Only Christianity offers a complete plan of redemption

Christianity leaves no loose ends. The plan of redemption comes full circle. God is holy and our sin separates us from Him. God’s justice demands that a price be paid, the price of death by bloodshed. God’s grace allows a substitute to pay the price for us. In Old Testament times this was accomplished by sacrificing animals. Not just any animal, but animals that met God’s specifications, had to be firstborn, male, and without blemish. God accepted the animal sacrifice as payment for the price of men’s sin. But since an animal cannot sin (it is amoral), this sacrifice had to be repeated over and over again, each time a new sin was committed.

Then God’s love sent Jesus, His Son, to earth to pay that price with His blood. Jesus was, like the sacrificial animals of the Old Testament, firstborn, male, and without blemish. But above all, He was also sinless by his own choice. That made him the perfect (and only) sacrificial lamb whose blood was sufficient for all past, present, and future sins. By accepting Jesus’ payment by faith for our sins, we can be reconciled to God during this life and also after our death, when this reconciliation is fully realized.

This plan of redemption is what the Bible is all about. It is revealed and unfolded throughout the early history of man. It begins in Genesis with the story of Adam and Eve and their sin. Follow the patriarchs, the Mosaic law and the people of Israel. The New Testament explains the life and sacrifice of Jesus. Does not leave an open ending. If we accept the gift of Jesus by faith, we can be sure of our salvation. If not, we can be sure of our damnation. It’s as simple as that.

Other religions do not offer a similar comprehensive plan.

Hinduism states that one only needs to “improve” through numerous cycles of reincarnation. However, the believer will never know for sure how successful he is in achieving that goal. One never knows at death whether the soul has reached Moksha, or whether another cycle of rebirth, life and death is required.

The situation with Buddhism is similar. When is one truly free from suffering? How is that measured and how do you know? You die, and then what? Do you disappear into Nirvana or are you reborn as a human being or as some other organism? Like Hinduism, it seems to leave many questions unanswered.

The Muslim believes that after death he will face the judgment of Allah. And the believer will be judged by his life as an obedient and submissive Muslim and the balance of his good and bad deeds. “So those whose balance [of good deeds] it is heavy, – they will succeed. But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell they will remain” (Sura 23:102-3). However, when are there enough good deeds to make up for the bad deeds? How does this economy or scale work? When will you reach a point in life where you can die with the certainty that you will enter heaven? Muslims will always face that question with uncertainty. The Qur’an hints that the believer can be sure of his eternal destiny, but there is no guarantee. Even Muhammad himself was not sure of his own salvation. So Muslims try very hard to reach paradise, but they continually live in fear that Allah will judge their arrogance and send them to hell. Only Muslims martyred in jihad are certain of heaven.

Only Christianity, through God’s grace through faith in Christ’s sacrifice, gives a guaranteed path to salvation.