Part 4 is the last in this series. Again thanks to Robert Mendelson.
Here’s more examples supporting non-judgment of other religions…
The Greatest Commandment
Mark 12:28-34;
28 One of the teachers…asked,
“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this:
‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
31 The second is this:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied.
“You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.
33 To love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding and with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him,
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Which Christian, were he or she to discover Hinduism was the only path to
salvation, wouldn’t want their parents to be saved, even though they’d died
“unbelievers”? Wouldn’t we pray to our new deity they’d somehow be saved?
Wouldn’t we ask fellow Hindus to pray for the souls of our families?
Romans 2:12-16 spells it out. You’ve seen the preceding parables. How can
any Christian deny Christ and Abraham by not begging God for salvation of
those of other faiths? Can we say we’ve taken in Christ’s gospel, that we’re
“in Christ”, when we choose to cast aside his grace and mercy for others?
Jesus and the apostles warned theology would be tainted by false teaching.
We shouldn’t be surprised their prophetic words have come to pass. We show
true faith in Jesus if we follow through on that faith in thoughts and deeds.
Our hearts must be changed so we, like Abraham, pray others are saved just
as they are. Then, we are Abraham’s spiritual heirs. If not, then we are no
better than present-day “Pharisees”, “Sadducees”, and “teachers of the law.”
As it is written…Matthew 12:7, Jesus;
If you had known what these words mean,
‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’
you would not have condemned the innocent.”
The Parable of the Merciless Servant
Matthew 23-35, Jesus;
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle
accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed
him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay,
the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had
be sold to repay the debt. 26 “The servant fell on his knees before him.
‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him.
‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead,
he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly
distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in.
‘You wicked servant,’ he said,
‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured,
until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you
unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
While this parable primarily concerns forgiveness, it may also be applied to salvation.
The “servant of God” who was doomed was redeemed by Christ, his debt paid off
with Christ’s life. Yet the merciless servant won’t plead to God people of other
faiths be saved, both those alive and those who’ve died. His ransom is paid and he’ll
accept that, but he’s willing to have the law applied literally for other people, who
by his belief must be thrown into hell (prison). He didn’t stop to think what the
situation might be like for other people. They’re “sinners” getting their “just”
punishment. He doesn’t realize he just pronounced his own sentence at the
Judgment. Woe unto him. He doesn’t understand God loves all his children.
Nor does he understand that Christ is the Good Shepherd, who cares so much
for each of his sheep he had Paul write the Narrow Gate with such precision.
Nor does he understand the spirit of love and mercy throughout Christ’s gospel
and the parables you’ve just read. He must not have read Psalm 7, either,
or applied it to himself…
Psalm 7:14-15;
14 He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble
gives birth to disillusionment.
15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made.”
Circumcision represents traditions or customs which appear to confer
righteousness upon those who have these “signs”, while indicating those who
do not have such “signs” are spiritually lacking. It could just as well be any
of various forms of baptism, recital of creeds, fasting, abstinence,
or other traditional symbols of righteousness.
Romans 4:11, Paul;
And he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.
So then,
he is the father of all who believe [in their hearts and acts],
but have not been circumcised [or been baptized, or recited a particular creed],
in order that righteousness might be credited to them.”
Abraham’s faith was proved by loving his neighbors, not by being circumcised
or any other ritual. Because God is in our neighbors, by acting as he did Abraham
showed utmost respect to God, and God appreciated it.
Matthew 7:12, Jesus;
So in everything [including your theology, and what you say],
do to others[including members of other religions] what you would have them do to you,
for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
James 2:8-13;
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture,
“Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
9 But if you show favoritism,
you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
13 because judgment without mercy
will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.
Mercy triumphs over judgment!”
If God teaches us to be this way, the Almighty must be that way, too.
Does it make sense God would teach us to be another way? If God is merciful,
why condemn ourselves by rejecting His grace for all good-hearted people.
1 Corinthians 7:19-20, 23-24, Paul;
19 Circumcision [as representing one religion] is nothing
and uncircumcision [as representing another religion] is nothing.
Keeping God’s commands [to love one another] is what counts.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men[and wicked theology].
24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God,
should remain in the [spiritual] situation [i.e., religion] God called him to.”
1 Corinthians 7:24 raises an issue which must be addressed. Verse 24
advises people to stay in their present religion, provided it meets the standard
set by Matthew 7:12 and James 2:8. This may appear to threaten growth for
churches. If people of other faiths are “saved”, what’s the purpose of churches?
Will people come to church anymore? Clergy need not worry, provided they teach
God’s full gospel. Churches will continue to play a vital role in bettering humanity.
However, prophecy says churches who teach a satanic gospel of separateness
and unfair judgment are destined to fail. We’ll take a look at these prophecies
in a later book, God willing. A representative sample of these prophecies is
Christ’s messages to the seven churches in Revelation2:1-3:21. Christians must
repent and teach the full gospel, including the Narrow Gate, Romans 2:12-16.
We must not be proud, or Jesus will tell us…
Matthew 15:3-4, 6, Jesus;
3 “And why do you break the command of God
for the sake of your [theology] tradition [that ignores Romans 2:12-16]?
4 For God said,…”
Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus; 37
…” ‘Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 15:3-4, 6, cont.; [and]
4 “…’Honor your father and mother’…”
[…and your neighbors’ fathers and mothers, too]
4, cont.; “…and
‘Anyone who curses his father or mother[or their neighbors’]
must be put to death.’
6 …Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”
Matthew 23:15, Jesus;
“Woe to you,
[whichever “fundamentalist”, “evangelical” “Christians” reject these words],
you hypocrites!
You travel over land and sea to win a single convert,
and when he becomes one,
you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”
The world is in distress. Terrorism. Iraq. God doesn’t want religion turning
Christians against Muslims, and vice-versa. Were this actually necessary for
salvation it would be God’s will and must be done. But disregarding God’s
grace of the Narrow Gate is choosing to serve Satan. This is what Jesus was
saying to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:15 and to those who require others to
curse their parents as a prerequisite to their own salvation. Don’t judge or
condemn other faiths. If God left a Narrow Gate permitting entry at the final
moment for people of other faiths, other faiths must also have something of
value. Otherwise God would have shown favoritism, because non-Christians
wouldn’t have received fair preparation for spiritual growth before the Judgment.
At the Tower of Babel, God scattered humanity because we had become too
powerful, yet weren’t spiritually ready for such power. To reunite us after we
learned what we needed to learn, God gave each group a unique aspect of
spiritual knowledge, the sum total of which is necessary to rebuild the Tower,
but this time the “right” way–Creator’s way.
1 Peter 2:4-5;
4 As you come to him, the living Stone [Christ]–
rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him–
5 you also, like living stones,
are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,
offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
To regain the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth we must fully accept Christ’s
gospel. We must live the gospel and love each other, not judge and condemn.
If we want others to understand us, the Golden Rule says we must try to
understand other viewpoints. If we follow Jesus’ advice to seek knowledge,
the door to the “Way of Holiness” connecting all faiths through Christ will be
opened wide for us, and peace wil prevail on earth. All faiths have spiritual
gifts we must all learn, if we wish to know God.
John 12:32, Jesus;
But I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men to myself.”
Christians have assumed because others must come to Christ, that Christians
have no need for other sacred sources and should avoid them. That assumes
prophets of other religions are frauds and God didn’t love all peoples enough to
give each a valid path to salvation. That belief denies Christ and his words…
Mark 9:38-40;
38 “Teacher,” said John,
“we saw a man driving out demons in your name
and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
39 “Do not stop him,”
Jesus said.
“No one who does a miracle in my name
can in the next moment say anything bad about me,
40 for whoever is not against us is for us.”
The Bible is a spiritual work, meant to be understood spiritually. Remember
as you read the next passage that spiritual “slavery” is bondage of the heart
and mind to sinful thought, such as harmful theology, not physical chains.
1 Corinthians 7:23-24, Paul;
23 You were bought at a price;
do not become slaves of men [and their wicked theology].
24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God,
should remain in the [spiritual] situation [i.e., religion] God called him to.”
Galatians 5:6, Paul;
For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
John 14:2, Jesus;
In my Father’s house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.”
Revelation 3:19, Jesus;
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.
So be earnest, and repent.”
Focus on important things. Does the religion respect life? Every individual?
The Earth? Since God is in each, this is a good measure. Christ is always the
focal point, only in ways perhaps you hadn’t considered previously. But all
salvation comes through him in the many parts of his full Name.
One More Thing…
The previous pages prove there are valid paths to God outside traditional
Christian theology. However, there is one important issue that hasn’t been
addressed. Even though we know Christ came to us many different times with
many different names (see next chapter, “The Many Names of Christ”) it still
states in the following passage that the specific name, “Jesus Christ”,
is necessary for salvation…
Acts 4:8, 10, 12;
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them:…
10…It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,…
…this man stands before you healed.
12 Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved.”
Verse 12 states, “Salvation is found in no one else”. Clearly, Jesus’ name
by itself doesn’t save, it has power because it represents the person Jesus
and the spirit inside him. What is meant by “there is no other name under
heaven given to men by which we must be saved” is that salvation rests in that
one person. Any part of Christ’s name represents him, whether it be “Jesus”,
“Immanuel”, “Gabriel”, “Brahma”, “Quetzlcoatl”, “Deganawidah”, Tunkashila,
Baha’ullah, etc. Through whichever name, the name “Jesus” is always included
because it’s the same “person”. It wasn’t necessary that Peter speak Christ’s
full name, only that he indicate the person who has the power to save.
If you would like to read the book yourself, you may download it here.
Blessings, Pastor Sharra