Expected Backlash From News Article

Today, an article was published about the message of the cross in The Villager Newspaper. I am expecting to take some heat from this article. I assume I will be accused of being "intolerant" of other views, narrow minded, and pushing my beliefs onto others. To those who say this: you are absolutely correct.

Jesus said in John 14:6: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Not Mary (Jesus' mother). Not any of the saints. Not your dead relatives. Not Allah or Islam. Not Buddhism or Hinduism.

Not the Catholic church and their doctrine (see what Jesus said in Mark 7:1-13 about traditions established by man; and no, purgatory doesn't exist- c.f. Hebrews 9:27- you either have the blood of Jesus applied to you or you don't- there is no middle ground- c.f. 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Not Jehovah's Witnesses. Not Mormonism or any other apostate religion. That doesn't leave room for ANY other way. If you have a problem with that, your problem is not with me- it is with our Savior.

Jesus also said in Matthew 7:13-14: "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." That narrow gate is through faith in Jesus alone and repentance.

Luke 15:7 says "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

So many people "believe" but lack the repentance part. Without repentance, there is no salvation (Luke 13:3). There are many other verses referring to repentance. Here are just a few examples: Matthew 4:17, Luke 5:32, Mark 1:15, Luke 24:47. The idea of repentance is stamped all over the Bible by Jesus. We are told to "go and sin no more" in John 5:14 and John 8:11.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (among other passages) tells us who will not inherit the kingdom of God: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

If you haven't done so already, repent and trust in the Savior today. Trust in Him as you would a parachute on a crashing plane. Merely "believing" in the parachute won't save you- you must strap on the parachute, trust it, and abandon the crashing plane. In the same sense, you must strap on the Lord Jesus, trust Him and Him alone for your salvation, and abandon your sins (repent).

There is good news for all of us who do this. 1 Corinthians 6:11 tells us, "And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."