Easter week is a good time to revisit the exclusivity of Jesus Christ expressed in Scripture and to ensure we have not abandoned what Jesus paid so dearly for us to receive.

With all the heresy hunting that takes place from time to time in the Church, most of it based on divergent opinions about lesser issues, I have reduced what I consider to be a heresy down to a single issue – Jesus. Heretics are not the lost souls outside the Church who do not yet know the Lord. The true heretics are those who continue to claim a living relationship with Jesus but have abandoned the exclusive truth about Him as the King of kings, Lord of lords, and the only Savior of the world. 

We are not born into salvation. It is a gift offered to each of us that we must accept. We choose to be saved. Words like, believe, choose, trust, declare, or receive define a transaction that takes place between a fallen human being and Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. That response might come through an invitation given during a church service, over coffee in a conversation between friends, or alone on a mountain top. The commonality in all these transactions is receiving the Lord as defined by Scripture, not a redefined human interpretation of Him. Those redefinitions are what define and label the real heretics and their heresies.

The way of salvation was expressed by Jesus: 

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

“I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:24).

The way of salvation was expressed by the New Testament authors:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

“The Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:22).

“Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save” (Galatians 6:12).

“There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).

“All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God” (I John 4:15).

Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday as you worship the only true Savior.