Salvation In No Other

Brethren, the world around us is seeing a rather alarming trend as it pertains to religious practices and beliefs. Those who describe themselves as generally religious or aligned with some religious denomination continues to decrease year after year, while on the flip side, those who claim to be atheists or that they don't align with any religious persuasion continues to be on the rise. Right alongside that trend, there's a concept that's growing among those who do call themselves religious. It's this declaration that all roads lead to God.

All roads lead to God. There's God who we all want to get to, but you can get to Him in a variety of different ways. If you're religious, that's great. Do the best you can, and all roads lead to God. It's the concept that is growing, particularly in the Christian segment of society around us today. I haven't heard of any Buddhists or Muslims that say, all roads lead to God. Everybody's pretty devout in their religious standing, but in the Christian world, there seems to be this trend that's moving over to that mindset.

In an October 10, 1998 article, so I'm going back 22 years now, so we know how long ago, this was openly proclaimed, and it's continued to move from this point, but in this October 10, 1998 article from the Christian News and Views newsletter stated the following. They say, quote, A fundamental tenet of all Christianity proclaims that none can inherit eternal life except through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it came as a great surprise when two major Christian denominations expressed the possibility of salvation apart from accepting Christ as Savior. You know, you can live a good life, be religious according to your determination, and yet still be saved, possibly apart from accepting Jesus Christ.

In a midnight call report of September 1998, the same article goes on to say, The Presbyterian Church considered how non-Christians, including Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists, you know, three groups of people that have a religious perspective but don't accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, okay, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists, how they might be destined for eternal life. The following month, Pope John Paul II stated that, quote, Right? You've got to be careful. Sometimes your conscience may seem to be clear, but is it in align with God's Word? But again, through the practice of what is good in their own religious traditions and following the dictates of their consciences, members of other religious religions positively respond to God's invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even though they may not recognize Him as their Savior.

I think that's a rather remarkable statement. You know, it's just stop and think about it. Members of other religions, the Pope said, positively respond to God's invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even though they may not recognize Him as their personal Savior. Again, this mindset, all roads lead to God. Be religious, be good in your faith, and ultimately, we all worship the same God. That's kind of the mindset and the trend. And the danger is, brethren, that the same mindset can begin to rub off on us, even in the Church of God.

You know, I've heard similar expressions to that note of, well, just do what you know to do as good as you can do it, and it'll all work out for the good. And sometimes the specifics of what God requires get lost in the details. So, what does the Bible have to say about these things? You know, do all roads really lead to God?

Do all religions respond positively to God's invitation to receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even if they don't proclaim Jesus Christ as their Savior? You know, it's me and God. I don't respond to Christ. I don't recognize Him as the one God sent, but He'll still give me salvation because I keep His commandments. Is that something that the Bible would teach? We're going to look today at what the Bible actually shows us regarding the importance of acknowledging Jesus Christ as the only way to salvation, and also what it says about those who would deny Him as such. And so, the title for the message today is, Salvation in No Other. And as we'll see, it's a biblical principle that is brought out time and time and time again.

I want to begin back in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah. I want to look at an Old Testament prophecy that actually points forward to the Messiah, who He would be, what He would fulfill according to what God had purpose for Him. Isaiah 49, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, so many of these prophets are full of messianic prophecies about the Messiah who would come.

We'll just look at one. It's just a snapshot here. One verse. Isaiah 49 and 6. Isaiah 49 verse 6, a messianic prophecy. It says, indeed He says that He is God. Indeed He says, it is too small a thing that you should be My servant. I shall raise up the tribes, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel.

God says, I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. What we have here is the Messiah who was prophesied before His human birth that He would be a servant of God. That He would become to this earth on behalf of God and He would be the one to bring the salvation of God to all nations. Not just the nation of Israel, but to the Gentiles, to the other nations of the earth as well.

In fact, this prophecy was first brought forth back in the book of Genesis. It was multiple places, but ultimately it leads up to God's promise to Abraham. That in you, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Of course, that's a prophecy pointing to the Messiah who would come through from His lineage. But that points forward from Genesis, and the ultimate fulfillment of all that God intends points forward even yet from our perspective today. One of the most famous scriptures in the book of John declares plainly how God put this plan into motion, and who His servant would be, and how this Messiahship would be exercised.

John chapter 3, this is what Christianity will quote as probably the most well-known scripture in Christianity. John chapter 3 and verse 16. This is here, we see how God put this plan into motion, and who His servant would be, what things would be fulfilled by this. John chapter 3 and verse 16 says, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

So what we have here is that salvation has been available now to all of mankind, not just any way you choose, not whatever path you would decide for yourself, but it was ordained from the foundation of the world that salvation would come through Jesus Christ only, as the salvation of God poured out upon the sons of men.

Verse 18, as we carry on, it says, He who believes in Him, believes in the Messiah and the Son of God, is not condemned, but He who does not believe is condemned already because He is not believed in the name of the only begotten of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

And so, you know, we could just close the book right there and call it a day. It's clear, it's plain. What we're going to see is that it was a fundamental core of the Church's teaching and continues to be today, but the fact is, apart from belief in Jesus Christ, the one who the Father sent, there is no opportunity for salvation. None. And it's what the Bible clearly reveals. You can't just be a good Buddhist, you can't just be a good Muslim, you can't even just be a good practicing Jew and receive salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, even if you don't recognize Him as Savior.

Salvation, reconciliation to God, which is, right, that sin being removed so we can be in a good and a proper relationship with our Heavenly Father, and comes by no other process than through the sacrifice and acknowledging that sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Verse 36, still in John chapter 3, says, He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him. Because, you see, his sin still abides. If you do not come under that sacrifice. So the answer is clear, the answer is plain and direct from the Scriptures themselves. Now, I've spoken before about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, and I'm not going to go through all of that today, but let's just say believing in Jesus Christ is more than simply saying the words, right?

Or even just calling the name. That is a portion of it, but the point is it also includes acknowledging the man behind the name. Who he was, how he lived, the message that he brought, the example that he set, and ultimately the sacrifice that he made on our behalf. Let's notice what Jesus Christ himself said as he walked the earth regarding his own role in salvation. John chapter 14 in verse 6. Hear the words of our Lord and Master, John 14 and verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. And from now on, you know him, and you have seen him. So by Jesus' own words, no one comes to the Father except through him. That's the only way. That's the only path. It's not by another avenue that you're going to approach God. You're not going to make an end run around Jesus Christ and be accepted by the Father because it is not what he has established to be so.

Jesus also said here in verse 6 that he is the way, the truth, and the life. And what I want you to notice is that he doesn't say, I'm showing you the way, the truth, and the life. Although he did do that, right, by his example. But the point that he is making here is he's not just saying, go that way. He's not just standing there pointing you, go that way. He says, I am the way. I am the truth. And I am the life. He's saying that the way to God and eternal salvation is by him.

He is the truth of God personified. And he is the life. And contained in him is the same eternal life. And the life he was a, you know, as the Father's life in himself, he's given to the Son to have life in himself and is a life we will receive. And the way to that life is by him as well. And so apart from Jesus Christ, we don't have access to those things. Your similar wording in John chapter 10 and verse 9, Jesus states, I am the door.

And if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. So again, he's not saying, there's the door, you know, down the hall, third door to the right. He's saying, I am the door. You enter unto salvation by me. Clearly, there is no such truth as many roads lead to God. And the only way to a reconciled relationship with the Father is through the Son whom he sent. When his close friend Lazarus died, Jesus told Martha, again, this is similar wording, I am the resurrection and the life.

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. That's John chapter 11 verse 25. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And so we begin to gain a deeper understanding into the fact that salvation doesn't come by simply repeating belief in a name. It starts there. It includes that.

A number of years ago, when I was running my landscape business, I had a customer. I remember one day, it was a woman. She came out to visit with me, and she had tears in her eyes. She said, my daughter stood up in church this week and said, Jesus is Lord. And she saved. Her daughter was 9, 10, 11 years old, as I recall.

But she was just welling up with tears. My daughter saved. She said, Jesus is Lord. But we understand that's not all there is to this process. There is the proclamation of the name of Jesus Christ, but it comes with admitting and coming under that sacrifice, acknowledging what was paid on our behalf for the remission of sins, entering into the covenant with God through baptism.

That is what we must do. We must recognize the humble servant who came to give his life a ransom for many. Let's look at an exchange that Jesus had with the Jewish leadership of his day and see how their denial of him put them on dangerous ground. John chapter 8 and verse 12.

John chapter 8 and verse 12 says, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Again, it's not just that he's shining a light on the path. He is the light of the world. Verse 19. Then they said to him, Where is your father? And Jesus answered, saying, You know neither me nor my father. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. How many times did he say things like, My father and I are one?

And if you've seen me, you've seen the father who sent me. It was a declaration of the inseparable relationship that those two beings share. But they're saying, Who are you? We don't know you. And Christ says, You don't know my father either. And if you had known him, you'd know me. And if you know me, you would know him. This is the character that we are. Verse 20.

These words Jesus spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one laid hands on them for his hour had not yet come. Verse 21. Then Jesus said to them again, I'm going away, and you shall seek me, and will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come. So the Jews said, Will he kill himself?

Because he says, Where I go, you cannot come. And he said to them, You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world, but I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins.

For if you do not believe that I am, the he here is in italics, it's added in, but it's implied. If you do not believe that I am, I am he, you will die in your sins. If you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the one who the Father sent as the Messiah, as the Savior of the world, Christ says, Where I'm going, you can't come. If you lack that faith, you will die in your sins, because there is salvation in no other way.

The Father had sent the Son to do his will, and all those who rejected the Son rejected as well the Father who had sent him also. Now, as we jump forward into the beginning of the New Testament Church, we see the same principles regarding salvation preached by the apostles as well. And not only were they preached, but they were preserved, they were defended, because there was constant challenge to the assumption, or there wasn't an assumption, the declaration that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. He was the one that God had sent, and he had died for the remission of their sins. Let's go to Acts 4. It's the apostles' defense of this.

Acts 4, the context here, the apostles were now called before the Jewish leadership because they had healed the man who was lame in the name of Jesus Christ. And they were preaching at the temple salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. And there were a few people around who just really didn't like that very much. They had killed this guy. What were these people doing out there now proclaiming a gospel in his name? Acts 4 and verse 5.

Peter, John, and perhaps others. When they set them in their midst, they asked, by what power or by what means have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel. You know, this is the leadership of the people of Israel, high priest, right? Which was actually a political appointment in an office that could be bought at that time. But these were supposedly the spiritual leaders of physical covenant people of God.

People and elders of Israel, if this day we are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be made known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him, this man stands before you whole. Again, it said he was filled with the Spirit when he cried out and proclaimed attribution here to the name of Jesus Christ. Verse 11, this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone, nor is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Pretty direct, isn't it? No other name. Salvation in no other. The apostles in the early church understood this concept clearly, and they taught it boldly as part of the gospel message despite the opposition that they faced from the Jewish leadership in their day. Again, they had killed Jesus Christ. They had crucified him. They were hoping they were done with that man and his teachings. And now you have this church that came about as a result of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2. Now they are proclaiming a gospel of salvation through his name. The message of Jesus Christ remains one of the reasons that Satan opposes the preaching of the gospel even today, because it contains the message of salvation in no other. And the message he would like to promote is, many paths lead to God. Or you know what? You can have salvation if you're a good Buddhist, or you're a good Muslim, or you're a good Jew, apart from the salvation that comes in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You don't really need to believe what this word says. That is what Satan would like to promote, and it is what the church fought against from the beginning. And it is what is contained within the basis and the foundation of the gospel message that salvation has come. The Father is inviting you into his kingdom by the way of his Son in his sacrifice. But there's an adversary to that message, and frankly, there was a deception that began to spring up right off the bat in the church, and it continues and will continue to the end of the age. The gospel message that the church carries today stands in direct opposition to that heresy. So I say, don't let anyone talk you out of boldly proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God. It is what the church has done from the beginning. Verse 18 says, So they called them, they commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. Would you just be quiet? Would you just shut up about this guy? He's sealed, he's put away, and now you're walking a fine line. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge, who we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard.

When the Bible talks about preaching the gospel as a witness, a witness is somebody who is called to the stand, right? And they testify to what they've seen and heard. And that's what John said, that's what Peter said, that's what Paul said, that's what they all said. We cannot refrain from proclaiming that as a witness, these things we have seen and heard. Verse 21, so when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. And that's the point, isn't it? Right? God gets the glory. It's all to God's glory what he has done. It is God who receives the glory from the things that are done in the name of Jesus Christ. Faith in his name. Salvation that comes through his sacrifice and through his name is to the glory of God because it is what the Father has done to reconcile his children to himself. And so, this is the role that Jesus Christ fulfills. It is one that by faith in his name, people would come to worship and to praise God. And the glory goes to God.

Worship gears a bit now and then move into a direction that begins to highlight some of these scriptures and breaks the concepts basically down into two categories. I want to look at scriptures pertaining to the confession of Jesus Christ. That will be one category. And then scriptures that address the denial of Jesus Christ as Savior because they're both extensive throughout the New Testament. And the apostles had a lot to say about those things. We'll just hit some of the highlights today. Let's see what they had to say about confessing Jesus Christ as Messiah and acknowledging his name. How important is that confession? I mean, how significant is it really? Let's see what the Bible has to say. Let's begin first with what the Apostle Paul had to say. Romans chapter 10, verse 1. Romans chapter 10 and verse 1. And again, brethren, my point today is to solidify in our minds all roads do not lead to God. The salvation that comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ does not become applied to those who don't acknowledge it and don't accept that sacrifice. Romans chapter 10 and verse 1. Paul says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. You know, that could be written to describe our own country, couldn't it? In the world we live in today, people profess and claim a zeal for God, but their zeal is not according, in most cases, to knowledge, the knowledge that is contained in the Word of God.

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. Verse 3. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. You know, the law and ultimately the penalty of breaking the law and the death and what it would take to be brought out of that, because sacrifice was also contained in the law, it pointed to Jesus Christ.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness, which is of the law, that the man who does these things shall live by them, but the righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. He says, but what does it say? It says, the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith which we preach. It's the gospel. It's the words that we confess with our mouth, that we believe in our heart through faith. Verse 9, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Again, it's the only path to salvation of God through Jesus Christ by faith in His name. And it's not just automatically applied to those who would refuse to acknowledge Him as such.

Again, verse 9, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame, and there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. Verse 13, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Paul takes an Old Testament Scripture and he brings it forward and he attributes it to Jesus Christ in the New.

Again, verse 13, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him who they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? You know, the challenge to the early church, it wasn't the fact that no one had ever heard of or believed in God. Right? The church sprung out of originally Jerusalem and in the Jewish people of that region, and it spread out from there. But the challenge of the church was not that people didn't know who God was or had never heard of Him, and therefore they had to go out and proclaim God. No, the point was they had to go out and proclaim Jesus Christ because the Jews understood the concept of God clearly. The one they rejected and denied was Jesus Christ. And so the challenge came in proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ to many who had not heard or believed. The Messiah has come. He has died. He has risen. And salvation now is available. Additionally, it wasn't calling on the name of God that separated the early church from the Jewish community around them as different. They did call on the name of God. We call on the name of God. But what? So did the Jews. What separated the church as different from the Jews? It wasn't calling on the name of God. It was calling on the name of Jesus Christ, which they did. Let's notice how Paul opens his greetings to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1.

Is it an evangelical concept to call on the name of Jesus Christ?

1 Corinthians 1, verse 1. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and sausages our brother. To the church of God, which is at Corinth. To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Sanctified means you've been set apart. That describes the church. The church has been those who are set aside, sanctified through Jesus Christ by His sacrifice. You're sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.

The saints here are identified by the apostle Paul as those who call on the name of Jesus Christ. A saint is someone with God's Holy Spirit, where God, the Father and Jesus Christ dwell in that person by the Spirit. This was the church. And the saints of the church were calling not only in the name of God, but on the name of Jesus Christ as well. In Acts 11, verse 26, it states that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Acts 11, 26, the disciples were first called Christians... I gave myself away there... Christians in Antioch. Why were they first called Christians or Christians?

Because the title was due to their identity as followers and proclaimers of Jesus Christ, and He was contained in that message. We have to understand the balance of the Word of God and the New Testament, that He is the one who the Father sent. He is the one who is being proclaimed to the glory of the Father. And the fact is, if you want a reconciled relationship with God, there is no other way but through Him. And they were first called Christians at Antioch. By the way, that's where that name started at first, but it spread and carried out from there. To call upon the name of someone beyond a verbal declaration of their name means to practice a particular way of life that identifies you with that person. That you're associated with that person. You know, you could declare the name of Jesus Christ, okay? But also your actions by truly calling out and declaring that name means you practice a particular way of life that identifies you with that person and causes you to stand out as unique, which is what took place with the church. You're first called Christians at Antioch. Paul also clearly understood the concept of calling on the name of Jesus Christ as well because he had persecuted those who had done so. Right prior to his conversion, what did Paul do? After the stoning of Stephen, Paul went out still breathing threats against the church. And what you can see if you read through that account, he hunted them down, he imprisoned them, he consented to their deaths. Those who called on that name, that's how he identified them.

Paul clearly understood the concept of calling on the name of Jesus Christ, but you see, after he was struck down on the road to Damascus, he had a change of heart in that regard as well. And he now understood the value of the same confession. Again, 1 Corinthians 1-2, to the saints who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. I didn't put in my notes, but I was this week looking at Acts 9, I believe it was, where Paul was struck down and blinded and converted, we would say. And then God tells Ananias to go lay hands on Saul. He was Saul the destroyer, right, before he was called Paul. Go lay hands on him, and things like scales came from his eyes, his vision returned, he received God's Holy Spirit. But what did Ananias say when God said, you go find Saul? And he told him where to find him. He's like, I've heard of this man, and how he persecutes those who call on your name. Go read the context. It was the Lord Jesus Christ in the context who was conversing with Ananias and who had struck Saul down on the road to Damascus. And he was persecuting those who called on the name of Jesus Christ. And so it's amazing, brethren, when you study through the Scriptures, and you see how much focus and emphasis the apostles actually put on him. Again, we're looking for the balance in the Scripture. And, you know, I try to go through the Bible cover to cover once a year. Just finished up here about a week and a half ago. Some of it I read, some of it I listen to audio while I'm in the car. I had a block of time recently, and I listened to the Acts and the Epistles, all within, you know, a several-hour block when I was out and I had time to just listen to them. And I encourage you sometime, if you have the stamina, read through Acts 1 and 2 Corinthians, all the writings of Paul, the writings of Peter, the writings of John, in one swoop. And what you're going to notice is the focus, the emphasis on Jesus Christ, on the Messiah, on the Savior. Why?

The apostles are evangelical. You know, were the apostles Pentecostal? The apostles Christ-centered instead of God-centered? No. But what we come to understand is they understood the role that Jesus Christ played in salvation and reconciliation to God, and that was the message that the church brought out in the spread. You can be reconciled to your Creator God, come under the sacrifice of the Messiah whom he sent. So, when the deacon Stephen was being stoned to death, and he cried out with his dying breath, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, was he out of line? He's going to have something to repent of, something to apologize for, or was it not, in fact, the understanding as he could see Jesus Christ in the glory of God in the heavens understand that his life was now being given up into their hands? So, again, why all the focus on Jesus Christ throughout the New Testament? I made a small list, and you could add to it easily, but let me give you just a few thoughts here.

There's a lot of focus on Jesus Christ, because he is the one who the Father sent to be the propitiation for our sins, as in the sacrifice, the one who literally died to receive the penalty of our sins in our place. That's huge, and it's fundamental to our faith. Why so much focus on him? He is the mediator between God and men. He is the mediator of the New Covenant. You and I would not be able to enter into this covenant relationship with God the Father apart from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is our high priest. He sits at the right hand of God, making intercession for us. And so it's not like we look to the Messiah as, okay, he died. We acknowledge he died for us. We come under a sacrifice. Now we can leave that relationship behind and move on to the next with God. Now, the fact is, Jesus Christ is our high priest, is our mediator, as our intercessor, is a part of the relationship that we have with the Father by the Father's direction. He is our elder brother. He showed us the way. He is the bridegroom. You know, Paul says that, you know, I want to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. That's what he said to the church. And just think of a woman who's engaged to be married. You know, she has the ring on her fingers. She's planning the wedding, and there's excitement. Does she not talk about the bridegroom, her fiancé? Does she not take that time to learn about him, who he is, how she can prepare herself to be the perfect companion for the one who will be her husband? And so, we have all throughout the New Testament from the writers here who Jesus Christ was, what he did for us, what God sent him to do for us, but also who it is that we must become. So we can be children of the living God and the bride of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And there's a lot to focus on in that. They focus on him because he was the example, he is the living head of the church, he is the chief apostle, and because God the Father has ordained it to his own glory. And again, it keeps coming back to that, doesn't it? To the glory of God.

Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9. Let's notice Paul's words here. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9. I'm not going to read the whole run-up to this, but it basically tells us Christ came in the form of man, he died, he was resurrected. Verse 9, Therefore God also has highly exalted him, given him a name which is above every name, that that a name of Jesus every knee should bow. Why would a knee bow? It's honor, it's reverence, it's an acknowledgment of the authority of the one you bow the knee to as an act of worship.

That the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, those on the earth. By the way, those in heaven would be the angelic realm. Those on the earth, those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Again, it's confessing, it's acknowledging the name and the individual that we come under, but it is to the glory of God the Father. And that's what it's about. What God does and what he's done through the salvation of Jesus Christ is to his glory.

And so when you focus on the true Jesus of the Bible, you're focusing on someone who's pointing you to a reconciled relationship to his Father in heaven. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 tells us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. We might say, well, he's the author of our faith, right? He wrote the book on salvation. He came and died and showed us the way.

But it also says he is the finisher or the perfecter of our faith. This is an ongoing process by which both the Father and the Son are involved. Salvation is available, not to those who have their focus elsewhere, but to those who look to Jesus Christ, confessing him as their Lord and Master, to those who come under his sacrifice through baptism, and to those who aren't ashamed to call upon his name to the glory of God.

And again, I can only express it so many times, but the balance isn't in what I would say. The balance isn't in what somebody else would say. The balance is in what the Word of God would say. And Jesus Christ was central to the focus of teaching of the apostles to the glory of God. Jesus Christ is central to God's plan of salvation for all of mankind. But in the end, it all points us to God and the glorious his. So that's confessing on one hand, and we just hit a few highlights.

What about denying Jesus Christ? That would be the opposite of confessing his name. Denying Jesus Christ. Can you deny Jesus Christ and still obtain salvation through his sacrifice, as some would proclaim? All roads lead to God. Don't have to acknowledge his Son.

What does the Bible say about denying him? Let's look at Jesus' own words, Matthew 10, verse 32. Matthew 10 and verse 32. He says, Are you a believer? What does that mean? Well, I have come under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. My sins have been forgiven. I'm reconciled to God through him. That is the confession, and we confess by how we live our lives as well.

But again, Matthew 10, 32. So according to his own words, you can't be someone who denies him or rejects him as Savior as the one that God sent and still be acceptable to God. You can't make that end run around Jesus Christ somehow or be convicted in your faith, and that applies.

There's only one way, through that confession. We won't turn there, but Luke 10, verse 16. Luke 10, verse 16. Jesus also states, So it's actually a rejection of the Father to reject the Son and to not acknowledge Him as Savior. The denial of Jesus Christ is one of the big issues that the church had to continually combat against throughout the New Testament record.

We saw it in Acts. The disciples healed in His name. They preached in His name, and they were drugged before the leadership of the Jews and said, Just stop it. Forget the name. We don't want to hear of it again. And that confession of Jesus Christ was something that they had to defend ongoing throughout the biblical record of the New Testament church. Again, we saw it in Acts. We also see it in Paul's writings, this denial that they're pushing back against. 2 Timothy 2, verse 8.

2 Timothy 2, beginning in verse 8. Paul says, Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. This was the message they were preaching. For which I suffered trouble as an evildoer and even to the point of chains. It was interesting. Paul was persecuting those who proclaimed Jesus Christ, and now at the end of his life, right? He is the one who was bound in chains for the gospel's sake. He says, But the word of God is not chained. It won't be restrained. The gospel won't be bound because, you know what? It is the word of God, not the word of men. Verse 10. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Carrying on, verse 11, this is a faithful saying. For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself. Jesus Christ knows who He is, what His purpose was that His Father sent Him for. And man may deny Him, but He cannot deny Himself, and He won't apologize for who He is.

We see it in Peter's writings as well, the defense of salvation in the Messiah. Again, so much that occurred, and we're just hitting a snapshot overview, but so much what occurred in the church was a defense against those who would come in and say, that's not your Messiah. That's not the one who God was going to send. There's no remission of sins from Him. He is illegitimate. Don't you know? Who is His Father anyway? They were constantly defending against this, because this is the means by which God was bringing salvation to the world. Of course, there would be opposition in this world. Let's notice Peter's words, 2 Peter 2 and verse 1. It says, The word here, Lord, in this verse is not keros, as what is commonly translated, Lord, in the New Testament. It is actually despotese. We get the word despot from this word. It means master. Denying the master who bought them. Sometimes there's this conversation that can go back and forth about who bought us out of our sins. Was it God the Father? The answer is yes. Was it Jesus Christ? The answer is yes. God redeemed us from death by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, as well. He was the redemption, but He also redeemed us through His death. And I'll just give you a couple references to that. Galatians 3, 13. Galatians 3, 13. Galatians 3, 13.

Revelation 5, 9. There's, you know, who is worthy to open the scroll, and there's no one worthy except the Lamb. Revelation 5, 9. And so the contest, the push into the church was to bring in a gospel denying Jesus Christ, denying His Messiahship, His legitimacy. It was something that was constantly creeping in from the Jewish segment around that contested against saying, again, He was illegitimate. You know, He was not the one whom God would send, and there's not really salvation through Him. He was born of fornication. And the other element that came in, not from the Jewish necessarily end of things, but from the enlightened Gnostic mentality that was around them as well, in the case of the Gnostics, Jesus wasn't really there in the flesh. He was a phantom, because, you see, God can't touch flesh, because all flesh is inherently evil. So Jesus Christ didn't really come in the flesh. He was a ghost, He was a phantom, He was a vision, whatever you wanted to say. And He didn't really die. Therefore, your salvation is out the window. And these two directions is what the Church defended and the Apostles defended against time and time again, the continual heresy of the denial of Jesus Christ. The Apostle John, who lived beyond the rest of the Apostles, wrote of this denial as well. And he wrote of some of these last books that we have recorded for us. And he even gave that denial a name. He labeled it the Spirit of Antichrist. 1 John 2, verse 18.

1 John 2, verse 18. John says, It is the last hour. And as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come by which we know it is the last hour. He says, it's not just that there is the Antichrist that is coming. He says, there's many that have come already. Try to overthrow your faith in this one. Verse 19. John says, With this, you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I've covered this before. The anointing is the Holy Spirit. It is the rubbing in, the unction of the Spirit of God that we have in us. John says, You have knowledge of these things by that Spirit. Verse 21.

We're talking about denial as opposed to confession. He was a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. The Word of God here, brethren, is clear. All roads do not lead to God. All religions do not receive the salvation, that is, through Jesus Christ, if they deny Him, if they refuse to acknowledge Him. By denying Him, they're denying the Father, and there is no reconciliation. There's no forgiveness of sins. The bar cannot be lowered. It can't be adjusted. In fact, we see that God the Father Himself gave a direct commandment, that this acknowledgement would go to His Son. Let's go just across the page. First John chapter 3, verse 22 and 23.

First John 3, 22 and 23. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, from God the Father, because we keep His commandments. And those things are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, this is God's commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment. And so, brethren, the Word of God is clear. Again, these roads do not all lead to Him. You can't be a good Muslim, a good Buddhist, a good practicing Jew. The fact is, the Word does show, if you just say, I'm going to live by the Old Testament, it will give you a good life. There is blessings for living according to the commandments of God. But the wages of sin is death, and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The Old Covenant never offered salvation unto eternal life as a condition of that covenant. The New Covenant does. But you only enter that through the gate, through the door, and by the way. No man can lower the bar, no man can change the standard that God has established, and it is a standard that is to His glory.

Let's conclude in Hebrews 9.

Hebrews 9, verse 27.

Hebrews 9 and verse 27. As it has been appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. So Christ was offered once the bare the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, do we eagerly, I hope we do, wait for the return of Jesus Christ, for the bridegroom, the one whom we will marry upon that reunion? For those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. And brethren, that absolute truth must be our hope and our confidence.