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13 Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. ~ Matthew 7:13-14
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 7 where the Lord Jesus continues to compare His gospel with the teaching of the religious leaders of Israel. He had just given what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon demands a decision about whom will we put our faith in which is what will determine where we will spend our eternity beyond our time on this earth.
Prior to this, the Lord Jesus had been demonstrating to the Jewish folks whom He addressed on that mountain over-looking the Sea of Galilee regarding the difference between His teaching and that of the Jewish religious leaders. The primary difference was that of heart motive. The Jewish religious leaders placed the spotlight on the abilities of their hearers to obey the Law of Moses and thus they were their own savior. The Lord Jesus on the other hand pointed his hearers to the fact that they could not be good enough to earn God's favor. The teaching of the Jewish religious leaders had led no one to heaven because it was religion. No matter how often they obeyed the Law of Moses, they could not pay the penalty for their sin. Their goodness fell far short of what God required. They had a very superficial approach to the truth.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it."
That day the Lord Jesus offered something completely different than that which religion had offered the people. It had to be different, it had to be a gift. Enter the grace of God. Even though man's default mode since our fall in the Garden of Eden is religion, our many attempts at bridging the gap between ourselves and God could never be great enough. This is why the Lord Jesus spoke of the narrow gate here. This is a path that leads to life, Real life, and the Lord Jesus walked that path on the behalf of all who would trust Him. His path leads us to life abundant and which will yield for us a deepening personal relationship with God.
Both gates purport to introduce us to the path that leads us into heaven. Both gates point to salvation, to eternal joy and bliss in heaven. Neither of these gates says, "enter hell here," but one of them goes there. Nobody was selling hell. But, according to the Lord Jesus, the broad way guarantees us eternal hell. This is the road of religion, which with muffled mouth says, "Join our religion and go to hell with us." But, they did not blatantly deliver that message. No, they all promised heaven but upon what basis? Our options are the way of ourselves or the way of the Lord Jesus. One is the path paved with self-righteousness and the other is the paved with divine righteousness applied to the sinner hoping by faith that grace really exists.
The Lord Jesus implores us to "enter by the narrow gate." Although many believe the narrow gate speaks of the pathway whereby we improve our lifestyle and subsequent choices, this gate has a different subject. The Lord Jesus is the only way for sinful man to get into heaven. He is the narrow gate and we arrive in heaven on the basis of His sacrificial work on the cross. It is only the gospel message that garners the favor of God for those who have come to the end of themselves.
Those on the broad way, by the way, are many. In fact, later in this chapter in v.22-23 we read, "22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
The requirement for us coming into a personal relationship with God is that we must enter the gate which is tantamount to placing our faith in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. It is not enough to listen to preaching about the narrow gate. It is not enough to study the narrow gate, to admire the structure of the narrow gate, to admire the wisdom of the gospel. The gate must be entered. And the world is full of people who admire the gospel. They admire the work of Christ on the cross, and even admire the work accomplished through His conquering death and resurrection. And they admire the ethics and the virtues of the Lord Jesus. But hell will be literally filled with people who admired Jesus Christ, who admired His teaching and His ethics.
A gate serves two purposes: to let people in, and to shut people out. Those who do not enter are then eternally barred from the kingdom of God. We must go beyond the admiration of the gospel, we must enter the gate of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Any deviation from the person and the work of Jesus Christ will lead to hell. We must believe. And, the key isn't the amount of our faith. No, no, no! The key is the object of our faith.
The life the narrow gate leads to is life of the eternal nature. Eternal life is not living forever, because no one ceases to exist when they die. Everyone lives forever in either heaven or hell. Eternal life isn't living forever in heaven instead of hell. Eternal life is a present-tense possession, it is not something that begins when we get to heaven. Eternal life is knowing God. Eternal life speaks of an intimate, close, personal relationship with God. Yes, the Lord Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sin, but that happened so that we could enter into a personal and an intimate relationship with God the Father.
