God without Christ is no God

In the last ten years, I have become more convinced that declaring the exclusivity of Jesus Christ cannot be weakened or compromised in any degree. With statistics telling us that 56% of professing evangelicals in America believe that "all good people will go to heaven without having Christ as Savior"; and with the increase of secularization abroad in our country - the time has never been more crucial to be clear about the Gospel of Christ. In other words, when we proclaim the gospel, there must not be even a hint in anything we say that would lead others to think that some other "road" than Jesus Christ will put them right with God. Or to say this another way: Christians must be more bold and direct in our day that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.

In his heart-searching book, Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper nails this matter down with the kind of clarity that needs to resonate and be applied with every believer in Christ:

Since September 11, 2001, I have seen more clearly than ever how essential it is to exult explicitly in the excellence of Christ crucified for sinners and risen from the dead. Christ must be explicit in all our God-talk. It will not do, in this day of pluralism, to talk about the glory of God in vague ways. God without Christ is no God. And a no-God cannot save or satisfy the soul. Following a no-God - whatever his name or whatever his religion - will be a wasted life. God in Christ is the only true God and the only path to joy...Ever since the incarnate, redeeming work of Jesus, God is gladly glorified by sinners only through the glorification of the risen God-Man, Jesus Christ. His bloody death is the blazing center of the glory of God. There is no way to the glory of the Father but through the Son. All promises of joy in God's presence, and pleasures at his right hand, come to us only through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the litmus test of reality for all persons and all religions...People and religions who reject Christ reject God...There is no point in romanticizing other religions that reject the deity and saving work of Christ. They do not know God. And those who follow them tragically waste their lives.