Last summer in a confirmation hearing, Senator Bernie Sanders severely criticized Russell Vought for his Christian beliefs.

Vought had written an article in which he stated, “Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned.”

Senator Sanders asked Vought, “Do you believe that that statement is Islamophobic?” Sanders went on to express his disapproval of Vought serving in public office.

Bernie Sanders and many others today think Christian beliefs like Russell Vought’s are intolerant. To believe that all religions lead to God is somehow more acceptable.

But that view too is intolerant. Many that hold it have no respect for people who believe differently.

Christians, on the other hand, seek to reflect Jesus Christ. He loved and cared for all people. And He was honest about truth.

Jesus Himself did not teach that all religions lead to Heaven. He predicted that many would be on the wrong path. He said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13).

God has graciously directed us to the right way in the Bible. Romans 3:22-23 says that the righteousness of God is “… by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

The Bible clearly teaches that faith in Jesus Christ is the way of salvation for all people. There are no exceptions. Why? Because all people have the same problem: “For all have sinned.”

Everyone has disobeyed God’s commands in some way or other. That puts everyone in the same boat. Everyone needs the same way out, and Jesus is the way out. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Sometimes politicians and celebrity preachers confuse this way. They are quick to call religions “Christian” if they look good and moral. And yet these religions often have a different view of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible presents a Savior that is fully God and fully man.

Christianity is also commonly confused with political views. There are some political positions that are sinful and anti-Biblical, to be sure.

But being right with God is not a matter of belonging to the right political party. It is a matter of belonging to the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ.

Don’t wait to find a better option. Accept Jesus Christ by faith as your only hope for salvation.

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By Pastor Stephen Howard

Contributing Columnist

Pastor Stephen Howard is from Morrow Bible Church.