"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12

There is a common misconception in the world that there are many paths to eternal life. As long as a person lives a "good" life many believe that God will welcome them into heaven. The philosophy is that many of the great religions and their teachers all spoke the word of God and by following their teachings one would find heaven.

A Pastor of a mega-church appeared on the Larry King Show recently and was asked if a person could get to heaven without believing in Jesus - he dodged the question by saying, "That is up to God." But as we see in today’s text, God has already spoken on the subject and said that Jesus is the only way to salvation. Many find this offensive which is why he answered so cowardly.

The truth about salvation is that it is not about how "good" a life you can live. The Bible says that there are none good, and that all are sinners and have come short of the glory of God. We have all lied, stolen, dishonored our parents, experienced lust, been unforgiving and judgmental and acted selfishly. The Bible says that our righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags to God.

There is nothing we can do to erase the sins we have committed. And that is exactly why Jesus is so valuable. Before He came to earth as a man Jesus existed from eternity as God. John said that in the beginning was the "Word" and the Word "was with God" and the "Word was God." Jesus emptied Himself of His divinity to come to the earth as a man - a world which He had created.

 No other man can make this claim. No prophet or great teacher but Jesus alone. He is the life, and only His life is worth the sum total of man. Only by giving His life could man be forgiven, saved and reconciled to both Him and the Father.

Jesus did what we could not do. He lived a sinless life in order to take our sins upon Himself and die in our place. Jesus existed as God from all eternity yet He emptied Himself of His divinity to become a mere man to suffer and die to save us from the penalty of our sins. Jesus alone was crucified for the sins of humanity. Jesus alone died and was raised from the dead. No other great teacher was crucified for our sins, and no other was resurrected to give us eternal life.

The Gospel is not about how good a life you can live by the power of self. It is about your need for forgiveness and redemption, and about the high price Jesus was willing to pay to give it to you.