Why Jesus?

Why Do I Have to Believe in Jesus?

Can’t I Just Be a Good Person?

First, A Bit of Family History

God created Man because he wanted a family relationship with us. And like good parents everywhere, his heart was to give the absolute best to us. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve saw only what they weren’t allowed to have (fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) instead of relishing what they were given. At that point, they chose to believe a lie that God was withholding something good from them and in their error of trusting Satan and mistrusting God (aka sin), Adam and Eve condemned everyone who came after them. Human beings now have an inborn instinct to do and believe things that oppose God, and man is not “good” on his own merits.

God is pure holiness and anything that is sinful or evil cannot be in his presence. And yet, he still wants his original family relationship with Man. Again, being a good parent, he set out laws for us to follow as his children so that he could continue to have some type of relationship with us (the Ten Commandments and the Levitical law). All of those laws may be categorized under two basic commands which were given centuries later: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. And love your neighbor as yourself.”

Unfortunately, our ingrained sin nature still makes us mess up, and we cannot possibly follow every rule or do enough good works to make us right with God. Paul said in the book of Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). The only way for a family relationship to be completely restored is for there to be a sacrifice of someone who, although completely sinless, takes on all of humanity’s sins. Enter Jesus. More than a prophet and more than a good person, he was fully man and fully God and the perfect sacrifice to restore the human relationship with God. He alone is able to knit the family back together.

Why only Jesus? Why not Buddha or the Universe?

Jesus himself told us why. In John 4:16, he told the crowd, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The Greek word for “no one” is the word, oudeís, which by definition leaves no exceptions and no open doors. So, anyone who wants to be in a right relationship with God, must believe in and accept Jesus. There’s no getting around it.

What about being a good person?

But what if we possibly could follow every law God gave his people or go around doing only good for others? Won’t those actions restore our relationship with God or at least get us a ticket to Heaven?

The Apostle Paul has the answer for that one. In Ephesians, he writes, “By grace you have been saved not by your works, lest any man boast” (2:8). If we did have the ability to work our way into heaven, then we would be tempted to boast about our own goodness, which is evident by our actions and scripture that we are not.

What about those who go around doing good and not telling anyone about it? If they don’t boast, won’t they go to heaven? If a person does good deeds out of their own desires, it’s still a no—acceptance of Jesus is required. And even for those who accept Jesus and follow him, any good works done as a result of faith still won’t get them to Heaven. Remember, “it is by grace alone you have been saved.” But there’s still a place for doing good. Jesus’ followers will inevitably have good works because they are the fruit, or evidence, of their faith in God.

Final Thoughts

It comes down to this:  the Bible is either all true or completely false. It can’t be both. If you do accept that the Bible is all true, including that Jesus is the Son of God, then the idea that there are multiple paths to God, that one can simply do good and go to Heaven, are completely false. Acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior is the only qualifier to get to Heaven.

Scripture References:

Romans 3:23 All have sinned and are in need of the glory of God.

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.

Ephesians 2:8 By grace you have been saved not by your works, lest any man boast.