There is a verse that says, “Under heaven there is no other name by which humanity can obtain salvation except the name of Jesus.” Thus, Jesus bore all the sins of humankind. However, in John 14:6, the meaning goes even further. If a person has a visa, they may enter Indonesia, but that does not mean they are allowed to enter the palace. To enter the palace, it is not enough to have a visa; one must be a member of the president’s family, a trusted confidant, or directly connected to the palace’s affairs.
Likewise, we do not merely receive a “visa” to enter heaven. A person who does good deeds may enter the world to come. But to enter the palace, or the Father’s house, to become a member of the family of the Kingdom of God, is another matter altogether. John 14:6 speaks of entering into life in fellowship with God, namely, living in true Christianity.
That is the Gospel. And the Gospel far surpasses all forms of success and achievement. To possess life itself is enough. That is the eternal treasure. Therefore, we must devote our entire lives to undergoing the process of reconciliation with God—be reconciled to God. “Be reconciled,” and the way to do so is by changing our lives. We must therefore have pure hearts: there must be no resentment, hatred, pride, arrogance, or other evil intentions. This process consumes our entire lives so that we may attain it. Another verse says, “Be holy”; whoever rejects this rejects God. Thus, if we are unwilling to live in purity, we are in fact rejecting the grace of salvation.
Therefore, do not think that you have already received the grace of salvation simply because you believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Jesus is the way to the Father, and this must be understood from two aspects: passive and active. Salvation and reconciliation cannot come from a single side, nor do they occur automatically from God’s side alone. God is indeed active, and this has been perfectly accomplished on the cross. However, on the human side, there must also be active participation, and that is our responsibility.
The cross has, de jure (legally), freed us and opened the opportunity for humanity to be reconciled with God. But in reality, de facto, humans must struggle to change themselves through the means of salvation that God provides: the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth; the Gospel, the power of God for salvation; and God’s formative process in every event we experience. There must be effort on our part to actualize that reconciliation. From God’s side, reconciliation is always available—not by our initiative, but by God’s. Yet we must respond to God’s grace with action.
If someone claims to believe in and accept Jesus as the way of reconciliation but does not strive to change and put on the divine nature, then he does not experience the life that has been reconciled to God. He does not become the kind of human being God desires, for the human being God desires is one who is in His image and likeness. A person who is not reconciled to the truth actually drifts away from God, becomes lost, and fails to find his true self because he does not become the original human being God intended him to be. On the contrary, when we strive to attain the holiness God desires, we discover the person God intends us to be. Otherwise, we will never truly find ourselves.
One aspect shows that Jesus is the way, meaning that through the cross He bore all sins to reconcile us to God. This is the passive dimension of salvation that we receive. However, there is another aspect to Jesus’s saying, “Make disciples of all nations.” This means learning and being trained to experience transformation—not merely general moral improvement, but becoming like Jesus, partaking of the divine nature. It is this transformation of nature that fosters fellowship with God, the true goal of reconciliation. A life that partakes of the divine nature enables us to have a harmonious relationship with God. Conversely, if we do not attain the holiness God desires, we will not be able to live in harmony with Him.