THINK ABOUT THIS: Do You Want a Relationship With God or a Religion of Man?

There are among the world’s religions only two basic paths to eternal salvation. The most prevalent one is some variation on human works, on earning salvation by living a good life, however that is defined.

Christianity is fundamentally different from all other religions because it is in fact not a religion at all. Instead of rules to follow and thereby earn salvation, followers of Jesus have a saving, eternal relationship with Him in Heaven and that salvation is by God’s grace, not man’s works.

In Islam, for example, one’s eternal destiny is determined by how well the Sharia Law is followed. The idea is that there is no such thing as sin, but rather every individual chooses whether to follow Sharia or not.

According to Surah 35:7, how any particular person does in this regard is not finally known until the final judgement when Allah hands out a “severe punishment” to those who didn’t do it well and “a great reward” for those who did.

In Hinduism, there have been multiple deities and many paths to what is regarded in this ancient religion as a kind of salvation. According to Punjab University Professor Tahira Basharat, there are in modern Hinduism three paths to salvation, all being based on some variation of human works:

“The Way of Works- karma marga, is the path to salvation through religious duty. The Way of Knowledge- another way of achieving salvation in the Hindu sense is the way of knowledge. The way of devotion- bhakti, is chronologically the last of the three ways of salvation. It is that devotion to a deity which may be reflected in acts of worship, both public and private.”

Christianity is all about the grace of God and His gift of salvation through being “born again” that creates within the believer a new heart. As Paul the Apostle explains in II Corinthians 5:17: ““Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. . ”

In the following scene from “The Chosen,” Jesus explains the new birth to Nicodemus, the Pharisee, who came to Him in secret with many questions:

The problem that man cannot fix on his own efforts is that of Original Sin. If you have ever felt a desire to seek revenge against a colleague who you thought injured you in some way, or taken something that wasn’t yours, or told one of those “little white lies” that “didn’t really hurt anybody,” then you know what sin is.

If you work on Capitol Hill as a congressional aide and would like to know more about these matters, or get answers to your questions, it would be my honor to sit down with you for a totally off-the-record, private and confidential, and non-judgemental discussion. Just email me at mark.tapscott@hillfaith.org and we’ll schedule it.

In the meantime, here’s some more HillFaith posts that you will find helpful:

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Why Would God Punish Jesus For My Sins?

Why I Believe: Two Unshakeable Reasons I Know Jesus Is Lord

Why Is Jesus The Only Way To Heaven?