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Advocate

In Bible Study, Blog, John on
September 11, 2023

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Many people in today’s world will argue that there is more than one way to get to God. They take a more universalist approach, saying that whether you call God Yahweh, Allah, or Vishnu, it’s really the same God and whatever you do in this life will end up with you in the same afterlife. To suggest anything otherwise would be viewed as bigoted and intolerant. After all, who are we to criticize someone’s religious convictions and suggest that their personally held beliefs will send them to hell?

Although there a myriad of differences and contradictions between the world religions of today that we could analyze and focus on, we, as Christians, ought to aim our primary focus on what God and His Word have to say about this debate. Throughout the Old Testament, we can see that God does not tolerate other religious practices or forms of worship, and He lays down harsh punishments against those who stray from His Law (even when it’s His own people). In the New Testament, we find that the early church communities are repeatedly warned not to be conformed to the world around them and are rebuked when they are found to be doing so. However, there is one particular passage in the Gospel of John that leaves absolutely no room for debate, clearly stating that there is, in fact, only one way to God: Jesus.

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In Bible Study, Blog, John on
April 10, 2023

The Door

Back in 2019, I traveled to Romania on a mission trip, and while I was there, our team had the opportunity to visit a Romanian Orthodox church in Bucharest. It was a rather small church, but its distinct beauty made up for its humble size. The front doors were made of solid wood, carved with an ornate floral design. Chandeliers and metallic lanterns hung from above. The walls were trimmed with gold and covered from floor to ceiling with brightly painted icons of saints who’ve passed on to glory.

Yet, despite its beautiful architecture and design, our group felt a spiritual heaviness as we walked through the doors. At the front of the room, a white-haired woman in a long coat kneeled on her knees before a priest, presumably confessing her sins to the man. The eyes of the icons stared down at us with glowing halos around their heads, reminding us of the common practice of venerating the saints. Our entire team felt a sense that it was a place of works-based religion and a place where many worshippers sought out a human mediator rather than going straight to God.

The Romanian Orthodox Church is certainly not the only church that practices these things. There are several different denominations and sects of Christianity that practice confession and veneration of the saints, that seek out mediators between them and God. However, the reality is that we have no need for an earthly mediator. We have no need to confess all our sins to a priest or honor the saints of old in a particular way. Why? Because we have Jesus. And Jesus is the Door.

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In Acts, Bible Study, Blog on
August 8, 2022

Full of Faith

Twenty-three years ago, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School armed with guns and explosives, killing thirteen people and injuring over twenty others. The Columbine massacre was a tragedy that affected the entire nation, and people today still grieve the lives that were lost that fateful April day. The first victim to be shot and killed was a seventeen-year-old Christian girl named Rachel Joy Scott. A fellow student who survived the attack claimed that Rachel was asked a question moments before her death— “Do you still believe in your God?”

In 2016, I went to the movie theater with some other girls in my youth group and watched I’m Not Ashamed, a movie based on Rachel’s life and death. When the movie ended, I came to the realization that we live in a world where one day someone could put a gun to my head and tell me to deny God or die. I resolved that day that if I ever were threatened harm or death because of my faith, I would never deny my Savior.

It’s hard for us to imagine that this could ever happen to us, but Rachel Joy Scott is neither the first nor the last Christian to die because of her belief in Jesus. As followers of Christ, it should be expected that we face hardship and persecution (John 16:33). The world hates us because it hated Jesus first, but we shouldn’t let that stop us from proclaiming the truth of the gospel (Matthew 10:32-33). There’s no better example of this than Stephen in the book of Acts.

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