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| John 14:6 |
Despite the overwhelming evidence that Jesus Christ is indeed the Jewish Messiah who fulfilled over 300 prophecies recorded in the Old Testament that reveal specific details concerning the life, ministry, death and resurrection of the Messiah, many people today simply refuse to believe in Him.
Or, they refuse to accept the fact that Christ is the only path to heaven and eternal life. Indeed, Kathryn Jefferts-Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the highly apostate Episcopal Church U.S.A., denies that faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice for all sin on the cross and His resurrection from the dead is essential for salvation. Rather, Jefferts-Schori teaches that there are multiple paths to eternal life. By doing this, Jefferts-Schori has called Christ a liar.
From David Virtue of virtueonline.org: "She (Jefferts-Schori) has publicly said that Muslims do not need converting to Christ and that she
would never tell them they do, or that Jews are saved under the first covenant.
In her most recent statement, uttered publicly at General Convention in Anaheim,
she stated that personal or individual conversion (to Christ) is a Western
heresy and likened it to "work" rather than that of free grace."
The Episcopalian Church isn't the only major Christian denomination that denies that eternal life is a free gift from God by grace, given only to those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior strictly by faith.
The Roman Catholic Church, the world's oldest and largest denomination doesn't believe that salvation is a free gift. Rather, the Catholic Church teaches that salvation is a lifelong process that begins at birth and doesn't end until after death in a place called purgatory where a person's soul must be completely cleansed of his or her sins by fire before being allowed into heaven. From the Council of Trent, Canon 9: "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as
to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining
the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be
prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema."
An anathema is a curse that the Catholic Church pronounces upon anyone who rejects the Roman Catholic gospel. And yet, the apostle Paul, who lived over three centuries before the Catholic Church came into existence, wrote this concerning salvation and eternal life through faith in Christ: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Where is the irrefutable evidence that proves Christ is the Messiah? It's found throughout the Bible's Old Testament, recorded in numerous prophecies written by Israel's ancient prophets hundreds and thousands of years before Christ appeared in the world. Here's one, recorded in the 8th century B.C. by the ancient prophet Isaiah: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
The Jewish rabbis, who reject Christ as a fraud, claim that modern biblical translations of Isaiah 53 aren't reliable because they were perverted throughout the centuries by translators who tried to make that famous chapter fit Christ. But that's total hogwash. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in caves near the Dead Sea, the Book of Isaiah was found among 972 texts that date back to the Third Century B.C.
The Book of Isaiah that was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls says exactly what the modern bible translations say which debunks the arguments of the rabbis. Furthermore, until the Middle Ages, many rabbis reluctantly acknowledged that Isaiah 53 referred to the Jewish Messiah. What caused them to change their minds? Because they realized that if they acknowledged that Isaiah 53 referred to the Jewish Messiah, then they would have to admit that Christ fulfilled Isaiah's writings. But rather than admit that, the rabbis concocted a strange interpretation of Isaiah 53 that claimed the prophet was referring to the nation of Israel instead of the Messiah.
Jesus Christ is indeed the only way to eternal life. And it is only by faith in Christ's death on Calvary's cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead that we gain eternal life. It's not gained through religion, good deeds, charity, intellect, inheritance etc. Christ is simply the only way. There is no other way. If you're trusting in anyone else other than Christ for eternal life, you're going to be in for a terrible surprise just moments after you die.
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