#16 The Way

#16 The Way

“This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you a way to be saved.’ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so trouble that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her.”[1]

The apostle Paul was preaching in the Greek town of Philippi when this incident occurred. Most translations will say that the girl said that Paul was telling of “the” way to be saved, but according to Dr. Mark Patterson of Community Presbyterian Church in Ventura, the Greek text says “a” way to be saved. And that is what upset Paul so much. This gospel was “the” way to be saved or it was worthless. Jesus was God incarnate, and a father like Abraham, a prophet like Moses, and a king like David. He embodied all that was of God to be the savior of humankind, and nothing less.

Believing in and following Jesus is not just one of many ways to be saved. It is so easy to marginalize Jesus by saying that “I believe in Jesus too” or that “I’ve outgrown Jesus and moved on.” The claim of Jesus is absolute and He calls each of us to total obedience, both then and now. There can be no doubt or hedging, no other gods, no other paths, no other truth to be revealed.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” [2]

He is the Way, the Only Way. Not a “way” among others; but The Way all the time.

[1] Acts 16:17-18

[2] John 14:6