I am not much of a cat person. I don’t like the way they seemingly look down on me with their smug glances, their lack of engagement when it comes to being able to play with them, and to top it off I am allergic to them. Now I say most of that in a joking manner and to be completely honest, if it wasn’t for being allergic to them I believe I would be much more up to liking them as a pet. All together though, I don’t particularly like cats. So, with that being said, I would like to bring your attention back to the title of this article. It’s one that is said fairly often, and most people understand, but when stopped and examined is quite odd. The phrase “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” simply means that there is more than one way to get a job done. It is thought to originate from a financial journal that was published in the 1840’s on the various ways one could make money. This phrase can be used on about anything today from how to make money to how to cook Ramen noodles. In-fact, thanks to Pinterest and google search one can always find at least a dozen ways to do anything you want!
Although we’ve become accustom to this way in our everyday life, we need to remember this isn’t how God works. When dealing with spiritual matters and how God has laid out salvation for His people, we see time and time again a singular option. To see this one doesn’t have to look far in the Word to find an example of how God only offers one way for man to achieve something. In Genesis 6 we see this pattern in the familiar story of Noah and the ark. God, after looking down upon Earth and seeing its total wickedness, instructs Noah to build a large ark in-order to save himself and his family from the judgment God was sending to the world. In Genesis 6:14-21 the LORD is very specific with His instruction on how the ship must be built so that it could handle the floods and all the animals on board. This was the only way of escaping God’s wrath upon the world. No other ark or plan of escape could secure Noah and his family during this time. So, Noah builds the ark to the specifics and we see them safely be brought to Mt. Ararat some time later. The Lord rescued Noah, the righteous, by offering him one option of salvation.
This exact pattern is put to use once again when it comes to us today in our situation with sin. Just as God sent a day of judgment upon the land due to the people’s wickedness, we will all one day too face a day of global judgment where sins will be judged. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that “Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” We won’t face a global flood type judgement as they did, but we will face a day of judgment before God and eternity. Thankfully, the parallels in our story and Noah’s don’t stop there. Just as God took care of the righteous during that day of judgment so will He also take care of us who have been washed of our sins through the blood of His Son. Just as Noah was given direct and specific instructions on how to secure this salvation, we can find ours in multiple texts through the New Testament. One example can be found in 1 Peter 2:18-22 when Peter calls on this exact comparison to explain to the people just what Jesus does for us through baptism.
The phrase “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” may be applied to a lot of things in our lives but one thing it definitely doesn’t apply to is our salvation. God has given us one way in which we find salvation and that is through no other name besides Jesus. How many of us today look inwardly to find security in our salvation? We measure our deeds and weigh our mistakes to see if we can find salvation on our own. Let us remember the words of Peter in Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”