Acts 4:12

Is Christ the only way of salvation?

PROBLEM: Peter declares that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” But isn’t this a narrow exclusivism? What about the sincere pagan or Buddhist? Is God going to send them to hell?

SOLUTION: Several observations are relevant to this question.

First of all, sincerity is not a good test of truth. Many people can and have been sincerely wrong about many things (Proverbs 14:12).

Fourth, Jesus and the NT clearly and repeatedly emphasize that Jesus is the only way of salvation. (1) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). (2) Jesus also claimed He was the door (John 10:9), insisting that “he who does not enter the sheepfold by the Door … the same is a thief and a robber” (v. 1). (3) The Apostle Peter added, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). (4) And Paul contended that “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).