Thursday, August 11, 2016

DO ALL ROADS LEAD TO HEAVEN?

This is a question that has been lingering for a long time and there are those who believe all religions lead to God while on the other side the belief is that only one religion or faith has the answer or answers to man's questions and this religion is the only one which can link mankind to God and throughout the centuries we have seen wars fought in the name of religion and even in some countries now we see politics invoking religion especially in countries like the United States or in theocratic countries like Iran or Saudi Arabia. but the truth of the matter is that there is no religion that leads to heaven as is commonly believed by some as I will try to explain below. John 14:6 says that Christ and ONLY Christ is the WAY,TRUTH AND LIFE and NO ONE can go to the Father except through Him, now this is a verse that is known by many who practice Christianity but little understood by most professing Christians, the verse is pretty clear, it is Christ and not Christianity or Islam or some other religion that is the way. with that said how come we insist that a person cannot go to heaven unless he/she converts to Christianity and if we may ask ourselves just what exactly is Christianity, what answer would we give to the curious person, is Christianity Roman Catholicism, is it baptism, is it Presbyterianism, just what exactly is Christianity with its many different denominations, sects and divisions, are we certain that we are the ones who have a ticket to heaven to the exclusion of everyone who doesn't agree with our viewpoints about life, God e,t,c when we don't even seem to agree on core doctrinal issues like salvation for example with different denominations giving different approaches to it with some saying you must be baptized, others say you must believe and get baptized while others believe you must attend mass e.t.c so with all these confusion in the christian religion, are we sure that we are the ones who are right and everybody else is wrong,me thinks not! I think we are just as wrong as they are for if we were right we wouldn't have many versions of Christianity as we have today and each version claiming to be right or more right than other denominations. The fact is there is no "manmade" religion that leads to heaven for no flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption, 1 cor 15:50. the only way to inherit the kingdom which is heaven is found in 1 cor 15:51-58 where it says the mortality has been swallowed up in immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: death is swallowed up in victory. and all these will happen because of Christ who is the victor of all so that means only Christ links us with God and not our efforts in religion, it is only He who did the works to that were a sweet aroma to God and that His life has been given to us by His Spirit so that He can be made manifest in us and through us, this my dear readers is heaven, to have the very life of Christ in you and working in you so that you are continually being conformed to His image and likeness, this is what it means to say "thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" may His will be done in us and through us as we live in this world and the need for empty religious doctrines and and machinations will cease to have meaning and all the world will come to believe and confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord of All to the glory of God the Father.