We have all seen the bumper stickers right? Spells out “coexist” with the different religious symbols. It is meant to show others that this person is the most open minded person. Yet, when one of the religions claims exclusive truth and the believer stands on that, the open minded person gets offended. So where do we go from here?
In the west, we are trying to fight for unity where unity is wrongly defined, and attempting to bring peace where we attack the real source daily. We have left all absolutes and negativity back in 2020 right? Society has made gods out of ourselves claiming ultimate authority, and made sin to be social/ cultural injustices able to be conquered by our own works. All the while stating follow your heart and believe what makes you the best person possible. Bringing to light the heresy of pluralism and questioning sin.
Pluralism is the belief that all exclusive claims of different religions, upon closer looking, are just variations of the same universal truths.
Sin is an immoral action considered to be a transgression against divine law.
The core of confusion and foundation for such misguided acceptance of all religions stems from a faulty view of sin. When we at any point turn sin in to a correctable offense by means of human action. We lose any sight of the salvation narrative of scripture, meaning it makes the Triune God of the bible irrelevant. We see a lack of proper sin reality also affects creation narrative, marriage narrative, cultural narrative and meaning to life aspect.
So what is biblical sin and how has society changed it via this pluralistic mentality? Biblical sin is disobeying the commands of God via the scriptures. Sin is that of flesh nature, the desires of natural man to do what feels good to him or her self (Galatians 5:19-21). We see the reality of our sin nature when we conceive selfish desires and act upon them (James 1:14-15). And we see that in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve did what they desired when presented with a selfish alternative to God’s command. And through them ALL of humanity was cursed (Romans 5:12-15) this is know as the doctrines of original sin and federal headship. Both vital to understanding the reality of sin.
The doctrine of original sin and federal headship solidify the truth that man is inherently sinful. We are born under the Genesis 3 curse, born wanting the opposite of the Laws of God!
We see the reality of the law of God laid out for man in the Garden command to not eat of the tree, then realized in the giving of the covenant laws with Moses (10 commandments) later expanded with specific priest laws (Leviticus) and other civil/ moral laws (Deuteronomy). And then solidified and explained by Christ in the Gospels. We are given a beautiful reality of sin in Galatians 3:5-6, these are categories (sexual immorality, evil desire, and idolatry) that as you read scripture elsewhere you can see the specific sins. Such as; sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, wickedness, homosexuality, slander, pride, foolishness, envy, Etc. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). you might say that “okay, but I am very good and do way more good than bad”, Jesus covers that thinking is the Gospel of Matthew 5:21-22 and gives the example of anger with murder. Jesus states that simply thinking of hate or anger towards someone is enough to be guilty of sin.
But it is when people question the authority and authenticity or scripture that we see then sin and its definition fall apart. The first two commandments in the moral law given to Moses, “I am the Lord your God, and you shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:1-17). And what have we done in society today? We claim believe whatever religion you want as long as it betters you to benefit society and do no one harm. We claim that no one is beyond fixing as long as they conform to societies standards. Essentially, we have created man to be god while cloaking it as pluralism aka religious acceptance.
Many who claim to be Christians and claim that multiple religions are possible directly fail the first two commands. Christianity and pluralism do not work, it is the heresy that models after the original deception of Satan. We fell for sin when we decided that God didn’t have to be the only God out there. And we have continued this mentality all the way into 2021 by making the God of the Bible one of many possible “ideologies” we can employ to make humanity better as if part of a utility belt for mans self righteousness.
The scary truth is we have even gone so far down the road of pluralism that we have turned humanistic ideas into mini gods themselves, such as feminism, CRT, homosexuality, transgender, racism.
Yes the scripture tells us that man and woman are equal in worth, yet different in roles.
Yes the scripture tells us that there is proper relationship between man and woman, yet homosexual relationships are sinful.
Yes the scriptures teach us of two genders and we are born with one or the other.
Yes the scriptures teach us that there is beauty in diversity, yet to hate anyone for any reason is sinful.
What gives someone like me the confidence and boldness to make the claims above? The truth of Christianity and scripture that makes pluralism a heresy and the reality of sin very true. This exclusive and vital truth is the person of Jesus Christ. By claiming Jesus as savior, equal and part of the trinity, and only way to Heaven, we dismiss the notion of other religions being coexisting (John 1:1-18). Jesus makes the claims in the gospel of John also that He is the “bread of life, the way/ truth/ life, the light, the resurrection and life, true vine, good shepherd, the gate/ door.” (John 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15)
With all these absolute truths that Jesus claims in these verses, it tell us that Jesus Himself stand for the singular reality of the triune God who is creator, sustainer, and redeemer of man and creation. Jesus says that surrendering to Him is to be made born again and satisfied by the eternal, living water who is Himself. And if He is living water, then all other world views and religions are like oil…. the do not mix no matter how much you try to shake and mix it together.
To claim Jesus as your savior, the Bible as the true Word of God, and heaven as your future home. You can not include any other religion and you must be born again out of your original sin nature (John 3). I am not saying that these other religions don’t have cultural foundations or spiritual effects, what I am saying is that they are all demonic in all senses. And none of them lead to eternity in heaven or forgiveness of sins. (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). All other religions stake claims that you can simply do “X,Y or Z” and gradually earn salvation in a sense. This is the direct consequence of sin or disobeying God. God tells us in his word that there would be the seed of the woman who would crush the serpents head (Genesis 3:15). And then we are told Jesus is the one to do that on the cross when He did all the work of salvation (John 3:16-17).
To claim that all religions at their core are the same in universal truths is to be stuck in a sinful mindset. God tells us that we are to worship Him alone and have no other gods, so by saying that we can have more then one, we sin. And then you might say that all of this is great information, but its not that all religions teach different gods, rather the same God with different means to get there. And that honestly is not so bad right? Yes it is, to affirm that different means to reconcile ourselves to God are all right is to say Jesus is wrong. Again Jesus claims sole right and responsibility for making someone born again and forgiving of sins. This is the beauty of the Gospel, it is not so much what a person does but rather what we believe. for what we believe motivates what we do in the end.
I pray that this had brought to light that we can not live lukewarm or indifferent about religions. That we are in fact broken sinful people in need of salvation and forgiveness. That not social issue or world pandemic will get solved by human means alone or by assembling the forces of all religions for the greater good. True change, hope, peace and purpose is in the completed work, and current reign of Jesus Christ who while we are all sinners came and died for us (Romans 5:8). So that when you surrender your life to Him as savior and Lord you will be born again via the Holy Spirit (Galatians 2:20)
Relentless¥Servant 