Did Jesus teach that there were multiple ways to receive eternal life? No, Jesus did not teach universal salvation; he makes it very clear that to get God’s gift of salvation from slavery to sin, and punishment for our sins, and receive eternal life as a by-product, we must go through him since he is the king of heaven and earth. He is the only one who provides the power to overcome sin. In John 14:6, Jesus says that he was “the way, the truth, and the light” and that “no one goes to the Father except through him”. In John 10:1-16, Jesus said that he was the “sheep gate,” meaning that all of God’s people (referred to as “sheep”) come to the pasture through him, since he guards them as their shepherd. Acts 4:12 says, “God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Jesus explains the purpose of salvation in John 3:16-21. In John 3:16-17, Jesus states that those who believe He is the Savior sent by God are saved from the punishment for their sins. In verses 18-19, he talks about the condemnation of non-believers on Judgment Day. Lastly, in verses 20-21, he explains that receiving salvation is like stepping into the light from darkness, and rejecting his salvation is choosing to stay in darkness. He says in John 3:20 that “all who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” In the description of Judgment Day in Matt 25:31-46, as well as in the parable of the wheat and weeds in Matt 13:36-43, and the parable of the wedding banquet in Matt 22:1-14, Jesus distinguishes between the righteous and the unrighteous on Judgment Day. The righteous are preserved eternally, and the unrighteous are punished (Matthew 8:12, Matt 13:40-43, Matt 22:13, Matt 25:30).

In John 12:44-50 Jesus says everything he teaches comes from the Father, and that anyone who rejects his teachings will be punished on Judgment Day for their sins, but those who follow his teachings will be delivered from punishment because his teachings are like light in the darkness, freeing people from the darkness of their sins. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus gives the Great Commission and says that those who believe and are baptized will be saved, but those who don’t will be condemned. In John 6:60-71, Jesus says the Spirit alone gives eternal life and human effort accomplishes nothing, and he says that his words are “spirit and life” and that those who don’t believe in him were not given to him by God as his people. 

In John 17, Jesus prays a prayer that makes it clear that only God’s people will inherit the kingdom. He isn’t praying for the world, but for those who receive salvation and are his disciples. He says God’s people are in the world but are not of this world, and that the world hates them and Jesus is praying for God to protect them from the evil one so that they can continue his works. Jesus prays that as his disciples are sent out to make more disciples, they are set apart from the world by holiness and unified with one another by the truth. This way, the world will know who belongs to God and that God truly sent Jesus. Jesus says the world doesn’t know God, but his disciples know God because they believed what Jesus taught, and because of this, the Father’s love for Jesus will be in his followers as well. This aligns with what John 3:16-21 teaches, which is that only those who believe in God’s Son will inherit eternal life. Everyone else will be judged and condemned because they loved sin more than God. Revelation chapters 20-22 describe Judgment Day in-depth and the world after it, and it makes a clear distinction between those willing to serve God and those who rebel against God.

As mentioned before, in John 10, Jesus makes an analogy of himself as a shepherd, and his followers are compared to sheep. Jesus says he is the true shepherd and that his sheep only follow him and not the voice of thieves and strangers (v8-10). He compared Israel’s leaders to hired hands who don’t care about the sheep in their care and would flee at the sign of danger (like a wolf). Unlike them, Jesus cares for the sheep and will give his life for them (v. 11- 13). He also makes it clear that he died specifically for the sheep (v15), and that Gentiles are included along with Jews in the new sheepfold (v16). In verses 19-21, the people who hear him teach this are divided; some believe he is demon-possessed and a heretic, and others believe he is a man of God. The division represents everything he was talking about; those who received his message in faith are his followers, and those who don’t receive him are not his followers.

Paul says that God knew his people in advance and chose them to be like his son (Rom 8:29-30). In Romans 9, Paul contrasts the chosen remnant of people in the New Covenant with those in the Old Covenant. He points out how God chose specific descendants of Abraham (such as Isaac and Jacob) over their siblings. His point is that being a descendant of Abraham didn’t guarantee salvation, which is similar to what Jesus said in Matt 8:12. Here, Jesus marvels at the faith of a Gentile Roman soldier, and ponders how many of the Israelites will miss out on the Kingdom because of their lack of faith.

In chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews, the author compares the New Covenant with the Old by reminding us of the oath God took against the rebellious Israelites, stating that they would never enter God’s rest in the Promised Land (Ps 95:7-11, Heb 3:7-11) because of their rebellion in the wilderness. God prevented them from entering for 40 years, and when the rebellious generation died out, the next generation would inherit the promised land. Hebrews 4:1-7 states that those who believe God’s word will receive His promise of salvation and enter His rest (referring to the kingdom), but everyone else will be restricted from entering His rest. Believers are warned not to harden their hearts, as the Israelites did in the Old Covenant. In Hebrews 10:35-39, it is stated that only those who have faith in God’s salvation will be saved. However, God takes no pleasure in those who draw away from Him, and they will be turned away to their destruction. Furthermore, Hebrews 11:6 states that without faith, it is impossible to please God, and that God only rewards those who trust Him and diligently seek Him.

God always selects a remnant of people in judgment, as seen in the flood, where Noah and his family, along with the animals he brought on the ark, were spared among all those living on land (Genesis 6-9). Also in Sodom and Gomorrah where only Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and his daughters were spared because there was no one else righteous among them (Genesis ch. 19). Among the Canaanites in Jericho, a woman named Rahab was spared because she protecting the Israelite spies (Joshua ch 2, & 6:17-25) and was counted as righteous (James 2:25, Heb 11:31), even making it into the lineage of Jesus after marrying Salmon (Matt 1:5).

There’s no universal salvation taught in scripture, and in every movement of God’s judgment, there is always only a remnant that is spared. Only a remnant of humanity that belongs to God will be saved on Judgement Day. To join this remnant, one must receive the gospel by confessing and believing that Jesus is Lord, as stated in Romans 10:8-10.

In fact, Romans 8:5-11 states that those who believe that Jesus is Lord will receive the Holy Spirit of God, which is proof that they are God’s children. The Holy Spirit is only available to those who are in right standing with God, and that is only possible because of Christ’s death, which paid for their sins. Eternal life is a product of having no sin on Judgment Day, and there is no condemnation for those who believe in Christ because his death substitutes for their punishment. Those who do not have God’s Spirit are not his children and will not inherit eternal life as a joint heir with Jesus Christ. This means that while all people are God’s creation made in his image, not all people are counted as his children. In Genesis 3:15, God mentions that Satan (the serpent) and his children (or followers) will have strife with the promised seed (Jesus) and his siblings (the children of God). 1st John ch. 3 makes the connection with Gen 3:15 and the New Testament and describes people who love sin and follow Satan’s ways as children of Satan rather than children of God. Jesus even used the phrase “children of the devil” when referring to the people who rejected his teachings about freedom from slavery to sin in John 8:31-47.

Romans 8:5 (NLT) Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. 12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Lastly, if there were other ways to get into God’s eternal Kingdom that didn’t involve him sacrificing his son, why did he do it? Would you make an unnecessary sacrifice if you had other options? To say that there was another way this whole time suggests that God is incompetent and that He set Jesus up to be killed for no reason. Plus, the promise of God sending the Holy Spirit to transform our hard hearts is in vain since the gift of the Holy Spirit is only available to us because Jesus died for our sins and gave us a right standing with God. In addition, Jesus specifically promised the Holy Spirit because he was leaving us to go and prepare the kingdom, and the Holy Spirit would be with his followers on earth while he was away (John 14:15-17, John 16:5-15). If we can save ourselves and receive eternal life by just following the Torah or generating good Karma, then we have no need for a savior or God’s Spirit, and following Christ has no value.

In John 11:22-27, when Jesus was speaking to Martha about raising Lazarus from the dead, she said, “But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask” (verse 22). In verse 27, she confirms that she believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and this reveals why she believed God would give him anything he wants. In Matthew 26:53, Jesus even told Pontius Pilate when being prosecuted that he could ask for a legion of angels to come and rescue him, and God would send them. The Bible implies that Jesus was so precious to God that he could ask for anything, and the Father gave it to him. So, in Luke 22:42, when Jesus asked God if he was willing to remove his “cup of suffering” (referring to his crucifixion), why didn’t the Father remove it? If God loved his son so much that he would give him anything, then why didn’t he make another way for people to be saved, so that he could spare Jesus this “cup of suffering” (John 18:11)? Jesus asked God for another way under the caveat that it was according to God’s will, and since it was not God’s will to spare Jesus, then that means it was absolutely necessary and God had no other choice. If there were other methods of salvation that didn’t involve Jesus dying for us, then God would have used those to spare His Son, as He asked.

This also reveals that Jesus sacrificed his own desires to avoid pain, suffering, and death to accomplish God’s salvation plan. This shows how much God and Jesus value us, even though none of us deserves this. This is the Gospel, and this is the good news that Jesus preached. We must receive this good news to receive the eternal life that God intended for us. No one else, not Muhammad or Buddha, makes this guarantee.