“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Recently I’ve heard three YouTube preachers say that Jesus didn’t really mean it when He said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” These “progressive” ministers reasoned that such exclusivity was contrary to the Jesus they knew and inconsistent with the “tone of Jesus’ ministry.”

One United Methodist preacher, wearing a rainbow-colored robe, insisted that conservative evangelicals use John 14:6 as “a clobber verse” to exclude others from the hope of heaven. She insisted we must find another interpretation because it is exclusive, arrogant, and unloving to claim that Jesus is the only way.

However, readers should consider what Christ said during the Last Supper before declaring that no one comes to the Father except through Him. He first declared that He was the truth. In the final hours before His arrest, Jesus would not have made such an unmistakable statement unless it were absolutely true.

People ask, “Are you saying people can only be saved if they call on Jesus for salvation?”

Yes, I’m saying that. And you know why? Because Jesus said that!

If it were possible for someone to be saved by living a good life or practicing Islam or Hinduism, it would not have been necessary for Jesus to die an atoning death. When He was arrested, He could have simply said, “Misunderstanding! Feel free to take any of the other roads to heaven,” and walked away free.

Simon Peter understood exactly what Jesus meant in the upper room that night. A few weeks later Peter stated emphatically, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Christianity is simultaneously the most inclusive and the most exclusive of religions. It is the most inclusive in that whoever wants to may come to Christ. No one is barred. But it is the most exclusive in that it insists there is only one way to salvation, and that is through Christ. Anyone who alters that truth is a false teacher. Scripture repeatedly warns us about them.

In this age of precise technology, we are well aware that truth is often very narrow. If you mistype one letter in an email address, the server may respond, “Undeliverable.” Being close doesn’t count. How many wrong numbers could you dial while trying to reach my cell phone? Millions! How many right ones? Only one.

Jesus Christ is unique. There is no other.

  • Only Jesus was born of a virgin through the miraculous conception of the Holy Spirit.
  • Only Jesus lived a sinless life and qualified as the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
  • Only Jesus, when baptized by John in the Jordan River, saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and heard the Father say, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
  • Only Jesus performed miracles by His own divine authority and uniquely claimed the power to forgive sins.
  • Only Jesus died an atoning death. His death was not a martyr’s death. He gave His life in place of ours: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
  • Only Jesus conquered death. He alone arose bodily from the grave to live forever.
  • Only Jesus could say triumphantly, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25).
  • Only Jesus claimed all authority in heaven and on earth, commanded His followers to make disciples of all nations, and promised, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20).
  • Only Jesus ascended into heaven in the presence of witnesses and today sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us.
  • Only Jesus will return one day, and at His name every knee will bow and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.
  • Only Jesus will reign forever as King of kings and Lord of lords and put all enemies under His feet.

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).