Are There Many Paths To God?
A
False Doctrine With Eternal Consequences
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, August 26, 2026 (Donate)
With sadness, there are far too many people who think there
are many ways that lead to God and salvation. What they don’t realize is that
God utterly disagrees with them. God is the Judge and if someone has trodden
down a false path, it can be dangerous eternally.
The idea that there are many paths to God (e.g., salvation,
heaven, paradise) isn’t compatible with the 66 books of God’s revealed Word—which
is the absolute authority on the subject. Scripture doesn't present
Christianity as one religious option among many.
Instead, the Bible teaches that there is one true God, one true Christ, one gospel, and one way of salvation. This has serious consequences
not only for non-Christian religions, but also for churches that redefine Jesus
or teach that people can be saved through other religions or other paths.
There Is Only One True God
The Bible begins with one Creator: "In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). God later declares,
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me"
(Isaiah 45:5; see also Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-11; 44:6).
Therefore, contradictory religions can’t all be different
roads to the same God. If one religion teaches one God, another many gods,
another that everything is divine, and another that no personal Creator exists,
these claims can’t all be true.
Paul makes this distinction between true and false worship
in 1 Corinthians 8:4-6. There may be many things "called gods," but
for Christians there is "one God, the Father" and "one Lord
Jesus Christ."
Jesus Isn't “One Way” Among Many
Jesus made one of Scripture's clearest statements about
salvation:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6, NKJV).
Jesus did not say He was "a way." He is "the
way." Nor did He say some people could reach the Father through Him while
others arrived through another religion. Jesus also said,
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved,
and will go in and out and find pasture.(John 10:9, NKJV).
The Holy Spirit through Peter affirms:
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12, NKJV).
1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) likewise says there is "one God
and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."
The biblical teaching is exclusive because salvation
itself is found exclusively in Christ. You need to understand why—it is
the infinite and eternal nature
of the punishment and the infinite and eternal nature of He who could take
that punishment on our behalf.
Why Other Religions Can't Save?
Man's fundamental problem is sin (Genesis 3, Romans 3:23).
The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23), and good works can’t erase guilt
before God (Romans 3:20; Ephesians 2:8-9). We deserve a righteous punishment
form an infinite and eternal being!
Therefore, mankind doesn't simply need religious sincerity,
morality, rituals, meditation, sacrifices, or good intentions. We need a
Savior. Jesus, who is the infinite and eternal God, alone satisfies our
need. He bore our sins upon the Cross (1 Peter 2:24), died for our sins (1
Corinthians 15:3) taking the punishment we deserve on Himself, and then He rose
from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:4).
Religions that reject Christ's deity, incarnation, atoning
death, resurrection, or exclusive saving authority necessarily reject the
biblical means of salvation. The Bible says:
Whoever denies the Son does not
have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (1
John 2:23, NKJV)
Sincerity doesn't make a false belief true. Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV)
warns,
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
But What If Someone Believes in "Jesus"?
Simply using the name "Jesus" isn't enough.
Scripture warns about false versions of Christ. Counterfeits if you will. In many
cases, these are sinful corruptions from the mind of man or from Satan or
spiritually demonic influences.
Paul warned that people could preach "another Jesus
whom we haven't preached" and "a different gospel" (2
Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6-9). Many deviate from the Christ of Scripture thinking
they are following God but the reality is that they have been deceived. The Bible
reveals:
And no wonder, for even Satan
disguises himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14, NAS)
A non-biblical idea of Jesus who is merely a “created being”,
an “angel”, “one god among many gods”, merely a “prophet”, or merely a “good
moral teacher” isn't the Jesus revealed in Scripture.
The biblical Jesus is the eternal Word, who is God
and became flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). He is "God with us", Mighty God, or
Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6; Matthew 1:23), the Son who shares the Father's
divine honor (John 5:23), and the One in whom "dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9).
What About Churches Teaching Many Paths?
This issue (common in churches like the universalist
movement) becomes particularly serious when a professing Christian church
teaches that Jesus is merely one path among many. I’ve met people like this!
Such a church is contradicting Jesus' own teaching. If
salvation can be obtained through another religion without Christ, then Jesus'
statement in John 14:6 is false, Peter's proclamation in Acts 4:12 is false,
and the apostles' missionary work becomes unnecessary.
Why preach the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20)? Why
tell people to repent and believe (Mark 1:15)? Why did Paul endure persecution
to preach Christ (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)? Why send missionaries at all if
people already possess acceptable alternative paths to God?
Religious pluralism [as this is called] undermines
the Great Commission because it removes the necessity of conversion to Christ. It’s
simply another attack on Jesus Christ and His Word.
A False Gospel Can't Save
Paul treated corruption of the gospel seriously! In
Galatians 1:8-9, he, by the power of the Holy Spirit, says that even if an
apostle or "an angel from heaven" preached another gospel, that
messenger was to be rejected.
This means churches don't possess authority to broaden or
change or add to or subtract God's terms of salvation in order to accommodate modern
secular, cultural, or social ideals. Jesus warned that people could call Him
"Lord, Lord" while never truly belonging to Him (Matthew 7:21-23). This
should be something we should all take to heart. Religious profession or the
idea that “I’m spiritual” by itself is embarrassingly insufficient before God—only through
Christ is one saved.
The question isn't merely whether someone “believes
something” about Jesus. The question is whether that person's faith rests
in the true Christ and true gospel revealed in Scripture.
Why This Matters Eternally
When it comes to salvation, there are two roads: the broad
way "leads to destruction," while the narrow way "leads to
life" (Matthew 7:13-14). John 3:36 (NKJV) states the eternal consequences:
"He who believes in the Son
has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him."
The biblical response to other religions should, therefore, not be hatred, coercion, or arrogance. Christians are commanded to speak truth
in love (Ephesians 4:15), give answers with "meekness and fear" (1
Peter 3:15), and proclaim the gospel to everyone (Mark 16:15). After all, we too needed to learn and grow in that same grace and proper understanding of who
Christ is and what He did.
There aren't “many paths to God” because there aren't “many
saviors”. There is one God, and one
Savior. Jesus Christ isn't one option among many. He is the only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), the
only Savior, and the only way to the Father. A religion or church that falsely substitutes another path, another Jesus, or another gospel doesn't provide an
alternative form of biblical salvation—but has been deceived themselves.
It’s an error—a crucial error! According to Scripture, these
false views direct people away from the only One through whom salvation
is found—the Lord Jesus Christ. It's time to get back to the Christ of Scripture and if you've been caught up in false views or thinking there are many paths to God without Jesus, I want to encourage you to challenge that false view and humbly repent before God.
□
Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years
working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He
was also head of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in
2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a
501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in
churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.
Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees
from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught
at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of
undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did
research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of
titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test
Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science was coupled with a love of history,
philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and
updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia. Mr.
Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in
these fields.
