Jesus Is The Door
John 10:9 says, Jesus speaking, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” This is another of the “I Am” acclamations of Jesus, all of which are pointing to who Jesus is, pointing to His distinctive, divine character and purpose. In this particular ‘I Am’ statement, Jesus is pointing to an exclusive truth. He did not say that He was a door. He said He was THE door. And He is bringing out that the only way a person, you and me, can be saved is through and by Him. There is absolutely no other way.
One Bible scholar wrote this: “The second kind of sheep pen was in the countryside, where the shepherds would keep their flocks in good weather. This type of sheep pen was nothing more than a rough circle of rocks piled into a wall with a small open space to enter. Through it the shepherd would drive the sheep at nightfall. Since there was no gate to close—just an opening—the shepherd would keep the sheep in and wild animals out by lying across the opening. He would sleep there, in this case literally becoming the door to the sheep.”
The only way into that kind of Sheepfold was through the Shepherd. Jesus said He was the Shepherd, hence, the only way into the spiritual sheepfold is through Jesus. Anyone else, according to Jesus, is a thief and a robber. It doesn’t matter how eloquent the other religious leaders can be, or how convincing their argument is, the only way to salvation, the only way into Heaven, the only way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. As we said above, there is absolutely no other way, period!
The Buddhists say that salvation is only found in the person himself. This, of course, goes in total contrast to what the Bible says about humanity and salvation. No person is able to deliver themselves from sin, or rise high enough to be free from it. The Bible says that all have sinned. The Buddhists don’t believe in the concept of sin, or certainly don’t call it that, and feel that a person is able to rise above it.
The Muslims believe that salvation is connected to human actions, faith in Allah and submission to Allah’s will. It is based on how good a person can be. Unfortunately, their definition of good can include the physical annihilation of other people and religions. We can go on and on about other religions, but the truth, according to the very Word of God, is that Jesus is the only way a person can be saved. It is not through any individual effort, it is not through any other person or supposed god; it is through Jesus and Him only. He is the door! He is the absolute Way to get to Heaven! And we can knock on that door, if you will, and through faith in what He has done for us, and through a turning from ourselves and sin, we can enter the very fold of God!