When Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV), did He mean that only people who have heard of Him can find God?

Certain Christians, in their zeal for God, deify their own interpretations of Scripture. They present their own narrow opinions as being the infallible word of God. They are quick to condemn those who do not ascribe to their views. The church is thus misrepresented as a bigoted club.

A thorough knowledge of the Bible makes it evident that a sectarian, bigoted religion is incompatible with the Jesus of the Gospels—the Jesus who did not conform to the church’s interpretations of Scripture in His day. The Jesus who welcomed the outcasts and those who were deemed to be unworthy sinners by the religious authorities.

Jesus presented a deep and intelligent understanding of God’s word that always encouraged impartiality, justice, truth, reason, and mercy. So what did Jesus mean when He said that no one can come to God except through Him? Isn’t that very exclusivist?

Truth is a person. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus as something more than merely a historical, human figure located at one place in time. Jesus was, according to the apostle John, the divine logos that was God and became flesh (John 1:1, 14). Logos is the Greek term for “order”, “reason” or “logic”. In Greek philosophical thought, the logos was the divine logic, law, order, wisdom, reason or meaning that pervades everything in the universe and is discerned in all of nature. When the apostle John wrote that this logos became flesh, he was making a radical statement: The whole sum of knowledge and truth in the universe was incarnated into a human being. This is a bold and mind-blowing claim—but this is the good news that the Gospel message holds. All the truth in the universe came down and was manifested to humankind in the flesh as a human being. Truth is a person!

Thus, when Jesus speaks in the Gospels, He speaks not only as a human being located in one place at one time in history; He speaks as being all truth. John referred to Jesus as the “light that enlightens everyone” and that came into the world (John 1:9). Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6, ESV). All truth, whether it is spiritual truth or scientific truth, whether it is found in the Bible our outside of the Bible, is, as far as it indeed is truth, the voice of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Creator of all things and the One who holds everything together (John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:15-17). Jesus is the Source of every gleam of light and truth that enters the mind. Thus, when people discern and follow truth, they follow the voice of Jesus, regardless of whether they are aware of it or not. And it is in this sense that we understand what Jesus means by saying He is the only way to God. No one can find God except by following truth, which is and has always been the voice of Jesus Christ. Everyone has, in some way or another, access to truth at some level, because all of nature testifies to the Creator’s existence and His divine nature (Romans 1:20).

“Sheep not of this fold.” Jesus told His disciples that He had “other sheep that are not of this fold” (John 10:16, ESV), meaning that He had followers who were not of the same group as His Jewish listeners in ancient Palestine. This statement alone should eliminate all religious bigotry and sectarianism among Christians. When non-Jews eventually began to seek out Jesus, the reality of Christ’s voice and presence extending beyond the church became more apparent. People who follow truth are in reality followers of Jesus, and will be drawn to Jesus. Jesus has always had followers in all places and at all times where there were honest truth-seekers. While honest truth-seekers are found in many different groups of people in all parts of the world, Jesus said that in the end, however, there will be one Shepherd and one flock (John 10:16), meaning that all the honest followers of truth will in the end be one united group with Jesus Christ as their Leader. This promise of final and complete unity is ultimately fulfilled at Christ’s second coming and the manifestation of the kingdom of God.

God’s fairness vindicated. In the words of Jesus, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” is found both a promise and a warning. The promise is that God is fair and just; He has through Christ made Himself accessible, not only to a select few who personally saw Jesus, but to all people in all parts of the world through Christ’s universal presence. Jesus said that after His departure, He would be present through the Holy Spirit, enlightening the whole world concerning right and wrong (John 16:8). The apostle Paul recognized that all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14), not limiting this promise to only confessing Christians. When Paul addressed the philosophers in ancient Greece, he acknowledged that all people, including the pagan philosophers, might feel their way toward God and find Him (Acts 17:27).

But if the whole world will be enlightened by Christ’s Spirit, then what is the point of preaching the Gospel message about Jesus?

In spreading the message about Jesus, we serve God and collaborate with Him by joining in His work of revealing Himself to the world. We participate in God’s work of manifesting a fuller and clearer truth to the world, giving each person a better opportunity to grow, evolve and collaborate with God. The message of Jesus Christ is the fullest revelation of moral truth to mankind and expedites the process of enlightenment, salvation and also judgment, which is necessary to put a final end to suffering. Also, the Gospel is a message of justice, healing and love that alleviates human suffering now and mends broken relationships.

The promise is that God is fair and just and does not leave any human fate to be decided by chance or privilege. 

Rejecting the voice of Jesus. The warning found in Jesus’ words, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” is that one must beware of rejecting the man Jesus. It is impossible to be an honest follower of truth while rejecting the clearest Voice of truth in human history. There are people who conscientiously have rejected false forms of Christianity presented by false or ignorant Christians. As far as these people have rejected what indeed is false based on moral conviction, they are not in opposition to the truth, but are followers of truth. Jesus Himself demonstrated that rejecting what is false is necessary in order to follow what is true.

If, however, one has recognized the truthfulness, goodness and love in the message of Jesus Christ—if we perceive that Jesus is or may be true, and we persistently choose to ignore Him, we reject the truth and are not followers of truth. If we suppress our conviction, silence our conscience with excuses and choose a lie, we have chosen moral corruption and will reap, if we persist in the same course, the consequences of moral corruption, which is judgment.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

John 3:19-21, ESV

While our destiny does not depend on our intellectual knowledge or understanding, it does depend on how we make use of the knowledge and understanding that we do have. While God doesn’t hold us accountable for what we don’t know or understand, we are held accountable for what we do know and the opportunities that we do have to investigate and learn the truth.

Dealing with religious trauma. Many people have been traumatized by unhealthy forms of religion, including Christianity. As a gay man, I myself have had to process religious trauma after years of trying to be good enough for God. At my lowest, I wanted to let go of Jesus. However, in the back of my mind I hoped that Jesus—that voice of truth, kindness and reason—would not hurt me the way that Christians or the church had hurt me. This little spark of hope or faith drove me to hold on and keep learning about Jesus—and eventually, through studying the Bible, I began to more clearly see the love and acceptance of Jesus for myself. I found that while Jesus does not flatter the human ego and say that I am sinless, He magnifies God’s love, mercy and provision for imperfect people. Believing in Jesus gives peace, confidence, meaning and direction through the uncertainties of human existence, while also inspiring growth, hope and joy, even through hardship.

Jesus answered, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

John 12:32, ESV

This is my testimony. What is yours? Feel free to share in the comment section below!