Identification Marks 
 

After Satan led Eve and Adam to sin, God promised a Savior would come to defeat Satan and redeem man from sin (Gen.  3:15).  As time unfolded, God gave many promises and prophecies of the Savior, providing marks of identification.  In this way, honest hearts could find the true Savior and not be deceived by impostors. 

 
The Savior would be born from the family of Abraham: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).  Abraham tried to provide a descendent through his wife’s maid, but God rejected Ishmael and gave Abraham and Sarah a child named Isaac through whom the Savior would come (Gen. 16; 21).  In teaching his people to distinguish true from false prophets, God promised to raise up a prophet like Moses, only greater.  The final prophet would be the Savior.  “I will raise them up a Prophet...like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him: (Deut. 18:18). 

 
Unmistakable marks identifying the true Savior included his birth of a virgin, his birth in Bethlehem, his death as a perfect sacrifice for sin, and his resurrection (Isa. 7:14; Mic. 5:2; Isa. 53; Ps. 2).  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).  Man cannot absolve his own sin and guilt before God, but God Himself would provide the perfect sacrifice. 

 
The Savior-Prophet Identified 
 

The New Testament records the fulfillment of all these promises in the person of Jesus Christ: “These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (Jn. 20:30-31).  The miracles of Jesus confirmed his identity as he demonstrated his inherent, divine power over nature (walk on water; Matt. 14), over the human body (heal all kinds of sickness; Matt. 4), and over death (raise the dead; Jn. 11).  His greatest miracle was his own resurrection, after which he ascended back to heaven (Mk. 16; Acts 1). 

 
As the Son of God and Savior of man, he offers forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life in heaven to all who submit to him.  Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:18-20).  Upon our immersion in water by his authority, he freely pardons our sins and adds us to the church of Christ, which is his spiritual body or kingdom (Matt. 16:18-19; Acts 2; Eph. 1:21-22; 5:5). 

 
Based on the evidence and certain identity of Jesus Christ, Peter preached him as God’s final prophet and Savior of the world: “God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts 3).  

   

Mohamed, Another Prophet? 
 

Ubu’l Kassim (A.D. 570-632) was born in Arabia.  He claimed visions of an angel as the basis of his new name Mohamed (“highly praised”) and as the medium of new revelations given to him orally (he was illiterate).  His sayings were collected after his death and written as the Qur’an or Koran (reading, recitation).  Mohamed called his new religion “Islam” (“to submit,” i.e., to God) and followers Muslim (“one who submits”). 

 
The key pillar of this new religion is the confession, “There is no God but Allah; Mohamed is the Prophet of Allah.”  Other pillars include ritual prayers in Arabic, fasting during daylight hours of Ramadan, alms, pilgrimage to Mecca, and males answering the call to Holy War against non-Muslims.  

 
Mohamed led his followers in spreading their religion with the sword, raiding caravans and waging war until Mecca surrendered to him in 630.  Following the example of Islam’s founder and the instruction of the Qur’an, Muslims spread their religion by both persuasion and force westward into Europe and southward into Africa, until stopped at the Battle of Tours in France in 732.  Likewise, Islam spread eastward into southern Asia and on to the islands of the southwest Pacific Ocean.  As their expansion continues throughout the world, some Muslims still follow the original ideas exemplified by their founder and the Qur’an in utilizing the weapons of war.  

 
Surah IX, a section of the Qur’an on “Repentance” or “Immunity,” discusses wars against idolaters, including instruction to “slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush” unless they repent.  “Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture [Bible],” such as “the Jews” and “the Christians,” “until they pay the tribute.” “Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah!”  Only “the weak” and “the sick” are excused from the campaign, with those who stay home to gain “knowledge in religion,” but other believers “give their lives and their wealth because the Garden will be theirs: they shall fight in the way of Allah and shall slay and be slain.”  

 
In Islam man must work and earn his way to heaven.  There is no concept of a perfect sacrifice or atonement for sin as the basis for forgiveness, reflecting God’s justice and mercy.  The Muslim must believe in Allah, do good works, and pray for pardon--assured to those who make a pilgrimage to Mecca or die in a Holy War.  

 
Sharp Contrast 
 

Jesus Christ was born of Abraham through Isaac by promise, Mohamed through the rejected son Ishmael.  All the promises and prophecies of a Savior revealed in Scripture were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. None were spoken of Mohamed.  The claims of Christ were confirmed by his miracles, Mohamed claimed no miracles. Christ promised a complete revelation of “all truth” through his Apostles in the first century, and they warned against pretended revelations by angels (Jn. 16:13; Gal. 1:8).  Mohamed claimed additional revelations by an angel. Christ promised to die as the perfect sacrifice “for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Mohamed denied the atoning death of Christ but offered no alternative basis of pardon. 

The original example and teaching of Christ authorized making disciples by means of evidence and moral persuasion, but forbad the use of the sword (Matt. 26:52; Jn. 18:36).  Professed followers who have used the sword have disobeyed his explicit command.  Muslims who have used force to advance Islam have followed their founder’s example and explicit command.  God sent his Son into the world to save men, Mohamed sent his followers to slay men.  Professed Christians who use force depart from Christ’s original teaching, professed Muslims who repudiate it depart from Mohamed’s original teaching. 

 
Evidence Identifies 
 

In a free market of ideas, each person is free to pursue the truth in love, with malice toward none.  By giving an abundance of evidence, God made the identity of the final prophet and Savior very clear because He seeks the salvation of all men.  Jesus Christ is the Prophet of Salvation to Jew and Gentile, to Arabians, Africans, Asians, and Americans.  The voice of God echoes through the centuries, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5). 

 
Ron Halbrook