Jesus Christ Is The Only Savior

According to Witherington (1998, 194), “Peter is no advocate of modern notions of modern religious pluralism” (also John 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 2:3). The consistent message throughout the NT is that Jesus is the only Savior for humanity (Köstenberger). Köstenberger goes on to state, “Human ignorance about the size of Earth’s landmass and the human population has no bearing on the central facts of humanity’s need for redemption and the one means of redemption that is provided” (Köstenberger, The Holman Apologetic Commentary on the Bible, 671).

Of course, the exclusiveness claim offends many readers, and they seek to avoid it by noting the primitive geographical understanding of biblical times. According to Köstenberger, two considerations speak against such an argument. “First, the Roman Empire was like a sponge when it came to religion. Romans accepted all kinds of gods and religious ideas that came from the far corners of their empire. Peter and the other apostles were well aware of the plurality of religions, and they understood that many of these originated in faraway places they would never visit.

Second, and more importantly, the claim was that Jesus meets an internal need all people everywhere have. Their claim was not that other people did not seek to be pious; they knew that virtually all people are religious. Their claim was that Jesus alone can remedy what is wrong with us” (Köstenberger, 671).

The difference is that Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a relationship with a personal Redeemer. In religion, it is doing something to be saved, but in Christianity, it is done. Religion is based on personal performance, but Christianity is based on grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That is the main difference. The tombs of all religious leaders are occupied but the tomb of Christ is empty; that is the difference between Christianity and other religions