“The stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone,
and a stone of stumbling and
A ROCK OF OFFENSE.”
1st Peter 2:7-8

Many are angry when we say there is ONLY ONE WAY to be saved and that there are NO other ways to God. It’s the exclusivity of the claim that is “the offense of the Gospel.”

To understand WHY it’s exclusive, you have to understand WHY Jesus came.

The human race was lost. Every human being descended from Adam is a sinner. There is NO WAY a human being with sin guilt can enter heaven.

It was hopeless.

But God provided a redeemer, and that’s WHY Jesus came. On the cross he took the judgment on sin IN THE BELIEVER’S PLACE. Most do not have any idea the enormity of that.

When a man charged with murder stands before a judge, it’s not going to change anything if he starts telling the judge the many good things he has done. The issue is the crime.

And that’s us. We cannot enter heaven based on good things we have done. Our sin is the elephant in the room, and that stops the discussion right there.

But Jesus Christ TOOK the judgment FOR us. THAT is why he came. He bore the judgment on the believer’s sin.

NO one else could have died for us. That’s why no one else can help us when we stand before God – the issue will be our sins. But believers will have an advocate there, a lawyer, who will say, “Father, I bore the penalty for all his/her sins.” The judge is not going to expect us to pay a price that has already been paid.

That’s why the Gospel is exclusive – Jesus was the only one who COULD redeem us from the judgment due us on our sins.