Modern doctrines are about how one can feel saved without the overcoming power of Christ, Do a study on entering into the kingdom life of God by the Spirit..striving to enter into the narrow door....being translated into the kingdom of His Dear Son...to walk as Jesus walked.
THE NARROW GATE
Leon Morris comments that pule "may be used of a gate or door of many kinds. Thus it is the gate of the temple (Acts 3:10), of a city (Lk 7:12), or of a prison (Acts 12:10). It is also used of the gates of Hades (Mt 16:18). It seems to be used of a significant entrance, which may be why it is used here of the entrance into life. (Morris, L. The Gospel according to Matthew. Grand Rapids, Mich.; Leicester, England: W. B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press)
In John Jesus taught…
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)
I am the (specific, exclusive) way, and the (specific, exclusive) truth, and the (specific, exclusive) life; (absolutely) no one comes to the Father, but through Me. (John 14:6)
Comment: In Greek the definite article "the" is important as it speaks of specificity… in other words, had Jesus been one of many ways, He would not have used the definite article "the" but would have identified Himself as "a" way, "a" truth, "a" life, one of many gates/ways. Jesus did not teach that there are many roads that lead to the Kingdom of Heaven but clearly taught "I am the only Way."
Many are skeptical, agnostic or even antagonistic regarding Jesus' teaching on the narrow gate and scoff at the idea of such rigid "exclusivity" regarding salvation. The Gospel message however is clearly very dogmatic, very exclusive and very narrow! Obviously while we as Christians are not to be narrow-minded per se, we must be "narrow-minded" regarding the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:6), if we truly believe that salvation is found in no one else, and that there is no other name under heaven that has been given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). As offensive as such a truth may be to non-Christians, we must continually make it clear in our witness (our life, then our lips!), for without Christ they are destined to spend a Christ-less, graceless eternity in the lake of fire (Re 20:11, 12, 13, 14, 15-see notes, cp Mt 25:41, 2Th 1:9, Re 14:11+, Re 19:20, 20:10 - see chart on Births, Deaths, and Resurrections).
Here are a few other NT passages that support this "narrow minded" view and to encourage you to defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints…
Matthew 5:20 (note) For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Comment: This would have shocked many in the Jewish audience, who knew the Pharisees as the most religious people in the world. But as Jesus alluded to they may have had religion but in their hearts they rejected the "narrow gate" of Christ. He is also setting the "bar" of righteousness so high that no man can possibly hope to achieve God's standard which is perfection.
Matthew 7:21, 22 (note) Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
Comment: This is a frightening verse, for it clearly teaches that "many" people (in context it first speaking of false teachers but it clearly has broader application) who profess Christ are self-deceived. It isn’t a matter of outward profession, but inward faith and obedience, that saves (Cp Titus 1:16 which clearly juxtaposes "profession" of words with production of unrighteous works, the latter speaking louder and more truthfully than their words!)
John 8:24 "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins."
John 10:9 "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Romans 3:10 (note) as it is written, "THERE IS (absolutely) NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."… 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified (declared righteous) as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus
Comment: Read that passage again and note the repetition ("key words") which make the interpretation blatantly clear.
1Corinthians 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Comment: There is no other foundation for a holy, blessed, abundant, eternal life other than Christ.
1Timothy 2:5-6: For there is one God, and ONE mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. (Only one Mediator. Only one ransom, the blood of Christ shed on the Cross.)
Hebrews 2:3 (note) how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard
Hebert Lockyer records an example of a man who entered the small gate and tread the dangerous way of a disciple in his fascinating book entitled "Last Words of Saints and Sinners" writing that
John Bradford, Chaplain to Edward VI in 1552, was one of the most popular preachers of his day in England. With the accession of Queen Mary, Bradford was arrested for seditious utterances and heresy. Refusing to recant, (he was) condemned to be burnt at Smithfield, and he met his death tied to the same stake as a young man found guilty of the same supposed crime. As the flames covered their bodies, Bradford consoled the youth by saying "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Lockyer records another quote which is the antithesis of Bradford's blazing testimony for Christ…
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899), famous American lawyer and prominent agnostic, lectured on Biblical inaccuracies and contradictions. His famed lecture The Mistakes Of Moses led one defender of the Bible to say that he would like to hear Moses speak for five minutes on The Mistakes Of Ingersoll. Standing by his graveside, his brother exclaimed - Life is a narrow vale between the narrow peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailings.
Comment: How tragically ironic to use some of the very same words used by Jesus (narrow, strive, eternity) but with such a different outcome!
John Milton makes mention of the small gate in Paradise Regained
"A deathlike sleep,
A gentle wafting to immortal life.
Truth shall retire
Bestruck with sland'rous darts,
And works of faith rarely be found.
And to the faithful, Death the gate of life."
QUESTION - Will more people go to heaven or to hell?
ANSWER - The question of whether there are more people in heaven or hell is answered by Jesus Himself in one succinct passage: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13–14).
This passage tells us that only those who receive Jesus Christ and who believe in Him are given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). As such, the gift of eternal life comes only through Jesus Christ to all those who believe. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). It’s not through Mohammed, Buddha, or other false gods of man’s making. It’s not for those wanting a cheap and easy way to heaven while continuing to live their own selfish and worldly lives on earth. Jesus only saves those who fully trust in Him as Savior (Acts 4:12).
So, what are these two gates in Matthew 7:13–14? They are the entrance to two different “ways.” The wide gate leads to the broad way, or road. The small, narrow gate leads to the way that is narrow. The narrow way is the way of the godly, and the broad way is the way of the ungodly. The broad way is the easy way. It is attractive and self-indulgent. It is permissive. It’s the inclusive way of the world, with few rules, few restrictions, and fewer requirements. Tolerance of sin is the norm where God’s Word is not studied and His standards not followed. This way requires no spiritual maturity, no moral character, no commitment, and no sacrifice. It is the easy way of salvation, following “the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). It is that broad way that “seems right to a man, but end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Those who preach a gospel of inclusiveness where “all ways lead to heaven” preach an utterly different gospel than the one Jesus preached. The gate of self-centeredness, self-absorption, and a proud, holier-than-thou mindset is the wide gate of the world that leads to hell, not the narrow gate that leads to eternal life. As a result, most people spend their lives following the masses who are on the broad road, doing what everyone else does and believing what everyone else believes.
