Is Jesus the Only Way to be Saved?

Today is day two of our sixteenth week, reading the Bible through together in a year.  Our scriptures today are:  Ruth 3-4; Acts 4; Psalm 37.

I'm surprised at how often Christians ask me, "Don't you think that there are people who aren't Christians, who will be in Heaven?  Don't you think that there are other ways to salvation, other than Jesus?"

The answer is really short.  No.

Acts 4:12 (ESV) says of Jesus, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men^[c] by which we must be saved.”

That might sound awfully narrow-minded, but Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it (Matthew 7:13 ESV)."

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV)."

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23 ESV)."

In John 14:6 (ESV), Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Frankly, I don't understand how a Christian can ask questions like this.  Not if they know their Bibles.  The problem is that Satan, also called "the god of this age... has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV)."  Personally, I wonder whether Christians who believe that there are many ways to God are believers at all--it certainly seems that their eyes have been blinded to the truth.  If Jesus isn't necessary for salvation, then He certainly went to a whole lot of suffering for nothing.  Because nothing that God does is purposeless, then Jesus' gift to us must have been necessary for our salvation.  

These are just a few scriptures that only scratch the surface.  I hope you'll do your own study and find that the exclusive way to God is through Jesus.  To miss this would be to miss the imperative of the gospel message.  Only by your relationship with Jesus can you inherit eternal life.