Have you seen bumper stickers like this that say “coexist”? What do you think about that? It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Can’t we all just get along? You believe what you believe and I’ll believe what I believe and we just leave each other alone? Wouldn’t that be a great way to live? Why can’t we just coexist?
It sounds really good. Why can’t we believe what we want to believe and leave everyone else alone? This line of reasoning is wrong because the world religions are diametrically opposed to Christianity. Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses are all works based religions and they are very incompatible with Christianity.
The main thing that is wrong with coexist is that it isn’t biblical. John 14:6 states, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.” Likewise John 17:3 says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” In Acts 4:12 the apostle Peter is talking about Jesus when he says, “Neither is salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
What do these verses have in common? They all clearly state that Jesus is the only way to eternal salvation. We cannot work our way into heaven (which is what all of the man-made religions are based on, but they are wrong). Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
We cannot just coexist because to do so would be negligent on the part of Christians. Coexisting would be like saying that you are out driving your car and you stop your car just in time where a bridge is out. You slam on your brakes right before you are about to plunge to your death. But instead of warning all the other drivers of the impending danger and their eminent death, you drive back up the road a mile or two from where the bridge is out. You want to be polite and you don’t want to bother or inconvenience anyone. So you just smile and wave as they drive on by. You do this with the knowledge that they are going to die in a few short minutes.
Even though you can say that you are being tolerant, this is not right. Can’t you see that you are not being nice to people at all? In fact, it’s just the opposite. You are being very cruel. You are telling people to believe what they want to believe while you have the truth. You are being unloving by withholding the truth from them.
Instead of worrying about people having a pleasant trip and our desire to not confront them, we need to proclaim the truth to people. We should frantically wave our arms and shout “Stop! There’s danger ahead. You are going to die if you continue down this road.”
God has commanded us to share our faith with others (Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15). Don’t smile and wave at people feeling good about yourself and how tolerant you are while people are heading for Hell. No, read your Bible, really read it and see what the Bible says about Hell, eternal punishment and eternal separation from God.
Then go out and tell everyone that you can that they are in danger; that they are heading down the road where the bridge is out. They can’t cross the chasm by themselves. They need a bridge and that bridge, the only bridge between us and God is Jesus Christ our Lord. Tell them they need to repent and put their trust in Jesus. If you want to put a bumper sticker on your car, don’t use coexist, use:
Thank you, you’re awesome 🙂
All honor and glory be to God. Our God is an awesome God.
I think people should be able to believe in what they want. i have been wiccan for over 10 years now. In my religion we dont try to force you to beileve in what we do. i think you should stop you forcing your christian faith on people. you just need to get over your self. plus my religion has been around way before yours. and what makes your religion the true one any ways. just cause some book says so. anyone can writ a book and say this is the true reilgion and you should follow this and this alone. my whole life was brought up saying only god is the way. well i got tried of being told what do believe and who to believe and i have been happier since i started believeing in wicca. plus wicca is studing the earth and all who live on it not worshiping satan. we do not beileve in DEVIL. so i think we can coexist and not have to be told that one religion is the true or not. plus jews were here first also. SO MY POINT IS WE CAN COEXIST AND NOT NEED TO BE TOLD WHAT TO BELIEVE IN. thank you and blessed be…
Crystal, thank you for your comments, but I have to tell you, as long as I have a breath left in me, I will proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. I’m sorry that you grew tired of hearing that God was the only way. It’s too bad that you didn’t accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. I said the sinners prayer when I was 11 years old. I then proceed to lived the next 33 years living in sin. I had a wrong understanding about who Jesus really is.
Thankfully, God opened my eyes four years ago while reading the Bible. It was only then that I understood how Righteous and Holy God really is and how wretched of a sinner I really am. When I realized that, I cried out to God and He soundly saved me. The Holy Spirit now resides inside me. It is a supernatural thing.
I am so grateful that Jesus saved me. I proclaim the Good News of Jesus because people all around me are dying and going to Hell. You will join them too if you don’t turn from your sins and put your trust in Jesus. You may feel good about your religion, but it won’t save you when you stand before God on Judgment Day. God has written His Law on your heart, your conscience also bears witness. Listen to your conscience and acknowledge that you can’t save yourself. Put your faith in Jesus and surrender your life fully to Him.
Great article! I too had what I call “fire insurance” salvation long before I was brought to repentance and began to understand Who God is. I didn’t have an answer for people when they asked me why I believed “some book.” The thing is, God is not schizophrenic. He is not going to reveal Himself and command His people to 1) have NO other gods and 2) never make any graven image (idol)… but then tell another culture that He is actually a bunch of gods and sure, go ahead and worship a tree or river or craft an idol of gold and jewels.
If I were to try to coexist, I would have to tell people that whomever/whatever they wanted to worship was just fine, that there wouldn’t be any eternal consequences to rejecting Jesus Christ. And that would be a lie – something expressly forbidden by God. The God of the Bible is the only true God. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no other way to God. Truth is absolute, not subjective no matter what we sometimes think we want.
As for Jews being around before Christianity, of course they were. Jesus Christ was a Jew in His incarnate (human) form. He is the fulfillment of the covenant God made with Abraham. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. The word Christian simply means “like Christ” and should be what all believers in Jesus Christ aspire to be – like Him.
This is complete nonsense. All this article does is spread hate and non-acceptance. This article may be valid if Christianity was the only religion in the world. However, it is not. There are many other religions out there such as Islam, Buddhism, Paganism, ect. Saying that your religion is the one true religion is simply just empty words not backed by facts nor evidence. Furthermore, what does it say about your god? Kind Muslism goes to hell while an a______ Christian gets into heaven. I’m sorry but that just proves how egotistical and jealous your god really is.
“This article may be valid if Christianity is the only religion in the world.” Great statement; that will preach. Christianity is the only true religion. Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me (John 14:6). All man-made religions are just that: man-made. They are men trying to reach God through their own good works. But none of us are good. We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Christianity is different because instead of us trying to reach God, He reached down to us and sent His only Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means the wrath was satisfied. The sinless Son of God suffering, bleeding, dying on the cross for guilty sinners like us and Jesus is the only way of salvation. There is no other (Acts 4:12). Turn from your sins and turn to the risen Lord. Cry out for God to save you. Stop mocking Jesus and bow to Him. Repent and trust Jesus Christ the Lord before it’s too late. Surrender your life to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.