Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Get to God | New Testament | John 10

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Jesus said that he is the only way to God. Is that arrogant to say? Why is it so offensive to say there is one "right" way to God. So where do you look for eternal life? In today's episode, Patrick looks to John 10 to discover the one true way to God. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 10

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Are there many ways to heaven? Many ways to God? Many ways to eternal life. I've had that conversation with more people than I can count, but I remember one friend who used vivid word pictures to argue that all world religions and philosophies and self-care

programs are just different ways of speaking about the same reality. There are many ways to God, many ways to life, many ways to eternal life. One time, he described a group of blindfolded people standing in front of an elephant. The thing is, they don't know that it's an elephant, or that it's even one animal. When they're asked to describe what stands before them, they can only describe whatever they feel. One person wraps his arms around a leg and says, What stands before me is a great leathery tree. A different person grabs the trunk and says,

It's a flying snake floating in the air. A third person grabs the elephant's tusk and says, It's hard as a spear cut from a single stone. My friend turns to me after sharing this story and says that all religions are the same. They don't realize that they're touching the same reality. They assume that their peace is the whole thing. And he said to me that it's arrogant to declare that your religion is the only one true way to God in life, because doing so would discredit the truth that other people

see. What do you think about that word picture? After listening, I smiled at him, and then I pushed back. I said, in your word picture, there's a person you haven't mentioned, the person who has no blindfold, and therefore can see the whole elephant and can see all the people groping at it. You seem to think that you're that person, and that you are the one who sees the greater truth, a greater truth in all of those blindfolded losers. Isn't that person the most arrogant person of all? The reason why Christians have historically said that Jesus is the only way to eternal life isn't because they're arrogant. I mean, sure, there are proud and arrogant Christians, but that's not the reason for the theology. The reason we say that Jesus is the only way is because he told us so.

Saying that he was the only way came across as arrogant in his day too, perhaps even more so, because in saying that he was the way, he also said that everyone else was wrong. The Romans, the Pharisees, everyone. But if you listen to his words, he didn't say this because he was proud. It's because he was speaking the truth in love. In the same way a parent loves their child by strongly warning them against touching a hot stove or running out into a busy street. In that same way, Jesus warns us.

He says, if you run into that street, it's not the way to life. It's a good way to die. He says, if you touch that burning hot stove, it's not the way to peace. It's the path to pain and hardship. Jesus says the same thing about salvation. If you try to get there by any means but me, that's the path to death. It's not the path to life. One of Jesus's most clear statements along these lines came in a conversation he had with a group of Pharisees.

In John 10, let's read it. Very truly, I say to you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in by some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger.

In fact, they will run away from him because they don't recognize a stranger's voice. Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. John goes on in verse 7. Therefore, Jesus said, again, very truly I tell you, catch this, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Jesus could not be more clear. He is the only gate to true life, to true life in the present age and eternal life in the age to come. But he's also being incredibly challenging. He says that anyone who claims to have the way to life, that's not him? He says, well, that person is a thief, a liar, and a scoundrel. Do you believe that?

Are you cautious about who you trust to give you the way to life, to give you wisdom, to guide your journey, to give you eternal life? Or are we like the Pharisees sometimes? We quietly rest on our own good works and think that's what will earn us life. Maybe we rely on our family pedigree or the fact that we grew up in church or the fact that we have wealth or particular social status. There are so many things in this world that promise to give us life, but there's only one true gates to life. And Jesus says, I am the gate. But what's remarkable about Jesus is that,

unlike every other gateway to life, he doesn't demand anything of us. Instead, in love, he lays down his life for us. If you think that wealth is the gateway to life, wealth will always demand that you get more money. If you think that good works are the gateway to resurrection, good works will always demand that you get more perfection to earn God's favor. If you think that self-care is the gateway to fullness, self-care will demand that you give it more time, more energy, and more resources. But what does Jesus do? Does he demand more of us? No, because he's not just the gate to life. He's also the good shepherd inside the pen. Jesus continues, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own

the sheep, so when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. The wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. Jesus is the good shepherd. He cares for you. He lays down his life for you. Let that sink in. When death and destruction come for you, Jesus always stands in the gap. He always takes what you deserve so that you can be preserved by his love. There aren't many ways to heaven. Plenty of people arrogantly think they know better than that. The truth is that every religion and philosophy at some point become mutually exclusive. At some point, you'll have to choose which gateway you'll take.

Jesus is the only gate that opens you into pastures, where you can live with the good shepherd. He's the only shepherd that lays down his life for the flock, so that you can always rest secure when his eyes are upon you. rest in Jesus, trust him as the only way to life.