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Glimmer from Seminary- The Beauty of the Exclusivity of the Gospel

“Of course it should be pointed out that, though all salvation is through Jesus, we need not conclude that He cannot save those who have not explicitly accepted Him in this life. And it should (at least in my judgment) be made clear that we are not pronouncing all other religions to be totally false, but rather saying that in Christ whatever is true in all religions is consummated and perfected” (C. S. Lewis, God In The Dock, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), 102),

This quotation from C.S. Lewis seems to try to make the gospel relevant and approachable toward unbelievers and seekers. However, the very beauty of the gospel lies within its exclusivity. The gospel loses its truth if it is compromised or persuaded by the thoughts and preferences of man. Christ’s death and resurrection as a free gift and the only means in which man can be saved demonstrates the holiness and unfathomable love of God, which is truly beautiful. C.S. Lewis’ first sentence states that, “we need not conclude that He cannot save those who have not explicitly accepted Him in this life.” This statement, while it upholds the vastness of God’s mercy and grace, brushes against the blurry lines of inclusivism. Personally, it seems like the easy solution and an easy answer to agree that in order to be saved someone can just trust in the mercy of God alone, something inside me wants to agree with that, but the alternative suggests that Christ’s death was meaningless. The King who became man and God incarnate came to earth for no other reason than to suffer miserably? Rather, Christ came to suffer and take man’s place sealing Himself as the perfect sacrifice, the mediator between God and man forever.
C.S. Lewis continues by stating, “We are not pronouncing all other religions to be totally false, but rather saying that in Christ… all religions is consummated and perfected.” This statement seems to suggest that there is a glimmer of truth within all of the world’s religions, suggesting the pluralistic view that there are many roads to salvation. Christ’s life and sacrifice testifies against the very things that man has resorted to for salvation. (Col. 2:11-12) Furthermore, other religions and “roads to salvation” were created by the deceiver himself (2 John 1:7). The gospel is the good news because it eradicates the sufficiency of man, points to the perfection of Christ and provides acceptance forever to the living God. Sometimes, the simplicity of the exclusivity of the gospel is the reason why it is dismissed. It seems that even though there is nothing man can do to work for his salvation, man has perverted this gift and has deceived man, convincing man to exchange the gift of grace through Christ for man’s fleeting merit.