Introduction
The Son, with regards to the triune nature of GOD, is LORD of the universe (Colossians 1:16-19). The Gospel concerns GOD’s Son and His work for us to remove our sin. The Son of GOD came as the Savior (1 John 4:14); salvation is a gift freely given, not earned. Our part is to believe the work of salvation the Son offered to the Father on behalf of all mankind. And once we believe, we are to become His disciple and then to declare the Gospel to others, in unending faithfulness to the Savior, to make disciples of the others who accept as true our declaration so that they too can fulfill the calling (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
But if our declaration focuses on something else other than the cross and His resurrection it is not the Gospel of Christ—it is a “different Gospel”—and if we take away from Christ any part of His pre-incarnate nature or the absolute necessity of “God our Savior” (Titus 3:4-7), having to “became flesh” (John 1:14), we have “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4), who is not the Jesus that saves—it is antichrist (2 John 1:7). In which case, even where the name is the same, that is the name of “Jesus,” it is not the Jesus of the Bible. It is a different or another Jesus (allos, gk.), with superficial similarities.
T. A. McMahon states that he was once engaged in a conversation in which it was said: “Brother, I’m not interested in any of your divisive doctrinal talk. All I care about is knowing that a person loves Jesus. If someone tells me that, no matter what church he goes to, he’s my brother in Christ!” McMahon then comments, “I felt compelled at least to get a question in before the conversation ended. ‘When you talk with someone who tells you he loves Jesus, do you ever ask that person, “Jesus who?”’ This is a critical question, because as McMahon also comments: “‘Jesus who?’ Is a pivotal question for every believer in Christ. We should first of all ask it of ourselves, testing our own beliefs about Jesus (2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Misunderstandings about Him inevitably become obstructions in our relationship with Him” (Electronic media, T.A. McMahon, Jesus Who?, electronic media, http://www.thebereancall.org/node/5838, 1995). And we jeopardize the relationship with Jesus that others could have, if we preach a distorted message, which promotes “another Jesus.”
Wolves
The most critical issue at stake is that “another Jesus,” as already mentioned, cannot save. Additionally, there is “another Jesus” that takes on many forms in the world and all of them are actively promoted, while GOD the Son, that is, the biblical Jesus is demeaned or ignored. Even worse, this putrid phenomenon is prevalent within the churches. Dr. Walter Martin warned in his classic sermon: “There is a twofold warning to the Christian Church. Now we are speaking this morning on the warnings of GOD…that after the apostles would leave the Church there would be savage wolves…Ravenous wolves who will enter in and they will not spare the flock…We have those savage wolves today… Apostates who deny the only LORD GOD and our Lord Jesus Christ. Apostates who will ordain you if you deny the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection, and the second coming…Apostates who have come in and are chewing up the Church…Paul said, I warned you day and night for three years to the point of tears.” (For full text see: http://www.letusreason.org/Wf26.htm; cf., Acts 20:17-38).
Granted, revisions of the Christian message have always been with us, but today Paul’s prophecy has taken on exponential dimension as the denigration of Christ and His work is as rampant and contemptible in the churches as it is in the world. This is a truly sad state of affair and yet it was made known prophetical by Christ. “Many” He said, “will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many” (Matthew 24:5). While this verse is to find ultimate fulfillment in the Tribulation, John the Apostle reminds us: “even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:28). The truly sad thing is many in the Church have failed to take Christ’ admonition to heart: “See to it that no one misleads you” (Matthew 24:4). So much so is this fact confirmed that many false religions and some of the pseudo-Christians cults would blush at what is now being said from so-called Christian pulpits.
Who Do They Say He Is?
Jesus asks all His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And “who do you say that I am?” Can we like Peter unashamedly answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:13-16).
In November 2003, then President George W. Bush, a self-proclaimed born again believer, stated: “I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That’s what I believe.” This is a disturbing sentiment, but widespread in the churches where it is almost automatically assumed that Allah and YAHWEH are one-and-the-same. Putting aside other religions for now the question begs to be asked, Is the Almighty GOD that I or any other Christian prays to the same as the god of Islam? The answer to this is emphatically no!
To discover this fact, all one needs to do is a cursory examination of how Muslims view Jesus. In the Muslim mindset Jesus is a created being and not eternal: “The example of Jesus, as far as GOD is concerned, is the same as that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, “Be,” and he was” (Sura 3:59). As is plain to see, according to their sacred scripture, He is merely a created human being. Furthermore, the Islamic Jesus is not the Lamb of GOD who was slain for the sins of mankind: “And for claiming that they killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of [Allah]…For certain, they never killed him. Instead, [Allah] raised him to Him…Everyone among the people of the scripture was required to believe in him before his death. On the Day of Resurrection, [Jesus] will be a witness against them (Sura 4:157-159). Finally, salvation is earned by the Muslim in the “Five Pillars of Islam,” which states the specific works that the Muslim must perform in order to be saved. (A description of these “ways” to Islamic salvation can be found here: http://www.carm.org/five-pillars-of-islam).
It should be clear that Allah is not Almighty GOD of the Bible and the Muslim Jesus is “another Jesus.” If you, however, a believer in Christ agree with the former President in this matter, it gives me no pleasure in telling you that you are deceived (2 Corinthians 4:4). My sincere hope is that you will earnestly seek the Father in prayer to ask Him to show you the truth of who He says Jesus is—“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians 1:18).
Then there is the case of Buddhism, which is a religion of morality; its belief system emphasizes an ethical way to live in the here and now in order to gain the ultimate state; which they call Nirvana (again we see a works based creed). Regarding deity, Gautama, the founder of Buddhism did not deny the existence of gods; he taught that the worship of gods obstructed one’s quest for Nirvana. He never claimed to be a god; instead, he claimed to be one who pointed the way to Nirvana, but each adherent finds their own path to walk in life. Additionally, according to Buddha the gods exist in the cosmos as the totality of creation, but are themselves finite, impersonal and impermanent beings. Therefore, they is no Almighty GOD who is an infinite and eternal Deity; no need for the Savior; no worship of, praying to or believing in Deity to save. It offers no form of redemption, forgiveness and no heavenly hope; the only salvation it offers is in the individual’s own self. Buddhism also teaches that Bodhisattva, that is, one who has reached Nirvana, can voluntarily materialize on earth to help the rest of mankind. Christ is no Bodhisattva; He came not to offer sound advice to live by so that we can achieve Nirvana. Instead, “He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself;” and “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (Hebrews 9:26; 1 John 2:2).
Buddhism has much in common with humanism and atheism, but Buddhism is not atheism just because they don’t believe in an infinite, eternal and personal GOD. It is more like pantheism, where the impersonal “force” of the universe causes its self into being in never ending cycles of annihilation and re-beginning. While there are many noble and humanitarian teachings found in Buddhism, such as those that educe compassion and understanding for our fellow man, these cannot save. And Buddha is no Savior of mankind. What is alarming, however, is that some Christians seem to think there is little difference to Buddhism and Christianity and they ignorantly think it possible to harmonize its practices and teachings into the Church.
Pantheism, as briefly described above, is the position that deity and nature is the same thing. Pantheism comes from two Greek words, pan meaning all and theos meaning god. It teaches that all the universe: the stars, galaxies, planets, mountains, wind, rain, flora and fauna, etc., are the totality of what deity is. So, the pantheist says, that creation is god, and therefore, he holds all things sacred. In contrast, biblical Christianity teaches that GOD is separate from His creation and He created it (Gen. 1:1-30), whereas pantheism says that deity and creation share the same nature and essence.
A huge problem with pantheism is that it logically cannot account for the existence of the universe. The adherent believes the universe is infinitely re-born from the void. Therefore, the force/deity, which is the universe, also has a beginning--each time it is re-born--by causing itself into existence. But how can something bring itself into existence? This is impossible! This leaves us with the question of where force/deity comes from as nothing can cause itself. Pantheism cannot answer this question and it naturally leads to absurdities.
Conclusion
Is Christianity any better than the religions of the world? Of all the religions that exist how can it be that only Christianity is true? If GOD exists, is it not better to assume that He uses all religions and that all paths lead ultimately to Him? Why should anyone trust in Christianity over Islam, Buddhism or anything else? There is a simple answer to all of this: truth is absolute; there is no such thing as relative truth or subjective truth. Therefore, if it is true what we learn in the Bible concerning all that Jesus said and did, then all religions are false. If it is true that Jesus claimed that He alone is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), then no other religious ideals, no matter how sincere, can offer another way to GOD through salvation—and salvation is a necessity for all mankind. Either Jesus is true and all the religions of the world are false or the religions are true and Jesus is false. There are no other options—“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
English translation of the Koran taken from, Submission.org, Copyright © 1997-2007, www.submission.org/suras
