It has been said that there are many different teachings on how to get to God, and we can not really know who has the final say. Others have said that all of these ways lead to God. However, if you have truly understood what I have explained in my article titled The Gift of God, then it should become evident that there are really only two teachings on how to get to God: The world teaches that it is through self effort, but the Bible teaches that through divine accomplishment. Since the gift of God can not be worked for, it should therefore be evident that all of the religions in the world (in other words, the religions of self effort) are in stark contrast to biblical Christianity.

According to the Bible, Satan himself is "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), and thus the author of it's religions. That may sound a little strong to some, but I believe that it will sound reasonable to those who understand that biblical Christianity is not a religion at all....it is simply a relationship with God. In contrast to every religion in the world (including even much of what is called "Christianity" today), God offers a relationship with Himself, and it is a matter of divine accomplishment rather than human achievement.

In other words, biblical Christianity is a matter of what Christ has done for us on the cross rather than what we can do to merit His favor. And it is a matter of what He can do through us rather than what we can do to merit His favor. Every man made religion gives the credit to individuals. In contrast, biblical Christianity gives all the credit to God for what He can do, and for the life that He can live through us (See Galatians 2:20-21).

The Bible not only calls Satan "the god of this world", but it also tells us that the whole world lies under his sway (See 1 John 5:19). For those of us who understand that, it should be no surprise to find that Jesus Himself declares all man made religions to be false by stating, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

Although so many religions attempt to get to God through self effort, Jesus Himself has plainly declared that it is only through Him that they can ever get to God. Sadly, even many who claim to follow Jesus are trying to get to God through self effort rather than through Him, and that is one of the reasons that Christianity has gotten a bad name.

But God is not to blame for this, and He did warn that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

For those who know that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one (See 1 John 5:19), it should be no surprise to find out that Jesus said the way to life is narrow and "there are few who find it" (See Matthew 7:13-14). That is not some crazy idea that was thought up by me or any other "narrow minded fundamentalist", but it is the very words of Jesus Himself. I am just simply telling you what He said. And I am currently weeping as I write this article, because I long for certain individuals to understand this before it is too late.

As for knowing who has the final say, I believe that the Bible itself makes it clear that it is God Himself who has the final say, and not any of us (See my article titled God's Word Is The Final Word to understand exactly what I mean by that). With this in consideration, it should be evident that we can not do away with our accountability to God by pretending that we can not really know the truth (See my articles titled Avoiding Correction and Philosophy vs. Christ for more info). That attitude may fool others who buy into the contradictory post-modern way of thinking, but it is not fooling God.

Since eternal life is a gift from God, it will not be forced on anyone. So it is not my intention to force this on anyone. It must be a choice that comes from the heart if you receive it - otherwise it is simply not a gift. You can try to merit God's favor or you can trust in the finished work of Christ (See Romans 3:10-31). The choice is yours.