Billy Graham: 2 Things Set Jesus Apart From Every Religious Leader Who Has Ever Lived
Jesus Christ is different from every religious leader who has ever lived because He is fully God and has the power to forgive us of our sins, the Rev. Billy Graham says.
Graham, who founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said in a Q&A published in the Kansas City Star on Tuesday that although there are many other religious leaders throughout history, Jesus sets Himself apart through his fully God, fully human nature and His ability to grant salvation to sinners.
The evangelical leader explains that while many people are curious about other religions, he believes such inquisitiveness stems from "a hunger for God," adding that "God wants to satisfy that hunger, and He will if you sincerely seek him."
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Graham goes on to write that there are two main reasons why Jesus is different from other religious leaders.
"He wasn't just a godly person; He was both fully God and fully man. Think of it: The God who created the whole universe stooped down and took upon Himself our humanity!" the Baptist minister explains.
Additionally, Jesus is different because He has the power to free us from our sins.
"[Jesus] alone made it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Sin separates us from God, and no matter how hard we try, we can't erase sin's stain on our souls. But Jesus came to erase it for us, and He did this by becoming the final, God-ordained sacrifice for our sins," the evangelical leader says.
The Baptist minister points to Hebrews 1:3 as evidence of this: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven."
Graham has spoken on the unique nature of Christianity before, previously writing that the religion not only offers the distinctive gift of redemption, but also carries the truth that Jesus Christ is the only human to die and then be resurrected.
"Something distinguishes Christianity from all the religions of the world," Graham previously wrote for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. "Not only does [Christianity] carry the truth of the redemption, by the death of our Savior for our sins on the cross, but it carries the fact that Christ rose again."
"Jesus is the only religious leader in the world to have conquered death," Graham continued. "Christianity has no shrines to visit, no dusty remains to venerate, no tombs at which to worship. Many good men have lived, and still live, in the memory of those who knew them, but there is only one Man who conquered death — Jesus Christ — and He will live forever."
