How is Christianity different from every other religion in the world? The answer focuses on Jesus Christ, “the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Christ means “anointed one.” It is the term for the ancient Hebrew word Messiah—the anointed one whom God would send to save His people. The first believers of the early Christian church recognized Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Their period of world history was full of discouragement and despair. The promised Messiah shone as a beacon in the darkness, and His light has never dimmed: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. … The true Light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:4, 9).

Today, as world leaders struggle with seemingly insurmountable problems, this darkening and menacing situation accentuates the brightness of the One who proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). Jesus alone can offer eternal life because He is the only one who lived a sinless life and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins by His death on the cross.

He lived on earth as man, but was also divine. Because He was divine, He rose again three days after His death—the only one ever to die and come back to life on His own—then ascended into heaven. While the founders of various non-Christian religions of the world have died and been buried, Christ is very much alive!

Jesus was the only one to claim to be God and the only one to prove it. In His words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Is Jesus the only way to heaven? Simply put, yes. Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word and God cannot lie, it does not contradict itself or teach falsehoods. It is in this very Scripture that Jesus is revealed. Jesus made a way for you to be with Him forever in heaven.

The other two key words for Christians regarding the unbeliever’s question about Jesus being the only way are exclusivity and salvation. Both directly address who Jesus is and why He came to earth.

Jesus made the definitive statement of His exclusive means to get to heaven when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). The Holy Spirit is involved as our Helper, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). God is working in His triune nature to draw men to Himself; all salvation comes through Jesus Christ.