thief says, “Look at the rest of my life, I haven’t been that bad! There are plenty of people who have been worse than me! I’m sorry for stealing the car, I’ll try and do better moving forward.” The judge looks at the thief and say, “I forgive you; you are free to go!” The thief then walks out of the courthouse, gets in your car, and drives away. The judge may have been merciful, but he was not just, and injustice is actually harmful to the person who initially was wronged. If God were to act like this judge, he would not be a good judge. The God of the Bible, however, is a good and just judge. Paul said this in Acts 17:31 of God’s righteousness in His judgment, “he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” God is a righteous judge, and He will punish sin, not sweep it under the rug based on man’s performance.

            In contrast, the Christian message of the gospel is not a message of personal merit or self-redemption, it is a message of grace. We cannot work off our sin but look to the Lord who saves us from it! Paul said in Titus 3:5, “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Salvation is not based on our performance, but rather on Christ’s and God’s grace. You might be wondering, how is this different than that of the other religions? It sounds like the God of Christianity still just sweeps sin under the rug because of His grace! Well, as we are about to see, not only is Christianity the only message of grace (only religion that is not a message of salvation by works), but it also is the only religion that provides a sufficient atonement.

A Sufficient Atonement

            So, if Christianity is a message of God’s grace, how does God justly deliver this grace to us? How is God not unjust in forgiving sinners of their sins? Paul makes clear the answer to this in Romans 3:25, that God put forward Christ “as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” The word propitiation is vital for there to be just forgiveness of sins. It speaks of expiation, atonement, or satisfaction of the wrath of God. It is to pay the penalty, to bear the wrath pointed at sinners. John 3:36 declares that God’s wrath is on all who do not believe in and obey the Son! This is a serious situation for all people. Likewise, in Colossians 3:6 says that God’s wrath for us is coming on account of sin. Propitiation is the hope and answer to that problem!

            If man cannot make himself right with God, for God must be just toward sin, how can man be saved? It is through Jesus. Jesus was a propitiation for sin, He laid down His life as an atoning sacrifice for our wickedness, He came to bear the wrath of God. If anyone is going to be forgiven of sin, he must have his sins paid for. If God is just and holy, He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. This is why the message of Christianity is so different! Every other religion seeks to provide a self-atonement by good works, but this has the problem of no punishment for sin. In Christianity, the sins of those who believe upon Christ are paid for by Jesus on the cross. This is why Paul says in Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” The price of redemption was paid by the death of Christ on the cross. He shed His blood, He died in our place, and as Isaiah 53:5, “upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” You want to be forgiven of sin, having your relationship with God restore? That can only come by a perfect sacrifice, a sacrifice who was truly God and sinless man (Colossians 2:9). No other religion has an atonement for sin. Even in the religions that claim to hold onto Christ’s work on the cross, when you add personal merit to the equation, you make the cross of Christ insufficient to actually make a person right with God! Paul continues His words in Romans 3:26 with, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” In Christianity God is just toward the sins of those who believe by punishing it upon Christ, and this able to justify sinners. This is again not earned but by his grace!

A Provided Righteousness

            The fact that Christianity is not by works and actually provides a means by which God can be just and the justifier of the one who believes upon Christ, is enough to differentiate it from the rest. No other religion has a just way for forgiveness. Man is just trying to get on their god’s good side, hoping he will just sweep their sin under the rug if they obey him enough. In Christianity, however, God forgives the sinner based on His grace, not by our merit, and He can do this justly because, for those who believe, Jesus will pay for every one of your sins. Jesus will justly pay for the record of debt through the cross and we can walk away free (Colossians 2:13-14).

            There is, however, one more thing that must be stated about the gospel’s uniqueness compared to the rest of the world’s religions. If God is truly a just judge, we not only need to be forgiven of sin, but we also need to be righteous to enter heaven! Heaven is God’s abode, and He will not let anyone in who is not righteous. Jesus said in Matthew 5:20 that we must be righteous (inward and outward) if we are to enter God’s kingdom. In Romans 3:9-12, Psalm 14, and Psalm 53 God says that no one is righteous! This is a problem. Not only can no other world religion offer a just forgiveness, they also cannot provide the righteousness necessary for a person to be with God! It isn’t a little righteousness that is acceptable, it is perfect righteousness (Matthew 5:48). So, how does anyone get right with God?

            Christianity is uniquely able to answer this question, for not only do we have a Savior who died to save us, but He also lived to save us! Jesus lived the life that we could not so that we could have His righteousness! Matthew 5:17 says that Jesus came to fulfill the Laws of God, not only this, but in Matthew 3:15, Jesus says he came to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus came to fulfill every righteous requirement God has entrance into heave, and He did this for us! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This is the great exchange, whereby God transfers the sin of His elect (those who believe upon Christ by God’s sovereign plan) upon Christ to atone for their unrighteousness and then He transfers the righteousness of Christ to the account of the sinner that they may have what is necessary to enter God’s home. No other religion has anything like this! In Christianity alone, we can have our sin paid for by Christ and His righteousness given to us by faith. Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, all who trust in Christ can be forgiven of sin by Christ’s work on the cross and give His righteousness for entrance to heaven. This is the power and message of the gospel!

Conclusion

            We started this by speaking of the problem religions try to answer. There is God, man, and an issue between God and man. How do we get right with God? Only Christianity can provide a solution to the problem. Only in Christianity are we saved by the grace of God and not by works. Only in Christianity can sin be justly paid for and forgiven, and only in Christianity can we be given the righteousness necessary to be with God forever. This is what makes Christianity different.