OUR TEXT:
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 KJV
Do you believe that all religions lead to the True and Living God? Before answering this question, a word of caution is in order: Anyone who answers NO may well be ostracized for being narrow-minded, intolerant, or even being labeled as an Islamophobe. That being said, my answer is,
“No, not all religions lead to the True and Living God, and it is incorrect and illogical to maintain that they do.”
When we begin to examine world religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, you will immediately recognize that they directly contradict one another. For example, Moses taught that there is only one God; Krishna believed in many gods; Buddha was agnostic; and Mohammed was immoral. Logically, they can all be wrong but they can’t all be right.
Looking into our text, we observe:
Neither is there salvation – The word “salvation” properly denotes any “preservation,” or keeping anything in a “safe” state; a preserving from harm. It signifies, also, deliverance from any evil of body or mind; from pain, sickness, danger, etc., (Acts 7:25). But it is in the New Testament applied particularly to the work which the Messiah came to do, “to seek and to save that which was lost,” (Luke 19:10). This work refers primarily to a deliverance of the soul from sin (Matthew 1:21; Acts 5:31; Luke 4:18; Romans 8:21; Galatians 5:1).
In any other – Any other person. He does not mean to say that God is not able to save, but that the salvation of the human family is entrusted to the hands of Jesus the Messiah.
For there is none other name – This is an explanation of what he had said in the previous part of the verse. The word “name” here is used to denote “the person himself” (i. e., There is no other being or person.) As we would say, there is no one who can save but Jesus Christ. That there is no other Saviour, or Mediator between God and man, is abundantly taught in the New Testament; and it is, indeed, the main design of revelation to prove this.
Under heaven – This expression does not materially differ from the one immediately following, “among men.” They are designed to express with emphasis the sentiment that salvation is to be obtained in “Christ alone,” and not in any patriarch, or prophet, or teacher, or king, or in any false Messiah.
Given – In this word it is implied that “salvation” has its origin in God; that a Saviour for people must be given by Him; and that salvation cannot be originated by any power among people. The Lord Jesus is thus uniformly represented as given or appointed by God for this great purpose (John 3:16; 17:3-4). Hence, Christ is called the “unspeakable gift” of God (2 Corinthians 9:15).
Whereby we must be saved – By which it is fit, or proper, that we should be saved. There is no other way of salvation that is adapted to the great object contemplated, and therefore, if saved, it must be in this way and by this plan. The schemes of people’s own devices are not adapted to the purpose, and therefore cannot save. The doctrine that people can be saved only by Jesus Christ is abundantly taught in the Scriptures. To show the failure of all other schemes of religion was the great design of the first part of the Epistle to the Romans.
