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The Only Saviour Concept Makes Jesus, Mightier than the Almighty!

Mr. Meherally begins:

WHO IS "YOUR" SAVIOUR?

One of the primary questions frequently posed by a devoted Christian to a non Christian is: "We all do sin. But, under the umbrella of Christianity we have Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross for "our" sins. He is "our" Saviour. Our sins are washed with the blood of our Saviour. Who is "your" Saviour and what is "your" solution for solving the sin problem?

I believe that we all sin and the question concerning who is our savior is a very important. The eternal destiny of all of us depends upon how we approach and answer this question.

If you were to counter question; Did the Saviour "himself" claim that the sins of "all Christians" or of "all mankind" are to be washed or will be forgiven of the future generations, "only by his blood"? The devout Christian may have a hard time finding an answer to this question from his Bible.

There is a short and long answer to this question.

The short answer is yes, Jesus said:

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26: 27-28

The longer answer begins with another question: why did the innocent and holy blood of Jesus have to be shed to save us from our sins? The Bible is a highly descriptive and coherent account of God's relationship with His [fallen] creation - mankind. We must remember that Jesus, unlike Muhammad, did not simply "show up" one day with a new message that contradicted the earlier Prophets. The words, actions, and life of our Lord fit precisely into the teachings and prophecies of the Old Testament.

The idea of a blood sacrifice comes from the Old Testament - many centuries before the birth of Jesus.

Leviticus 17:11 tells us:

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.

The blood sacrifice was established, by God in the Old Testament, to serve as a sin offering. According to Leviticus 5:17-19:

"If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. It is a guilt offering; he has been guilty of wrongdoing against the LORD."

There are several very important issues in this short passage:

1. We cannot escape the consequences of our sins: "he is guilty and will be held responsible".

2. God provides a method by which the guilt of our sins can be removed. This act, which begins the process of forgiveness, was initiated by God, not by man.

3. The way that God provides forgiveness is not through good works, but through a sacrifice. This is very important because God is clearly telling us that good deeds and good intentions cannot remove the guilt of sin. If this were the case, the sin offering would have been totally unnecessary!

4. Notice that the sacrifice must be "without defect". This concept is very important when we discuss Jesus.

How important was the sin [guilt] offering in the Old Testament? This term is mentioned over 100 times in the Torah and Psalms! The Jews of the Old Testament believed in, and practiced, the blood sacrifice in much the same way that Muslim hold to the five pillars of Islam - it was very important!

Often, Kings, such as Hezekiah, made sin offerings for the entire nation:

Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the LORD. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the LORD. So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled it on the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and sprinkled their blood on the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and sprinkled their blood on the altar. The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel , because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel. 2 Chronicles 29:20-24

In other words, Hezekiah and the High Priests, placed the sins of all of Israel on these innocent animals and sacrificed them. The sacrificial animal suffered the punishment of the sinner's sin and in the sinner's place. The life of the sinner was substituted for the life of the sacrificial animal!

Now, we turn to the New Testament

In the very beginning of the earthly life of Jesus, we are told about His mission:

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

John the Baptist brought the blood sacrifice of the Old Testament and the New Testament role of Jesus into very sharp perspective:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Jesus was the perfect sacrifice - He was pure and sinless. He took our sins to the cross and paid the debt that we owe for our sins. All that we need to do is to accept this sacrifice for our sins, and we will be saved! Jesus took our place and He took the punishment for our sins.

Tom Harpur, a former professor of New Testament, religious editor of "The Toronto Star" and author of several books on Christian Beliefs, writes:

Perhaps I am lacking in piety or some basic instinct, but I know I am not alone in finding the idea of Jesus' death as atonement for the sins of all humanity on one level bewildering and on the other morally repugnant. Jesus never to my knowledge said anything to indicate that forgiveness from God could only be granted after or because of the cross. ('For Christ's Sake' page 75)

Mr. Harpur is a very eloquent and highly educated man and I have read many of his articles and books. Unfortunately, he has fallen in to the trap of "Modernism" and admits that he is an "uncomfortable Christian" who does not believe in the "exclusive claims of religion". I assume that he would also disagree with Islam's exclusive claims.

In the Christian theology, the Doctrine of Atonement presupposes two important things:

1. The fall of "all men" (not only Christians) from the Grace of God through an act of disobedience by Adam and Eve.

2. The restoration of God's Grace for "all men" (not only Christians) through the Blood Sacrifice of Christ.

All who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior will be saved! Those who do not accept Christ, will spend eternity separated from God.

Apostle John writes in his First Epistle:

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1/2

The above verse very clearly indicates; the Atonement of the sins was for the whole world (i.e. all mankind). In other words, if Adam's act was sin or infirmity for mankind, Jesus' act was its remedy or justification for mankind. If Adam's act was a debt for mankind, Jesus' act was its payment for mankind. If Adam's act was offence for mankind, Jesus' act was its satisfaction and reconciliation with God for mankind.

If that happens to be the Biblical TRUTH, then the posing of the said question by a boastfully devout Christians to any non Christian, in reality, questions the FAITH of the interrogator in his/her own Bible.

The sacrifice of Jesus is a full and complete payment for the sins of those who accept Him as Lord and Savior - He died so that all might be saved. In the passage that you mentioned, Christ's "advocacy" is limited to believers (see also 1 John 2:1 and 1 John 1:7). Jesus came to save "the whole world" which could, and should accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, but John also tells us:

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 1 John 5:19

JESUS MIGHTIER THAN THE ALMIGHTY!

The misconception that Jesus is The Only Saviour makes Jesus mightier than the Almighty of the Old Testament.

No it does not! Jesus said:

I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.John 13:16

The Almighty God said to prophet Isaiah, according to the Bible:

"I, I am the LORD, and besides ME there is no saviour" Isaiah 43:11

"Turn to ME and be saved, all the ends of the earth" Isaiah 45:22

The first verse NEGATES the attribution of such a claim to anyone including Jesus, which the Righteous Jesus never made during his ministry, as mentioned earlier.

As mentioned earlier, He did make such a statement!

Also read Luke 2:11:

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

The DISBELIEF in the second verse by any devout Christian would clearly indicate that he (or, she) is advocating or professing the following:

a) The Almighty God did not know the coming of "Jesus the Saviour" before the ends of the earth. In other words; the Almighty Erred.

b) Anyone who wishes to be saved by turning to the Almighty LORD, must go via "Jesus the Saviour". Whereas, anyone who wishes to be saved by turning to "Jesus the Saviour", can by pass the Almighty.

Does that not make "Jesus The Only Saviour" mightier than the Almighty LORD?

These choices are a disjunctive syllogism! This verse confirms the idea of salvation through Jesus Christ alone!

"Turn to Me and be saved" is an imperative (command) that expresses the results of following God in obedience (see Genesis 42:18). What does God mean when He says that we " shall be saved" (See also John 3:14,15)?.

If you take a look at Numbers 21:9, this passage tells us: "If a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived." The question here is : what is so simple as taking a look at a brass snake? In the same way we are not doing "something", when we look to the Savior (see Acts 16:30,31). God gave us a gift, through Jesus - the total forgiveness of our sins. We only need to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and all is forgiven. God sent our Savior to earth and will accept us ONLY if our sins are washed away by His blood.

MY FATHER AND I ARE ONE

If the reader of this article happens to be the one who firmly believes in the Doctrine of Trinity or resolutely believes that the "ONE" of the above quote from John 10:30, originally written in Greek, translates the "numerical one" and not the "unity of purpose", may argue that I the author of this article, has not known the True Jesus.

You can read about this verse in this response.

My question to the reader would be; IF the Almighty Lord and Jesus are truly "ONE" and there is no pretense of piety or hypocrisy in your belief as such, then what is the variance, division, contrariety or difference if you as a devout Christian consider Jesus to be the ONLY Saviour and I as a believing Muslim consider the Almighty God to be the ONLY Saviour??? I hope I will now have fewer mails asking me to read the Bible with an open mind and accept Jesus Christ as my ONLY SAVIOUR.

Finally, IF the death spread to all men through the sin of Adam (Romans 5:12), and IF the act of Jesus was its justification or payment of debt or its satisfaction and reconciliation with God, then why are people dying?

Good question! Romans 5:12 gives us the answer:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

However, Mr. Meherally, the GOOD NEWS of 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 is:

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Mr. Meherally, I sincerely hope and pray that you take this good news to heart and come to the only Savior - Jesus Christ.

Andrew Vargo

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