How Can I Know Christianity Is The Right Religion?

Almost every religion in the world claims to offer the exclusive way to experience a relationship with our Creator and the assurance of life after death. Let’s discover three reasons we can say with confidence that Christianity is the “right” religion.

1. The Objections to Exclusivism

The belief that faith in Christ is the only way to be assured of going to heaven is not only rejected by non-Christians but by many professing Christians as well. Exclusivism is rejected by many people because it appears to be:

• ​Intolerant: However, tolerance does not mean an acceptance of all beliefs and behaviors as valid.
• Unnecessary: Some erroneously believe that all religions teach the same things. In truth, the major world religions vary widely in what they teach about God, man, and the afterlife. 
• Troubling: If Christianity is the only way to heaven, the implication is that the majority of people are not going to heaven since the majority of the population is not Christians. 

So what makes Christianity distinctive from other religions and gives us the confidence to believe that it is indeed the right religion? Obviously, any religion or philosophy can claim exclusivity. How can we know that Christianity is the “right religion?”

2. Evidence for the Exclusivity of Christianity

• ​The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ

Few historians doubt that Jesus actually existed. Even the Deist Thomas Paine, who believed the Bible was filled with errors and inconsistencies, accepted the historicity of Jesus. However, Paine embraced the view of Jesus that the majority of non-Christians have today: that he was a good, moral man, but certainly not God. But, the problem with believing that Jesus was only a great moral teacher like others who preceded and succeeded Him is that He claimed to be more—much more—than that.

In fact, no other philosopher or religious leader before or since Jesus has ever made the claims that Jesus made. 

1. ​​Jesus claimed to be God.
2. ​​Jesus claimed to forgive sins.
3. Jesus claimed to conquer death.
4. Jesus claimed He would return to judge the world. 

• ​​The Teaching of Jesus Christ

If we conclude that Jesus is God, then we must also believe that everything Jesus said is true since God is incapable of deception.

So, the natural question would be, “Did Jesus believe there are multiple paths to God?” If Jesus is truly God, then He is obviously the most qualified Person in history to answer that question. 

What did Jesus have to say about this issue of exclusivity?

1. ​​There are two possible eternal destinations for people.
2. ​​The majority of mankind will spend eternity in hell.
3. ​​​Jesus offers an exclusive way to heaven.

• ​The Teaching of the New Testament

Jesus’ clear teaching that He provides the only way to heaven should be enough to settle the issue of exclusivity since He is the only religious leader who has conquered the problem of death. However, the New Testament writers affirmed by teaching and illustrating Jesus’s declaration that faith in Him was the only means to escape eternal death.

​​The Example of Paul

The apostle Paul was a self-described “Hebrew of Hebrews” and a Pharisee, the strictest sect of Judaism known for its observance of the Mosaic Law (Philippians 3:5). Paul’s zeal for his Jewish faith led him to devote his life to stamping out this heresy claiming that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah. 

But while on his way to arrest a group of Christians in Damascus, Paul encountered the resurrected Jesus (Acts 9) and was suddenly transformed from the greatest antagonist of Christianity to the greatest evangelist for the Christian faith. After his experience with Christ, Paul longed to see his fellow Jews also embrace Christ as their Savior. 

Paul clearly believed that Jesus Christ was the only hope of salvation for all mankind, including his own people, the Israelites (Romans 1:16). And he wasn’t timid about making such a claim.

​​The Example of Peter

Similarly, the apostle Peter had been a devout follower of Judaism. After Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven, Peter was willing to experience imprisonment, beatings, and ultimately execution for his faith in Christ. The apostle made it clear that faith in Christ provided the only means by which a person can escape the wrath of God (Acts 4:12). 

Think about it. The three most prominent Jews in the New Testament—Jesus, the apostle Paul, and the apostle Peter—declared that no other religion (including Judaism) offered a road to heaven. Instead, the consistent message of the New Testament is that every person, regardless of his religious faith, is required to exercise personal faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

​​The Example of Cornelius

One of the greatest illustrations of the exclusivity of Christianity is the conversion of a Roman centurion named Cornelius, recorded in Acts 10. Luke describes Cornelius as “a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually.” (Acts 10:2)

Cornelius met all of the criteria that the majority of people today believe qualify a person for heaven: he believed in God, he prayed to God regularly, and he possessed a healthy fear of God that motivated him to give money to the poor. And if that were not sufficient to merit entrance into heaven, Luke records that God actually communicated to Cornelius in a vision (Acts 10:3). 

But the message God communicated to Cornelius was that his worship of God and righteous deeds were insufficient for his salvation. Instead, God commanded Cornelius to send for the Apostle Pete,r who would communicate to the Roman centurion the message he needed to embrace in order to be saved. God orchestrated a series of miraculous events to bring Peter to Cornelius (not least of which was convincing Peter that non-Jews can be saved). When Peter finally met Cornelius, he wasted no time reminding him of the details of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection from the dead.

I am often asked by people, “What about those who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you really believe God is going to send them to hell?” This story of Cornelius reminds us that when God sees someone who truly wants a relationship with Himself, He will move heaven and earth to make sure that person hears the message of Jesus Christ. However, this story also illustrates the truth that a person must hear and embrace the specific message of Jesus Christ in order to receive the forgiveness of his sins. 

• ​The Unique Solution to Man’s Dilemma

All religions are not all wrong. One of the truths about which many of the world religions agree is that mankind is riddled with selfish and destructive desires that lead him away from experiencing happiness in this life or in the afterlife (if that particular religion happens to believe in one). 

Every other religion has a long list of “to-do’s” to merit whatever prize it may be offering. Only Christianity says that there are no “to-do’s” because everything required for us to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins has been done by God Himself. All we must do is receive the gift that God offers. 

And perhaps that is the strongest argument for Christianity being the “right” religion. Christianity provides an exclusive answer to man’s greatest dilemma, as expressed by Job when he asked, “How can a man be in the right before God?” (Job 9:2). Every other religion answers that question with “work.” Only Christianity answers “grace.”