Jesus Means EXACTLY what He says! A brief look at John 14:6

“…I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The verse cited above is from John 14:6, one of the most recognizable passages in Scripture as well as one filled with doctrinal richness. Upon the foundation provided in part by this verse the church has taught from the time of Pentecost the offensive truth that nobody can be saved apart from Jesus Christ. Indeed, my brothers and sisters, good works cannot save us; attending church provides us with no saving grace; NOTHING we do nor anything any other human can do or has done is sufficient to save us from the just punishment we face because of our sin. Only repenting of our sin and submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives saves us. It is a gift.

Now then, I realize that most of you reading this post have no problem with this, but some time ago I had a conversation with somebody who questioned the truth of what I’ve written above. He stated that John 14:6 was not speaking about salvation but about judgment! I remember the day he made this statement I was flabbergasted, and I asked him how he came to this conclusion. He explained that everyone has misunderstood this verse, and that he believes that there are people who will be in heaven even if they never accept Jesus Christ. That the verse in question is not saying that only through Jesus can people be saved, but merely that all people will someday face Jesus in judgment!

Do you, dear reader, understand what he said? Do you understand the pivotal mistake made?

First of all, I must confess that when he told me what he did, for the sake of peace, I did not say much. But after a long time of considering it in my mind I realize that I am in sin when I forsake the Truth of my Lord for the sake of a false aura of peace…a peace that is not peace but a mirage that hides the flames of hell from sight. The verse in question is pivotal to the doctrine of Christ and salvation…and I therefore repent for my sin in this and this post is my attempt to address the issue publicly.

In Jude v.3 we read that we need “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Brothers and sisters, His Word is the only way to know God, and if we want we can embrace some touchy feely idea that all we need is love and we’ll get to heaven but the Word says that if we love Him we will obey Him (John 14:15), and we cannot truly love Him while believing false things or refusing to believe that which is clearly true from the Scriptures! Furthermore, to reject the exclusiveness of Christ is to reject Christ Himself. He is Whom He said He is, and He meant exactly what the Scriptures tell us He said!

Now then, to return to the question above…what is the main mistake made with this verse by the person who says Jesus is not claiming here to be the only way to salvation? It is this: not only is a verse being taken out of context in order to support the idea that Jesus meant only that He would be the Judge through Whom all must come, the verse itself is being taken out of context from the first part of the verse! What I mean is that Jesus did not just say “…No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Reading it in this manner however, is how a person can easily ignore the intent of the verse. One can see how citing this portion of the verse all by itself can lead someone who is unfamiliar with the Scriptures to jump to the erroneous conclusion that Jesus is saying that He is only some great divine gate keeper for the Father! But guess what? Jesus is clear in His meaning here: Faith in Him, submission to His sovereignty, His divinity, and His Lordship are the ONLY way to enter into the glory of eternal life in heaven. You see, what Jesus says is that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” and then he caps that off with “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Looked at in its context one cannot ignore the clear meaning of Christ:
He is the way:
Following Him is essential to salvation. Only He provides the answers and apart from Him it is impossible to be saved. Remember Peter’s response to Jesus when asked if he also wanted to go away like the false disciples did? What was Peter’s response? “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68 Or do you remember the words of Jesus Himself, saying “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…” John 10:9 Be not deceived my brothers and sisters…the path to salvation lies in Christ alone!

He is the truth:
First of all, John 1:17 says that “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” He is the source of all truth and His words must be accepted as such. Anything less is heresy. Notice that Jesus does not say He has truth…no He is truth! This is quite an important statement don’t you think? You see, if He is truth, must we not echo the sentiments of Peter and ask ourselves “to whom shall we go?” The implication, of course, is that if Jesus is truth (and remember that this is the very claim He is making!) then there is no other source of truth! Aside from Him, then, there is no salvation!

He is the life:
Here is the clincher. Looking again earlier in John we find the following statement, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:1-4 Alright, I confess that it is specifically verse 4 that I want to address, but this is such a beautiful passage I could not ignore the first three verses! As in our text, John 14:6, John 1:4 makes plain that Jesus is life! Just as He is truth, He is life. What does this mean? Well Christ Himself put it this way, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” John 11:25

Brothers and sisters…there is nothing difficult to understand here, nothing obscured. Following this powerful statement is the passage in question, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It is tied intimately together to the first part of the same verse and follows up as a statement of fact. Because Jesus is that way, truth, and life, He is the mediator by which we come to the Father. This passage does not have the judgment in mind! Far from it…salvation is the issue Christ is dealing with here.

Lest there be any further doubts, let us look at the following passages:

Romans 6:23:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Where is eternal life? IN Christ Jesus. If it is in Him…can we find it anywhere else?

John 1:12
“…as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name”
Who has the right to become children of God? Those who receive Him and believe in His name!

Acts 4:12
“…there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
You do understand, of course, that this is speaking of Jesus Christ right?

Brothers and sisters, there can be no doubt whatsoever that John 14:6 is to be understood in the same manner as these other verses…it does not stand alone! The explicit statement of our Lord is that only though Him can one be saved!

One final thought: I have written with the assumption that my readers already agree with the basic teaching that the Word of God is what it claims to be. Therefore I cite Scripture to prove Scripture because this is our guiding light…It all fits together so beautifully and it is quite preposterous to suggest that suddenly a verse means something differently because visions or dreams have revealed a new understanding. No, my fellow servants, the Word of God does not change and what it says we believe and trust in or expose ourselves as false teachers and in need of the Truth to illuminate our lives.

God bless