The recently closed month of fasting by Muslims called Ramadan provided a glimpse into the grass-roots Islamic view of salvation. "If a person performs Ramadan as it was meant to be, they will come out like a newborn. Ramadan wipes out your sins," declares one member of an Islamic center in California.

And how is Ramadan "meant to be?" Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is considered holy to Muslims because in it the Muslim holy book, the Koran, was supposedly revealed to Muhammad.

Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during the whole month, abstaining from food, drink and sexual relations. "In fasting we seek forgiveness and repentance from our sins," explains one imam, leader of a local mosque.

Today, many would have us believe that Islam's god, Allah, and the Jehovah of the Bible are the same deity. If they are the same, it is a double-minded god. Allah's plan of salvation is the same as all the other non-Christian gods which require performance of complex rituals and mindless repetitions to obtain forgiveness for sin. The gods are fickle, distant spirits with only a casual interest in the affairs of men. Nowhere in their dealings with mankind do you find a John 3:16 concept of a concerned, loving God accepting death by cruel crucifixion to redeem a rebellious people.

No Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, or even Jew can point with confidence to their god and say "I KNOW my sins are forgiven and the God who loved me enough to die in my place has prepared a place for me to be with Him for eternity."

Their relationship with their gods is a maybe-so deal always requiring a little more effort to be good enough. In no other religion do you find an equal to the sublime gospel, the wonderful "good news" that we can know our sins are forever forgiven by a loving heavenly Father.