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Jan 28, 2024 06:00am

One Key, One Way

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I don’t know about you, but I sometimes don’t like that there is only one key that unlocks a door. I especially don’t like it when I get to work early in the morning and have my arms loaded down with things to bring inside.

Recently, one morning at work I attempted to open the outside door with the wrong key; it’s no surprise I had to take that key out and locate the correct one. The only correct key for that door.

After making it inside, I went to unlock my office. This time, I grabbed the correct key, but alas I attempted to put it into the lock backwards; the wrong way. As you can deduce, I had to turn the key the correct way before the door would open.

In John chapter fourteen, Jesus speaks to the apostles concerning the place he is going to prepare for them: heaven. In this passage, Jesus describes heaven as a place that has many rooms. Thomas then raises a twofold question to Jesus, “Lord, how do we know where you are going? How do we know the way?”

Jesus replies by saying, ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

The word, “the” signifies that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

Many people, in Bible times and in today’s world, want to believe there are several ways to heaven.

At their core, some people believe they are a “good person” or righteous in the eyes of God based on the good deeds they do.

Some believe in karma; simply defined, doing enough good deeds will outweigh and therefore cancel out the bad deeds.

As Christians, we must not be tricked into thinking we are “good” or righteous enough on our own merit to inherit eternal life in heaven. In fact, Romans 3:9-10 makes it clear that, “none is righteous, no, not one…”

We also must not fall to worldly ideology such as karma that promotes if we do more bad than good, God will forgive us based on our striving to be a “good person.”

After all, Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us, “ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

The truth of the matter is this, Jesus is the Way; the only way.

This is a message the world and even some Chrisitans simply do not like. We want there to be multiple keys to unlock the inheritance of heaven, but according to the Bible it just isn’t so.

Truth be told, I was never good enough nor on my best day could I be good enough. (Isaiah 46:6)

My sin (i.e., rebellion against God) is a direct offense to him and the wage or cost of my sin is death. Not because I said so, but because God said so.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Bible goes on to say in Hebrews 9:22, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

More specifically, the blood of a perfect sacrifice is required.

Throughout the Bible, we read of the Hebrew priests inspecting and sacrificing the blood of spotless lambs at the Passover feast so their blood could serve as a temporary payment for the sins of the people. A temporary payment is all the blood these lambs could offer because they were not a truly perfect sacrifice.

You see, this system was set up by God as a mere shadow of what was to come. Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, would come and take away the sins of the world through his perfect blood sacrifice on the cross.

Thankfully, through His blood sacrifice, a way, the only way, to both abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven was made.

Trusting in his sacrifice on the cross is the only key to heaven and I’m thankful he has made this key available to whosoever will believe in him (John 3:16.)

Remember how I said, I tried opening my office door with the key facing the wrong way? While it is true, trusting in Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross is the key to unlocking a future in heaven, it does matter how we come to/approach Jesus.

James 2:19 tells us that, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

Some people approach believing in Jesus, like they believe working out is good for them. Mentally, they believe Jesus is real and good. However, they do not put their faith in Him. Sort of like believing a treadmill will improve your health, but never stepping on it.

Not only is Jesus the only key to salvation, it also matters the way in which we come to him.

Romans 10:9-10 states, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

This verse indicates we must not only believe and confess with our mouth, but believe in our heart that Jesus was raised from the dead. Heart belief requires commitment.

It requires confessing Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Many times we read in the gospels that the Pharisees (i.e, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day) resist the teachings of Jesus as they a) believed at their core they were “righteous/good” and b) refused to make Jesus the Lord/one in charge of their lives.

For years, the Pharisees taught about and anticipated the Messiah; the Savior that would deliver them. However, when Jesus arrived on the scene they were hesitant to accept Him as the Messiah because they refused Jesus as an authority, the only authority in their lives.

Just like there is only one key that will open a door, Jesus is the only way to unlock a home in heaven. He also requires you to come to him one way: believing in your heart.