Have you ever asked the question, "is believing in Jesus Christ the only way for a person to get to heaven?" There are all these other different world religions out here, and yet Christians say Jesus is the only way. So today, I want to share with you four things that I believe totally set Jesus apart from every other religious leader that has ever lived.

The POWER of Jesus

The first is his power. In other words, no other religious leader did the things that Jesus did. When you think about all the different miracles that Jesus did: walking on water, calming the storm, raising the dead, healing the blind… All of these are miracles that no other religious leader in the history of time has ever done. Then the greatest miracle of all time is Jesus raising his own body from the dead three days after he was crucified and then showing himself alive to over 500 people as proof that this resurrection wasn't just simply a rumor. (1 Corinthians 15:3-6) Every other religious leader died and is still dead, and yet the Bible, along with other secular history books record this amazing miracle of Jesus' resurrection! 

The PROPHECIES about Jesus

The second thing that sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader is prophecy. Jesus fulfilled prophecies that were written about him hundreds of years before he even set foot on the earth! There were prophecies written about the fact that he'd be born of a virgin, (Isaiah 7:14) or prophecies that spoke about the exact date in which he would be crucified. (Daniel 9:24-27) There are prophecies written about how he would die. (Psalm 22; Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 53) The details concerning his death and how he would live… these and hundreds of other prophecies, Jesus fulfilled with perfect accuracy and perfect precision. No other religious leader in the history of time even had prophecies written about them, let alone did they have the power to fulfill them!

The PREACHING of Jesus

The third thing that sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader is his preaching or his message. In other words, no other religious leader taught the way Jesus taught. Jesus is the only religious leader that actually provided a genuine solution for the problem of sin. (John 3:16-21) Every other religious leader says, “you have to do.” “You have to obey.” You have to live and obey some sort of moral code in order to earn God's favor, to earn His forgiveness, which basically puts you in a state of insecurity or uncertainty. Because you never really know if you've done enough in order to earn God's forgiveness. Jesus' message is very clear: you and I are sinners, and even on our best day we can't do enough good to make up for all the wrongs that we've done. So Jesus says I'm going to go to the cross and I'm going to pay for all of your sins with my precious blood, and all I'm asking you to do in return is to believe in me. 

The PERFECTION of Jesus

The fourth thing that sets Jesus apart from every other religious leader is his perfection. In other words, no other religious leader lives the way Jesus lived! Some of the other religious leaders, even by their own admission, lived very sinful lives. Some of them were polygamists. Others were murderers. Others made countless prophecies that never came to pass. But Jesus is the only religious leader who even claimed to live a perfect life. His followers described him as a man who was without sin! (John 8:46; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5) But most surprisingly the very same people that crucified him admitted that they could find no fault in him. (Matthew 27:24; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:4; John 19:4) So, because Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, this automatically sets him apart from every other religious leader who has ever lived. 

For the Christian who says that there is another way other than Jesus to get to heaven, what you're saying, first of all, is that the Bible is false! Second, you’re saying that Jesus himself was a liar because he clearly said that, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Now, I know this was a very controversial subject. One that you have probably had to wrestle with at some point in your life! We would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. If you feel this message is helpful, please also share it with a friend! If you do, please let us know and we will pray with you for your friend.

Used with permission by Global Media Outreach from Allen Parr.  This article was first published as a video on The Beat.