Our One and Only Savior

by Franklin Graham

When people are looking for dramatic change, it’s human nature for them to seek some sort of savior—someone who is powerful and compassionate enough to rescue them from their sins.

As long as they are blinded by sin, though, people seek salvation in the wrong places. They desperately need someone to lead them to the one and only Savior. “There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:21–22).

Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of our Savior on the pages of history. When the baby Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem, the Word became flesh. As the angel announced more than 2,000 years ago: “Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Jesus Christ showed us the Way, died for our sins, rose from the grave and poured out the Holy Spirit to establish His church.

He taught us plainly that the only way we can be saved is by repenting of our sins and trusting in Him as our Savior. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

That’s the message my father and I have always preached. Despite what the world may say or wish, there is no other way to be saved. There are many ways to share the Gospel—just look at all the different ministries of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association—but they all bring people to Jesus Christ, our one and only Savior.

Americans have just been through a presidential election. Both parties made extravagant promises that won’t be easily kept, but the promise of eternal life is always kept by the Savior for those who come to Him for forgiveness.

Our hope is never placed in men or governments, but in God alone. We will pray for guidance for our leaders as the Bible commands, while knowing that the Lord works through worldly rulers to accomplish His greater, sovereign purpose. The king’s heart is like channels of water in God’s hands, the Bible says, and “He directs it … wherever He pleases” (Proverbs 21:1).

As you celebrate the birth of the Savior in the next few days, rejoice that God “the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:14–15).

Thanks be to God for our glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!