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You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to come, Dave and Tom resume their weekly in-depth study of the Doctrine of Salvation, please stay with us. Now:
CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
In this regular feature, Dave and Tom address questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call, here’s this week’s question: Dear Dave and Tom: One of the biggest problems I have when trying to share my biblical beliefs with non Christians, is when I tell them that Jesus is the only way to be reconciled to God. Many of them cannot accept the exclusiveness of Christianity and balk at the idea that God would not accept the billions of sincere people in other religions. What can I tell them?
Tom:
Dave, this issue of God, the God of the Bible, claiming, which He does over and over again, that He is he only way, that His gospel is the only gospel, the only possible way for mankind to be saved, Jesus is the only way. Jesus said: “I am the way the truth and the life, no man come to the Father but by Me.” We have verse after verse, plus we have man, the condition of man, as we explained in the first segment, beyond hope. Only God can step in and do this, and He has, the Cross took place 2,000 years ago. Jesus paid the full penalty for our sins. Yet we are finding, if you remember, a number of weeks ago there was the PU Foundation that did a survey, and somewhere between 53 and 57 %, I think it was 57% of evangelicals claimed that they believed there was more than one way to God than biblical Christianity.
Dave:
Well, Tom, you could claim that all you want, you can claim: Well, I don’t think the Law of Gravity really works everywhere. How about, let’s fly over this spot and now I’ll jump out of an airplane without a parachute and you’ll see the Law of Gravity— No, well, there’s got to be some exceptions, I mean, you can’t— Tom, just let me give you an example. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this at least for a long time. There is a law called the Law of Biogenesis, it is a law, okay. It’s accepted by everyone, they don’t deny it, and it says: Life only comes from life. Okay? Let me quote George Wall, Nobel Prize winning scientist, a Harvard professor. He says: Yeah, we know that this Law of Biogenesis, we all accept that, and you can’t violate that, but I mean, look, it says life only comes from life, and if you accept that, then the only way you’re going to get life is from life and that’s pointing to a supernatural act of God, and we will not accept God! Okay? Now you can say, What about the heathen who never heard about this?
Tom:
Billions, and Dave, just to interject this, you mentioned Rick Warren, he’s a
Davos in the world economic forum, and one of his points that he is making, in terms of his global peace plan is that people of faith, all religions, they constitute 5/6 th of the world’s population. Now these are people of faith, Dave, you’re telling me God has just written off billions and billions of people? It’s hard for people to accept that.
Dave:
Yeah, let’s deal with that, because it’s a question often asked, it seems so unfair. Well, have not they heard, the Bible says yes, the heavens declare the glory of God. This language has gone everywhere, okay. Now, everyone knows from the testimony of the universe it didn’t happen by chance, everybody knows that! These atheistic scientists know it, they are trying every way they can to deny this. I mean, you want to take the space program, what’s the basis for the space program? We’re going to find life somewhere out there, and we’re going to show them that there is not uniqueness to this earth, and it could have happened by natural means. The basis of all their programs is—why are they digging up this world everywhere, like Malikis, or whoever it is. They are determined they are going to find somewhere, some evidence it’s not true—God didn’t create man in His image, He didn’t create this universe. Tom, I’ve studied this so much until it comes out of my ears, it makes me sick. What is the whole thing about? Atheism! We’ve got to somehow prove God doesn’t exist. It is in the heavens, it is everywhere, and the Bible says they are all without excuse. Now does that include the savage in the South Pacific island or somewhere, never heard about Jesus. No, it’s in his conscience, and Romans chapter 2 tells us that the law of God has been written in every human conscience! Everybody knows they’ve sinned that they cannot possibly—everybody knows you can’t wipe the slate clean. You can’t wipe out sin by doing good deeds, it won’t work. Try it with a judge. Judge, I promise, scouts honor, let me off this time, I’ll never ever, ever break the law again. The judge says, well what do we do about the fact that you have already broken the law. If you keep the law perfectly from now on, which you couldn’t, you don’t get extra credit for that, that’s what you are required to do. And you know it in your conscience, everyone knows it. So Tom, I’m sorry, I waxed a little bit hot about that, but this is so common that people believe and accept and they use it as an excuse.
Tom:
Dave, going back to—you were talking about atheists—what about the people of faith, all the different religions in the world, those who think that they are moving toward God, or being drawn toward God, or seeking God out.
Dave:
It’s written in their conscience, they know they can’t do it, it’s in every human conscience. So Tom, they are also trying by good works, whatever it is—
Tom:
Sacrifices, rituals, you name it.
Dave:
Call it whatever you will. And that Rick Warren would fall into this trap as others have, people of faith. Pat Robertson had it oh let’s get all people of faith together.
Tom:
President Bush?
Dave:
Yeah, people of faith, what do you mean, faith, what kind of faith, Buddhists, Hindu, Muslim? So Tom, we’ve done away with the gospel—I am THE way, THE truth, THE life, no man comes to the Father but by Me. And Christians, in the name of Christ have done away with this, and now we are really in trouble, in the church and in the world.
