Salvation is only through the Lord Jesus Christ [Thursday of the Second Week of Easter]

JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
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"... but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life ...." 

- John 3:36b

In other translations, it is stated, "but whoever refuses to believe in the Son will never see life" [Jerusalem Bible]. 

Yesterday we discussed how God so loved the world that He sent our Lord Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son, the Word made flesh, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but may have eternal life [see John 3:16]. It is through the Lord Jesus Christ that God the Father has destined mankind's reunion with Him to be accomplished after Adam and Eve destroyed the friendly relationship which He initially established with them by sinning through their disobedience [see Genesis 3]. Having led mankind to bondage to sin, God sent the Son to free mankind from such bondage and set mankind free.

Matthew the Evangelist, quoting the archangel who appeared to Joseph in a dream, wrote

"[Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" [Matthew 1:21].

while John the Evangelist narrated how John the Baptizer described the Lord,

"Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" [John 1:29].

The Apostle Peter declared after he and John have been arrested for making a crippled man rise and walk, 

"You must know, all of you, and the whole people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, and God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man stands before you cured. This is the stone which you, the builders, rejected but which has become the cornerstone. Only in him is there salvation for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved" [Acts 4: 10-12]. 

The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, 

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Jesus Christ" [1 Timothy 2:5]. 

And Jesus our Lord himself declared,

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." [John 14: ].

These and other New Testament passages have their corresponding Old Testament counterparts one of which can be found in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah,

"In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: the LORD Our Righteous Savior" [Jeremiah 23:6]. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the one Messiah and Savior, the only-begotten Son of the Father, who came into the world without claiming equality with God, instead He took the form of a slave being born a man, and even obediently accepted death on the cross [see Philippians 2: 6-11] though in the beginning He was the Word who was with God and who was God [see John 1: 1-2]. He died on the cross for it was decreed that He should do so,

"and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" [Colossians 1:20].

"For as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up" [John 3:14] and when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself" [John 12:32].

And in order for us to partake of our inheritance as children of the Father through Him - the Lord Jesus Christ - who is our brother [see Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5; 1 John 3:2; Matthew 28:10], and our friend [see John 15: 12-17], He had set these important requirements: deny one's self, take up one's cross, and follow Him [see Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23]. For if we do  not deny ourselves, we shall constantly resist Him [see Galatians 5:17]; if we do not take up our crosses, we shall never be like Him who learned obedience through His suffering [see Hebrews 5:8]; and if we do not follow Him, we shall be lost [see Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23].

In order to make us realize the truth of His being the only way to the Father, to salvation and eternal life, He described himself in many ways understandable to the simple, such as the being gate of the sheepfold [see John 10: 1-9], the Good Shepherd [see John 10: 11-15], the bread of life [see John 6], the living water [see John 4: 10, 14], and He calls himself the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end [see Revelation 22:13].

The Lord Jesus Christ is our only way to salvation, to the enjoyment of eternal life with the Father. When everyone else were leaving Jesus because they could not accept His teaching about the bread of life, the only ones who were left behind were the Twelve. When asked by the Lord if they also would want to leave, Simon Peter answered, 

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God" [John 6: 68-69]. 

which the Lord confirmed when He prayed to the Father in these words,

"And eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" [John 17:3].

Since it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ that we shall attain salvation and eternal life, we therefore must truly believe in Him: for those who have not yet been baptized, receive baptism; for those who have already been baptized, avoid sinning. When the jailer asked Paul and Silas as to what he should do in order to be saved, they answered.

"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved - you and your household" [Acts 16:31, see also Romans 10:9].

The Evangelist Mark says something similar to our Johannine quotation,

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" [Mark 16:16].

So now we see the connections: belief or faith in the Lord leads to salvation and life, more particularly, eternal life; while disbelief or disobedience to the Lord bears condemnation and death.

May we have the courage to face obstacles laid out in front of us through various material and corruptible pleasures and treasures and with Simon Peter and Martha, boldly declare our faith that we may gain eternal life,

"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!" [see Matthew 16:16; John 11:27].