Salvation through Jesus Christ does not distinguish by ethnicity, economic background, education level, religious history, or moral blamelessness. Everyone who calls on God’s name will be saved.
Romans 10:12–13 says, “Since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (CSB).
Salvation through trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross creates the most inclusive community the world has ever seen.
“There is only one way to be saved” may not sound very inclusive, but all religious claims are inherently exclusive. I’ll prove it to you.
Suppose you say, as is very common to say in society now, “I think good people of every religion go to heaven.” That sounds very nice. It sounds inclusive.
But you’ve excluded a group of people, haven’t you? The “bad people.” Now, you may have valid reasons to argue that only good people go to heaven. But your argument is still exclusive. Good people are in. Bad people are out.
Here’s why that’s problematic. Who gets to define what is “bad”? Most likely, you do. And maybe you and I would agree on who qualifies as “bad.” Racists are bad. Child molesters are bad. Murderers are bad.
Eventually, though, our lists won’t line up. If you’re conservative, you’ll tend to put people on your “bad” list who are sexually immoral. If you’re liberal, you’ll tend to put people on your “bad” list who condemn others for being sexually immoral. And most of us, being the humans that we are, have special exceptions for the people who know and love best.
My point here isn’t to say what qualifies as good or bad—though, of course, that’s an important and essential element of Christianity.