Again, Jesus tells us the He is the only way to heaven. “Your are from below. I am from above.” I am God’s Son, while you are of Satan. I am life, and you are not alive. “You will die in your sins…

“If you do not believe that I am He…” If you do not believe that I am God’s Son, the Messiah, the Christ… “you will die in your sins.”

It doesn’t get much easier than that to understand. 

Even among Evangelicals, there is a trend to believe that there are many ways to heaven. We want to believe that there are good people who are Muslims, Buddhists, or even agnostics who will join us in heaven, simply because we know them to be good people. 

Good, though, is a relative term. On a sliding scale of depravity, the world is, indeed, full of good people. Up against a perfect, holy, and just God, no one is good. No, not one. 

When the standard is sinless perfection, Billy Graham is a wretch. When the standard is purity and righteousness, Mother Teresa is despicable. 

If we take Jesus at His Word – and I know no other way to take Him, then no one, no matter how good, no matter how well-intended, no one can be saved from sin and death without putting their faith in the hands of Jesus. 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

One could write volumes on the lessons of the Parable of the Vine and Branches. The key is to abide in Christ, attached to Him as a branch is a vine. 

I’ve never seen a branch that is attached only when it feels like it, or only attached on Sunday, or only attached when the spirit moves it. It is attached every second of every day of its life. If it does become detached, it withers and dies. 

If it is properly nourished and pruned, it will bear fruit. So, what are the fruits we, as Christians, will bear? The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. These are the fruits produced by those who are truly following Christ.