Inconsistent

Jesus, who was the sacrifice for our sins, paid the death penalty that was against all humanity, and has granted us a right relationship with our Heavenly Father if we accept Him. 2nd Corinthians 5 states:
(19) God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

There is a choice that each person has: to try to pay his or her sin debt or to accept Christ's payment on our behalf.  The Bible teaches that we are sinful and separated from God because of our sin and that the soul that sins will die - so there is really not an option to be made right with God except through some sort of payment.  That payment was made through the death of our Savior and the benefits are extended to us through Him.  No other world religion or religious leader can offer us the ability to be set free from our sins.

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Jesus taught in John 14 that He was, and is, the only way to God.  Romans 5 is consistent with that concept in this passage:

17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

The exclusivity of Christ as the way to God is a central teaching of the Christian faith.  Yet, especially among young adults, that premise is being rejected.  

In my interview with George Barna from several months ago, he outlined how the Christian worldview is being watered down with other worldviews, such as what is called "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," which possesses these components: 

• belief in a God who remains distant from people’s lives 
• people are supposed to be good to each other (i.e., moral)
• the universal purpose of life of being happy and feeling good about oneself 
• there are no absolute moral truths
• God allows “good people” into Heaven 
• God places very limited demands on people. 

This is according to a report from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, where Barna serves. These six characteristics are taken from the research of Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. The report states: "Although three out of four people (74%) who lean substantially on MTD for life guidance consider themselves to be Christians, numerous beliefs held by MTD-reliant adults conflict with biblical teaching."

We have to guard against a tendency to mix the Christian worldview with other views of the world, resulting in a generally self-styled set of religious beliefs that do not accurately represent Scriptural truth.

The research of Probe Ministries also indicates a mix of Christian thinking and worldly philosophies; Kerby Anderson and Steve Cable joined me recently at the NRB Convention to discuss their findings in the Religious Views Study 2020.  Cable wrote on the Probe website that the researchers asked three questions about the nature of Jesus:

1. Why did Jesus die on a cross? (respondents were given 6 answers, including "To redeem us by taking our sins and our punishment upon Himself.)
2. Jesus will return to this earth to save those who await His coming.
3. When He lived on earth, Jesus committed sins like other people.

Steve Cable summarizes that, regarding ages 18-39: "we see that young adult Born Again Protestants drop from about two thirds for the individual questions down to about one half when looking at all three questions. It appears that about one half of those categorized as Born Again Protestants are trusting Jesus to save them but do not have a good understanding of biblical teaching on Jesus."

The survey also asked about the validity of various ways to God, asking respondents about their degree of agreement with this statement: "Muhammad, Buddha and Jesus all taught valid ways to God." Cable summarizes:

The real shocker jumping from this page is that over 60% of Born Again Christians are also pluralists. Apparently, a majority of Born Again Christians are ignorant about the basic teachings of their faith. Also, it is interesting and disturbing that the percentage of Born Again Christians who are not pluralistic is almost flat across the ages from 18 to 55. A strong majority of Born Again Christians are pluralists across that entire age range.

There was another statement given to those being surveyed: "I believe that the only way to a true relationship with God is through Jesus Christ.” Steve says: "We thought that this question would be equivalent...But as we will see, people’s brains allow them to give answers that contradict each other." The findings show that "Born Again Christians are at least 25 percentage points higher for this second question."

And, listen to this:

Based on these results, about one third of Born Again Christians appear to have a consistent biblical view toward pluralism. Another third appear to be totally in line with the pluralist position. The last third are those who want to say that Jesus is the only true path to God AND that Mohammad and Buddha also taught valid ways to God. In church, they may say that Jesus in the only way, but out in the world they act as if Muslims and Buddhists don’t need to know this critical truth. These individuals have an incoherent worldview.

So, the takeaways here: too many people don't believe in the exclusivity of Jesus for salvation - they are not sure they believe what He said.  This is a not a concept that human beings came up with; as it's been pointed out, to say Jesus is NOT the only way to salvation is to disagree with Jesus Himself. And, even those professing to be Christians do not adhere exclusively to a Christian worldview perspective.  As Steve Cable related, they might say among the church folks that Jesus is the sole way to God, but they don't really think it applies to Muslims and Buddhists.  It's "incoherent," as he says.

Well, each of us certainly has to search our hearts to make sure that we have our act together regarding the teachings of Scripture about salvation.  And, as Steve Cable points out, we can seek to impact the culture and specifically the church culture.  He writes that one component is...

...Faithful prayer. Daily pray for the lost and against the forces of darkness so visibly arrayed against them. Pray for the saved, that they may take up the true gospel and cling to the eternal truth of Jesus.

Preach, teach and speak OFTEN about the events of the cross and the tomb.

He includes these points: "Explain that only God, in the person of Jesus Christ, could be that sinless sacrifice. God had to undergo the pain and suffering of separating Himself from His Son on the cross...," and "Explain that the cost was so high, no other way to God is possible for sinful man. No one can come to the Father except through the Son and anyone may come through Him."

Somebody had to pay the price for our sin.  Only God could do it, through sending His Son.  Mohammed could not do it; he was a mere man.  Buddha could not do it, either.  You had to have a sinless person who was not born of woman in order to pay the price.  We can be thankful that our perfect Jesus, not a Jesus who committed sin like the rest of us, could sufficiently pay the penalty.