Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?

Jesus is never mentioned in the Old Testament is he? How could Abraham, Moses and others go to heaven?

Men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived before Christ did. Yet they all had faith in Jesus. Hebrews 11 says so.

Read in Romans 4 where Paul tells us that Abraham was not made right with God by his good deeds, but because he "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness" (verse 3).

Since Jesus wasn't born during Old Testament times, how could Abraham believe? Was there another way he and all these people got their salvation?

No. "Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Creation

So, how does this whole thing work?

It starts at creation.

Genesis 2:4 has the first appearance of God's special name, Yahweh. "The LORD God made the earth and the heavens." God's special name is translated LORD (note the capital letters). This name comes up again in Exodus 3:14 where God calls himself, "I AM WHO I AM." God is I AM.

The name Yahweh means "he is" or "he exists." It not only proclaims he is real; it highlights his burning desire to fulfill his covenant to save the sinful world. (Notice the ways he describes what his name means in Exodus 34:5-7.

Jesus, I AM

Go forward to the New Testament, to the opening words of John's Gospel. Jesus is called the Word. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:1,3). Our Savior is Yahweh, the God who made the earth and the heavens" (Genesis 2:4).

Throughout John's Gospel that is emphasized in another way. Numerous times Jesus uses the phrase, "I am" to describe himself. Each time he proclaims himself to be Yahweh, the LORD, the great I AM.

Everyone is saved only by the grace of God through the promise he fulfilled on the cross. Abraham, Moses and all other Old Testament believers received heaven because they looked ahead to the coming Savior for forgiveness - just as we look back to him for our forgiveness.

Old or New Testament believers have all trusted the same God: Yahweh, the great I AM.

We're saved because Jesus IS.

Benjamin Tomczak is preparing for the pastoral ministry at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.