“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Theologically, this text is the first cousin or maybe even the younger brother of John 14:6, wherein Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” John 14:6 is one of the most used text in the New Testament. Pastors use it for sermons on evangelism and people request it for funerals. You hear it from me. I hear it from you. We see it on billboards along the highway and on banners at baseball games.
Some people say that texts like John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 are exclusive. They serve as handy dividers between the saved and the unsaved, Christians and non-Christians, the sheep and the goats. They say these text excludes everyone from the kingdom of God except believing and baptized Christians.
In the case of John 14:6 that is certainly not true. The primary purpose of John 14 in its entirety is not to separate the sheep from the goats but to highlight the unique relationship between God the Father and God the Son. As Jesus says in John 14:9 “If you have seen me you have seen my father. Henceforth you have seen him and know him.” Continue reading