Who Goes to Heaven?

This is a question that we have all asked and all struggled with. Just yesterday in Sunday School, we were discussing this question when the topic of syncretism came up. Which religion is right? Whose adherents go to heaven? Who don't? And Who decides?

I have struggled with this question for years, especially since I have coworkers and friends who belong to other religions, denominations, and even some organizations referred to as "cults" by most Protestant denominations.

Answers to this question range from "All get in (Universalism)" to "Only those who believe in Christ get in (Orthodox Christianity)" and all in between. This article here by Amy Green addresses this same question.

As a Christian, the bottom-line answer for me is based on the words of Jesus from the Bible. Jesus said plainly that He was "the way, the truth, and the life." No one comes to the Father except through Him. In the Book of Acts we read that there is no other name under heaven by which men are saved.

This seems to answer it for me, but you are still left with the nagging problem of how to interact with other religions. It seems very intolerant and arrogant to proclaim your religion has the only possible path to Heaven, but isn't that what Jesus' words imply? As Christians, are we diluting the gospel by affirming that there are other ways into heaven? As I understand it, if there are other ways, then Jesus died for nothing. Why would God send His Son into the world to die and suffer such a horrible death if there was another path?

I am going to stick with my answer based on the words of Christ. I may tell others that I am not God and I don't know what God will ultimately do, but I have the words of God Himself in the person of Jesus telling us to come to the Father through Him, not through any other way.