No One Else
“Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:10,12
Some religions teach that there are several paths to enlightenment, that good deeds purify a person which results in salvation, or that there are various ways to get to heaven. Jesus came demonstrating the power of God over sickness and disease, over sin, over the laws of nature and even over death itself. His life, death and resurrection told one story: there is salvation in no one else. There are not varying paths or methods. There are not enough good deeds that can be done. The only way to God is through God.
Apart from God, humanity is hopeless. But God knew from the beginning that we would need a Savior, so he planned in advance a way for mankind to be saved. Revelation 13:8 describes Jesus as the one who was “slain from the foundation of the world.” That means that before God said, “Let there be light.,” before sin entered the world, God had a plan to redeem mankind. He would send a Redeemer.
And there in Bethlehem was born the one whose name is above all names. There would be no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Salvation is not dependent upon our works, it is provided by the work of the cross, by the mighty, powerful, loving, suffering Savior, Jesus Christ whose name is above all names, a name to whom every knee must one day bow. This was always God’s plan. There is salvation in no one else.