Dispelling The Myths: Christ Is Supreme
Roger A. Rush
The scriptures could not be clearer. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Peter asserted, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus warned, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13, 14). He then went on to say, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Any way we slice it, the message is unavoidable; the pluralistic, believe what you will, do what you want brand of religion so popular today, is in direct conflict with the clear teaching of Scripture. The Bible reveals only one Savior, one church, and one way to God, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:4-6). So, how do people circumvent the plain teaching of the Bible?
They argue that Jesus never wrote anything. The only record of Jesus’ writing something is found in the Gospel of John (John 8:1-11). We do not even know what He wrote. However, the fact that He wrote nothing proves nothing. Others have chronicled many a man’s life story. That is the work of biographers. What we can say with absolute certainty is that more has been written about Him than about any other person in human history; and we can have confidence in what has been written (Luke 1:4). Many have sought to destroy the credibility of the New Testament, and all have failed.
They say that their namesakes did not write the gospels, and then assert that those men were probably illiterate anyway. These are simply assertions, and they are not backed up by credible facts. Did the early disciples have a lot of formal education? With the exception of Luke and Paul, they probably did not. However, were they ignorant, illiterate men? Absolutely not!
It is said that there is a vast body of literature offering alternative views of Jesus that has been excluded from the Bible. We would not dispute the existence of other books of a spurious and apocalyptic nature, but an examination of their origin and content easily discredits them.
It is asserted that the New Testament conveys the religious philosophy of the apostle Paul and the theology of Jesus has been replaced by that of the apostle. Again, this is an assertion without factual support. It is true that Paul was the author of at least thirteen New Testament epistles, but the message he proclaimed was the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16, 17).
The reality is that many people just do not like what the Scriptures say. Jon Land summed it up best when he wrote in response to a Cal Thomas article: “My brother’s evangelical church recently broke apart because half of the members decided they could no longer accept the belief in hell. Hell by the way is hardly mentioned in the Bible, and never described as a lake of fire, just a separation from God.” In those two sentences, Mr. Land captured the essence of the modern approach to the Bible, as well as his own biblical illiteracy.
We can have confidence in the Biblical narrative and what it says about Jesus Christ. The objections are all without merit. The Bible is the inspired, authoritative, all-sufficient, inerrant word of God (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). It will stand long after all the critics have been silenced (1 Peter 1:25). –534 6th St., Marietta, OH 45750. (740) 373-3240. rogerrush@juno.com