Pastor Chris,
What do you feel would be the best answer when someone says, so if someone doesn’t believe the way you do they cannot reach Heaven? Don’t you think that is narrow minded?
I said because I believe in God’s Whole word, the Bible. It is not inspired or written by man but by the Holy Spirit thru Man and because of life changes visible by us.
I could not get the man I spoke with to believe that. He does not have much faith but likes the Muslims.
~ Blake
ANSWER
Blake,
You have answered well…
You might also take your friend to John 14:6 where Jesus says that He is the only way to heaven. Either Jesus is the Lord, a liar, or a lunatic.
We can easily rule out lunatic. Lunatics do not behave the way Jesus did.
We can rule out liar because the people who heard Him (friends and enemies) never did accuse Him of lying. He Himself claimed to be the truth (again, John 14:6). Liars inevitably get caught in their lies (they get found out).
That leaves us with the question of whether or not Jesus is the Lord. His miracles attest to that fact, especially His own resurrection from the dead. The changed lives of the disciples are another evidence of Jesus’ Lordship. They ran away when Jesus was betrayed in the garden. They thought His death was permanent and went into hiding out of fear. Then, after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples were bold announcers of the Gospel message. They fearlessly told others about Jesus’ resurrection even when it cost them their lives. Rarely, if ever, will people die for that which they know to be a lie.
It is not narrow minded to believe what Jesus has declared. It is rational. Jesus is the only way to God.
The presence of evil is an important consideration in this discussion. Evil seeks to distort the truth. Satan and his demons are busy deceiving the world concerning the truth of the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus (1 Cor. 10:20; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 9:20). Since there is only one way to heaven it makes sense that the enemy of our souls will try to keep us from finding it.
~ Pastor Chris