Christianity is the one, true religion. Here's why.

The top three religions of the world

based on the number of followers are

Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. We

also have Judaism, Buddhism, Sikism,

Taoism, the Bahigh faith, Scientology,

Rastaparianism, and Janism. Don't forget

about the gods from Greek, Norse, Roman,

and Egyptian mythologies, as well as the

multiple cults and denominations within

said religions. So, which religion is

true? If any of them are true at all?

Maybe you've asked that question before.

Or maybe you've wondered where did we

come from? Why do we exist? And what

happens when we die? These are questions

that humans have been asking since the

beginning. And they're the very

questions that religions and belief

systems have been trying to answer for

just as long. I've struggled with these

questions for years. But I've come to an

answer. And I want to share the thought

process that has led me to that answer.

So, is there one true religion? I

believe there is. In fact, I believe

there are actually two true religions.

Now, before we start comparing

religions, we first have to ask why

would a religion exist in the first

place. To figure out whether a religion

is true or effective, we need to first

understand the purpose, the end goal.

Because you first have to know what a

religion is trying to accomplish before

you can determine if it accomplishes it

or not. In his book, The Evolution of

God, Robert Wright suggests that

religion wasn't consciously invented,

but rather emerged naturally as a

byproduct of human evolution. Religion

helped humans to explain the unseen, to

make sense of the world around them. So,

when humans saw or experienced things

like thunder and lightning, very, very

frightening, floods and disease, and

death, they began attributing these

events to invisible intentional agents,

spirits or gods. Say if a river flooded.

Well, it was because the gods of the

river were angry with the humans for

whatever reason and they flooded the

river. They caused destruction and

death. So, we need to now appease these

gods. But as humans became more

knowledgeable, as technology has

advanced, we've learned how to

anticipate and control the rains and

flooding. So, eventually that angry god

just ceased to exist. And as culture,

science, and humanity evolves, so does

our understanding of the nature and the

character of God or gods. Karl Marx

famously called religion the opiate of

the people. In his view, religion

functioned like a drug, not to explain

the world, but to cope with it. Both of

these perspectives of religion are still

common today. And both perspectives

point to a very similar assumption that

there is a deep problem humanity is

trying to solve. That problem can be

summed up in our universal desire to

answer five foundational questions. And

these questions are essentially what

make up a world view. Where did we come

from? Who are we? Why do we exist? How

should we live? And what happens when we

die? Let's put it even more succinctly

than that. Origin, identity, meaning,

morality, destiny. When we ask these

deep questions, they naturally point us

to something beyond ourselves. something

outside of humanity. And it's not just

religious people that ask these

questions. It's the religious and

non-religious alike. We attempt to

answer these questions with religion,

philosophy, or reason. If we distill it

down even more, the picture is simple.

Humanity on one side, some concept of

the divine or a better self on the other

side, and a gap in between. How each

belief system attempts to bridge this

gap is the standard by which we will

compare them. Now whether it's the

eight-fold path of Buddhism, the cycles

of karma in Hinduism, the five pillars

of Islam, or the Mosaic law of Judaism,

we see that every religion has systems

built around human effort to reach the

other side. Christianity, by contrast,

begins with the claim that we cannot

earn our way to God, but that he made a

way to us through grace. That reversal

isn't just rare. It's unique and stands

alone. I want to repeat that this claim

that God came down to us and bridged the

gap himself is not found in any religion

but one. Not one or two. Christianity

alone. A few weeks ago, a friend asked

me if I was religious. And more

recently, a younger friend, obviously

younger, asked me if I was hella

Christian. They were both asking me the

same thing, just in different ways. Do

you go to church? Do you read your

Bible? Do you pray? Do you turn the

other cheek? Are you a nice person? Do

you give money to the poor? Do you avoid

drugs and alcohol? Do you not cuss? Do

you save sex for marriage? In other

words, do you do the things that make

someone look like a good Christian? Are

you religious? Is a question that makes

sense for every religion except

Christianity? Because in every other

religion, the system is based on what

you must do. And on the basis of what

you've done, you receive. You can say

I'm a good Muslim or I'm a good Buddhist

or I'm a good Hindu because you follow

certain practices, rituals and moral

codes. And you would be right because in

those belief systems, that's the

standard by which you are judged. In

every religion, the responsibility of

bridging the gap between humanity and

the divine falls on the human. You work,

you strive, you earn. But not so in

Christianity. Christianity flips that

paradigm entirely. Only in Christianity

do we find the claim that God himself

took on that responsibility of bridging

the gap. God came to earth, lived the

perfect life that we could not live,

died the death that we deserved, and he

bridged the gap himself. Ephesians 2:es

8-9 claims, "For it is by grace you have

been saved through faith, and this is

not of yourselves, but it is a gift of

God, not by works, so that no one can

boast." And he didn't do this in

response to our good deeds or good

performance or religious behavior.

Romans 5:8 says, "While we were still

sinners, Christ died for us." So, as a

Christian, I can't say that I am a good

Christian because I do this and I do

that. I can only say that I am a

Christian because of what God did for

me. When my friend asked me if I was

hella Christian, there was another kid

standing nearby who overheard my answer

and he walked up to me and he asked,

"So, if God did everything, then does

that mean we can do whatever we want?"

In other words, if salvation is a gift,

what role do our actions play? What

about the works? John Lennox put it this

way. Every religion is merit-based where

acceptance comes at the end. Only in

Christianity does acceptance come at the

beginning and the works flow from that

place of acceptance. So when we look at

the difference between merit-based

religion and gracebased religion, we see

that the former offers change from the

outside in, while the latter causes

change from the inside out. In every

religion, good works are the means by

which people attempt to attain

salvation. But only in true Christianity

are good works the result of salvation,

not the cause of it. This doesn't mean

that everyone who appears to live a

Christian life truly is a Christian.

Now, if you're not religious, if you

consider yourself agnostic or atheist,

or maybe you consider yourself spiritual

but not tied to any religion, you might

think that none of this applies to you.

But in your case, it's not Krishna,

Buddha, or Allah or Jesus that you look

up to. It's you. You decide what's right

and wrong. You determine how life should

be lived. You become the final

authority. This is why I believe that

ultimately there are only two religions

in the world. Christianity and the

religion of self. Now, I'm not saying

that all of the religions are inherently

selfish or that Christians can't be

selfish. Rather, it means that every

belief system outside of Christianity

teaches in one way or another that the

solution to the human condition lies

within ourselves through our effort, our

enlightenment, our goodness, or our

discipline. Christianity declares that

the answer comes from outside of us, not

through our striving, but through God's

initiative, God's grace, and God's

finished work. Now, while Christianity

is the only religion to make this claim,

it's not that claim itself that fully

convinces me, it's the implication of

the claim and the complication that

follows that convince me. Whether it's

obeying laws, performing rituals,

accumulating good deeds, or achieving

enlightenment, you'll notice that the

burden of being made right with the

divine falls on human effort. Humans

naturally build frameworks that reward

effort, track performance, and create

hierarchies based on behavior. And

because of that, the criteria for

acceptance are often visible,

measurable, and understandable by human

standards. And every religion but

Christianity is set up this way. You do

good, you get rewarded. You follow the

rules, you earn approval. This suggests

to me that these religions originated

from human minds. While most, if not

all, claim divine origin or inspiration,

the structure they offer reflects a

distinct human pattern, a path where

acceptance or enlightenment or salvation

is earned through personal effort, which

aligns more with how humans naturally

think and operate. Now, Christians are

not immune to this. We too can give

supreme importance to our good works and

find identity in them. But the

difference is that by doing so we

completely miss what it means to be a

Christian. Whereas other religions are

right on the money. True Christianity

declares that all have sinned and fallen

short of the glory of God and no amount

of good works can earn right standing

with God. So the solution was not to try

harder, but that God himself came down

to us, lived the life that we couldn't

live, died the death that we deserved,

was resurrected, and then bridged the

gap himself. Thus, salvation isn't

achieved, it's received. It's a message

that offends our human pride. You can't

earn it. You don't deserve it. And you

can't say that I deserve it because of

my piety or my diligence or my hard

work. You can only accept what was done

by Jesus Christ. And that's precisely

what makes Christianity so likely to be

true. If humans had invented

Christianity, it would look like every

other religion. When it comes to

merit-based religion, every single

religion falls under merit-based

religion because ultimately the answer

comes from us. When it comes to

grace-based religion, there is only one

religion that claims that the answer

comes from outside of us. If humans had

written Christianity, we would have

written ourselves in as the hero of the

story. We'd create a system where the

good are rewarded, the bad are punished,

and the rules are clear. Something we

can control, measure, and take credit

for. But Christianity flips that script.

Its central message is this. You can't

save yourself, so God saved you. It

doesn't flatter our pride or feed our

sense of control. It doesn't sound like

human invention, but divine

intervention. But here's the problem.

This implication poses a huge

complication. In the Count of Monte

Cristo, Edmund Dantes escapes from

wrongful imprisonment only to be washed

ashore into the hands of pirates. and

the crew forces him to fight a fellow

pirate Jakapo who has stolen from the

crew. The rules are simple. Fight to the

death. Whoever survives gets to stay on

the crew. Edmund, who is a skilled

fighter, quickly overpowers Jakapo, but

instead of killing him, he shows mercy

and spares his life. In response, Jakapo

pledges his loyalty and his life to

Dantes forever. Let's make it more

relatable. If you give someone 20 bucks,

you are only even until they pay you

back. If you help a friend move, it's

fair to expect that they'll return the

favor when it's your turn. But what if

someone died in your place? How much

money would you have to pay to settle

that debt? How many good deeds would it

take to call it even? If the claim is

true that salvation is not earned by

works, but it is a gift from God at the

cost of the life of his son, then it

presents a profound complication. the

required human response. If God truly

died for us, if he paid the full price

for our sins with his life and fully

took on the responsibility of closing

the gap, then the only appropriate

response is the one Jesus himself called

for complete and total surrender

forever. In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus said,

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate

his father and his mother and wife and

children and brothers and sister, yes,

even his own life, he cannot be my

disciple. And whoever does not bear his

cross and follow me cannot be my

disciple." In verse 33, he goes on to

say, "If any of you does not forsake all

that he has, he cannot be my disciple."

If human works played any role in our

salvation, then we would have a reason

to boast. We could claim some ownership

over our lives and at the very least

somewhat on how to live it. But because

Jesus paid the full price, we no longer

have any claim to our lives. He does.

Jesus did not claim to be a way to God.

He claimed to be the way, the truth, and

the life. He didn't put himself in the

same category as other great moral

teachers prophets philosophers or

activists. He claimed to be God. And if

that's true, then whatever he says about

anything is the final say. And as his

creation, our rightful response is

complete obedience. But this is exactly

why so many reject Christ. Not because

we can't believe, but because we don't

want to. Surrendering to the lordship of

Christ means giving up the rights to

ourselves. And honestly, we don't want

to do that. And trust me, if that's how

you feel, I'm going to be the last one

to judge you. I have prayed, "Thy will

be done," with gritted teeth more than

once because deep down inside, I didn't

want to submit. I didn't want to obey. I

wanted my way on my time. But over the

years, I've learned God's ways, God's

plans, and God's timing were always

better than mine. In Matthew 16:15,

Jesus said, "Whoever would save his life

will lose it, and whoever loses his life

for my sake will find it." In John

10:10, Jesus said, "I have come that

they may have life and life more

abundantly."

Christianity is the truth, but that

truth comes at a cost, and the cost is

our life. But the beauty of that paradox

is that in losing your life to Christ,

you actually find it. Christianity is

the one true religion because of its

central claim that salvation is a gift

from God, not the result of human works.

That claim points to divine origin and

it presents a challenge. How will we

respond? Jesus claimed to be the way,

the truth, and the life. And if he's not

Lord of all, he is not Lord at all. So

today, I invite you to surrender your

life to Christ. Stop trying to do things

your way and respond to his calling on

your life. Doing this has not magically

answered all of my questions or

instantly settled all of my doubts. But

it put me on the path of truth and

righteousness and life. You no longer

have to strive to be good. But you can

accept and rest in the finished work of

the one who lived, died, and resurrected

for you, the one and only God, Jesus

Christ. Now, I'm sure there are people

who are listening to this who hear all

of this and they say, "That's fantastic.

It sounds really good. But this doesn't

sound like any other Christians that I

know." And that's what we're going to

talk about in the next episode. So, my

friends, if you found this video

helpful, my only ask is that you share

it with somebody else. And until next

time peace.