The Logic of Jesus

Jesus is the key.  If we are not drawn to and through Jesus in the search for God, we are missing the mark and running a dangerous route.  There are a lot of people who believe in a god and are comfortable talking about the divine and about spirituality, but when Jesus' named is declared, defenses are raised and relativism is thrust into the forefront.  In reality, apart from Jesus, Christianity has no worth.  It is Christ crucified and resurrected that is the sole starting point for any serious discussion of spirituality, religion, and truth.

There is a widespread secular religious doctrine that goes something like this: "all religions worship the same god, or, all roads lead to the same end."  This is blatantly incorrect and incoherent.  Addressing this from the point of view of logic, two fundamental laws of logic are in play, namely the law of identity and the law of non-contradiction.

Jesus' life and message had a tremendous amount of inclusivity, meaning that the Gospel message of the good news of Jesus is open and applicable to all mankind.  On the flip side, the message was definitively exclusive, in the sense that only through faith in Jesus as the risen Son of God is right relationship with God restored and the burden of sin lifted.  There are basically four biblical assertions that lay the groundwork for all truth about Jesus:

(1) God, who is holy, infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, is the Creator of the whole of universe.  The Bible posits this from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation.

(2) The wages of Sin, which separates the depravity of man from the holiness of God, is death and must be accounted for in order for man to be justified and restored to right relationship with Him.

(3) Jesus, the Son of God, through His perfect life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection, paid the penalty of sin due all mankind.

(4) Through confession of sin and belief in Jesus as the sole source of reconciliation to the Father, believers can enter into a restored, right relationship with the Lord and be blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and eternal life.

These are the four basic assertions that undergird all of Christianity.  If we are to consider the laws of logic, especially identity and non-contradiction, then two things must be noted.  The first is the exclusivity of the Gospel.  Only through faith in Jesus is salvation and eternal life reached.  Additionally, sin separates man from God and must be atoned for, Jesus being the atonement.  These two things fundamentally make Christianity what it is.  If these two fundamental doctrines are not held, then it is not Christianity and, ultimately, not true.

Therefore, any worldview, religion, or spiritual experience that contradicts, or challenges the truths of Christ are to be examined as such.  Christianity is based on the work and life of Jesus, the very Son of God.  This is either true or not, it cannot be both.  Thus, we must either accept the truth claims of Jesus as wholly true or altogether reject them as false.  Only one of these is possible.  To allow syncretism is not only to downplay the truth claims of Christ but also to ignore His teachings entirely.  Let us be on guard to not allow relativism to hinder our faith.