Introduction

Holy Cross Lutheran Church began offering individuals the chance to ask questions about the Church, faith, theology, and the Bible by putting their queries into a Question Box. A question and answer appears in each month’s newsletter. This is the July 2010 installment.

Question

Is Jesus the only way to eternal life, and if so, what happens to people who do not believe in him? Please use the Scriptures in the answer.

Answer

St. Paul’s hymn in Philippians says, “Therefore God also highly exalted [Christ Jesus] and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9–11, NRSV) This tells us that God desires for all people to say, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” We trust that he will work this out in his own time and according to his own plan, revealed to us when Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NRSV) So, yes, Jesus is the only way to eternal life with the Triune God.

But in the meantime, we are left with the reality that not all people confess that Jesus is Lord or come to the Father through him. Some people doubt or deny that God exists. Others may say, “He may be your God, but I have made my own religion.” Still others follow the tenets of the world’s major religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

We believe that God has made us with the capacity to respond to him, which includes the ability to say “yes” to his love, but also to say “no,” even if that answer will cause lasting separation, a gulf between us and God, and pain because of that estrangement.

This “what happens” question can cause us great anguish if we have a loved one who professes doubt or denial of the Christian faith. In such circumstances, we are called to pray, not so much that they “snap out of it,” but that God will live up to his promise to relentlessly pursue his children, no matter how far they may stray. As Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10, NRSV)