No Other Name

Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

The exclusiveness of this claim is a stumblingblock to those who are supposedly searching for truth, or who desire a different kind of life some other way. It is probably the main reason why Christians are persecuted by others. Nevertheless, one cannot be a Christian and believe otherwise, for “there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)The New Defender’s Study Bible. Christians are not being unloving when they try to win others to Christ, for they know that those others are eternally lost without Him.

There are many famous names in the history of religious thought–names such as Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, Joseph Smith, among a host of others. Each has a multitude of followers who pay homage to his name.

But there is only one name that saves eternally, the Lord Jesus Christ. The words in Acts 4:12 above were spoken by the apostle Peter.

In his epistle, John also stresses this fact:

1 John 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

The apostle Paul wrote that,

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9“And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels,in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 

This exclusivity necessarily results from the fact that there is only one God and Creator of all men, and that all men have rebelled against Him. God Himself has become Redeemer and Savior, dying for the sin of the world and rising again. There can, therefore, be no other Savior than God Himself.

The Lord Jesus repeatedly stressed this truth.

John 14:6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”.

He did not only come to show us the way, teach us the truth and give us the life, though He does all of this.

He is the Way to God,

He is the Truth of God, and

He is the Life inGod.

John 3:18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

Psalm 2:7The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:…“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father.

Acts 13:33and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus:”You are my Son.Today I have become your Father.

Romans 1:4and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.,

John 5:26The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son.

John 8:23-24Jesus continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Amwho I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

For Jesus actually said, simply, “I am,” thus again claiming to be none other than Jehovah (note John 8:58Jesus answered,“I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!, referring to Exodus3:14God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” ).

Thus, belief that Jesus is God is essential to salvationIt is urgent, therefore, that anyone desiring forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation come to God through Jesus Christ.

John 3:36“And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

The believer has everlasting life right now (not “may have” or even “will have”). On the other hand, the unbeliever in Christ (see John 3:13-15 as to what one must believe), no matter how moral or religious he may be, faces God’s wrath in hell, because he has rejected (or neglected) His great gift of salvation, purchased at such great price—the sacrificial death of His beloved Son.

John 3:13-15No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man(“Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself). has come down from heaven.And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.