The Narrow Way to Life and the Broad Way to Destruction
Matthew 7:13-14 - "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Luke 13:24 - "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
My deepest appreciation to Pastor John F. Macarthur's sermon "Which Way to Heaven?" which was preached on May 18, 1980. His sermon can be found on his website and you can hear him preach it as well.
I would like to clarify these two verses. It's time to really interpret the Bible with the Bible. What is so sad that preachers like Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, John Macarthur or maybe I should mention the dead preachers like Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Billy Sunday, Arthur Pink, John Bunyan, John Calvin, Harry Allen Ironside and Estus Pirkle get misquoted by the works salvation crowd who misrepresent Lordship theology (and thanks to such a crowd of misrepresenting fools I got into the controversy and so did some good Baptist preachers) and causing the quasi-easy believists (that is easy believists they seem to be but they are doctrinally straight with repentance and preach Jesus is Lord). The basics of the Bible are not limited to just love and forgiveness but also to God's concern for the PROBLEM WITH SIN and the SAVIOR FROM SIN the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, in fact, is not a book that can get along with worldly philosophy but one book that can NEVER compromise. John 15:18-19 says that Christians are not of this world and are hated by the world. So never mind about worldly approval, focus unto Jesus!
So first, we must understand that there are two roads- the narrow road vs. the wide road. Now time for these two lecture points:
1.) What is the strait gate that one must strive to enter?
To be honest, to misrepresent Luke 13:24 as a means of works salvation is stupid. One must realize that the best is NOT enough. That is, James 2:10 is clear that it only takes one sin to forfeit entrance. However Jesus was in His mercy, this very narrow door to the narrow gate, the very entrance when He said in John 10:7-9 saying, "Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the Door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I Am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." A closer study of the Scripture will get people the REAL view of Jesus they cannot ignore.
The Greek word for strive is "agonizomai" which the word "agony" in our English text comes from. That is, it's not about working for one's salvation but rather that there is a sorrow for sin. It becomes difficult to be saved for these reasons- there's only the narrow way and the other is that people make it difficult for themselves because they love the world and SIN. As said, Christianity is not by reciting a mere few words or walking the isle, no if a person responded to an altar call, prayed an insincere sinner's prayer (or murmur is more like it) or signing on some decision card (seriously I've signed one decision card before and remained in my unbelief for some time without realizing the warnings written in that decision card!) but rather found in repenting and believing the Gospel. In John 3, Jesus didn't lead Nicodemus to a sinner's prayer. Rather He preached as He always did, the message of sin and the Savior. He showed the utter difficulty to the impossibility of salvation by HUMAN STANDARDS. Seriously there is no such thing as I have eternal security and I sin all I want. If I lived like the rest of the world then I never had eternal security to start with! Harry Allen Ironside in "Except Ye Repent" emphasizes on the sorrow for sin and why it is needed. And in fact, without sorrow for sin, without mourning against sin, without the realization of man's need for God- the real, automatic result is that they will REJECT Jesus Christ. John 5:40 says that these people do not come. John 3:19-20 addresses man refuses Christ because of their love for sin and indeed, the narrow road is a life-changing road!
I personally thought that salvation is not easy in this sense- that is because most people have a hard time believing the Bible and the HARD truth it has against the sinfulness of man. Many believe that man is basically good (also found in the deceptive liberation theology of the Jesuits) and that they only need to harness their inner goodness. However, the Bible declares in Romans 3:10-19 the utter wickedness and sinfulness of man. Man is declared to be not righteous, a lying scheme, not seeking after God, there is none that does good, throats are an open grave and wow that's how wicked man is. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 declares what the unsaved sinner is- homosexual, thieving, extortioner, drunkard... all a result of their unbelief in God. Homosexuals believe they are naturally good but think about how homosexuality can get linked with pedophilia as well (an example is how homosexual priests raping their altar boys). Even to think of doing the act with the same gender is as sinful as having sex with the same gender. In short, the idea that man is basically good negates the need for salvation. These are skeptics and they have HARDENED hearts. To be honest, it takes Holy Spirit conviction for the person to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to make it easy for the person to see they are sinners who are doomed to Hell. The problem is always pride. There is always the saying, "I'll make it my way." or no wonder why the worldly song "I Did It My Way" by the late Frank Sinatra got so popular. Sadly, I just hope Frank Sinatra had a last minute conversion. People think they can make it their way. Paul mentioned in Romans 10:3 of the reality that people trying to establish their own righteousness and being ignorant of God's righteousness.
Luke 13:24 warns that many will seek to enter but will not be able to. Does that again justify works salvation? No, but rather people who refuse to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ will NEVER accept Him as Savior. True people who have the Savior, obey and love Him as Lord. They are such slaves to their Lord. Many will not be able because as John 10:7-9 says that Jesus is the Door of the sheep and NOBODY else and every other door or ladder is a way to Hell. Every other person who enters by other way is a thief and a robber. Man's pride is a real killer. Salvation would have been easy only IF these men by any means will just have godly sorrow working towards repentance, only if they realize how much they need the Lord, only if they would just repent of their sins and only if they were fed up with sin. But no, they make it hard for themselves. They refuse to believe Jesus is the only Way and put their trust in Him alone. In the end, they depart.
In truth, the narrow way is a way of no return. Once a person enters because of a repentant heart about sin and the Lord Jesus Christ, there can be no return. The fact that a strait gate means only one person at a time (but more on the figurative sense because there can be 3,000 people saved at one time and they automatically enter the narrow road faster than a physical strait gate would!) means who can turn back to their old carnal selves? None. Not ever since I entered that narrow road, I am confident that I have a Lord who walks with me from start to end. That narrow road will prevent me from completely falling away and by God's grace, I cannot lose my salvation and also because of that, I cannot live like the rest of the world because the road is so narrow daily, my sins go away. The narrow gate is a gate of no retreat to the former life. Why would I want to retreat if Heaven is at the finish line? Most people just think of the short value than the high cost that leads to eternal life. The real end of the narrow road are the riches that never perish. True Christians can never stop serving God, can never stop believing in Jesus because true faith in Christ continues from start to finish!
2.) What is the broad way to destruction then?
The broad way to destruction is everything else. To the world, John 14:6 is a very NARROW and bigoted way when Jesus declared that He is the only Way, the Truth and the Life. Religious pluralism is now corrupting the meaning of Jesus' sermon on what it means to love one another. Today the world has bought this lie that every religion leads to God. Woah isn't that really a broad road? Yes it is and Jesus warns that the broad road leads to destruction. Today we have Catholicism declaring the unity of every world religion as worshiping the same God of Biblical Christianity for the sake of what they believe would be peace but Jesus warned in Matthew 10:34 that it's not peace but a sword against false doctrine. Only if they knew the real Jesus, they would get into the narrow way. The truth is, to preach every religion but Satanism leads to Heaven is but another lie. The fact that one religion quarrels with another is proof how stupid the statement is. Islam demands the death of infidels, Buddhism though it is a religion of peace however easily gets offended when they are told that Jesus was more than just a great man and is the Son of God, some religions even argue to who the last messenger is because there there is only ONE last messenger (singular) and to embrace them all means to have many last messengers (which will of course violate their beliefs). Do I hate people when I say I don't worship the same God as they do? Absolutely not. I love them enough to preach the Bible as it is than leave them in error. That's what Jesus did- He NEVER sugar coated anything and so did the Apostles! I love them enough to just keep myself in prayer for their salvation.
As part of Pastor John F. Macarthur's book "Hard to Believe" (and yes some things are just hard to believe like how Jesus who without sin went through all that just for me who deserves nothing but Hell and eternal damnation), he addressed the hard reality of people wanting a Madison Avenue Jesus, an overly tolerant Jesus. However reading through the Bible and not just the basics, one realizes Jesus was a narrow way preacher. The Bible is clear that Jesus many times asserted His Lordship over everything else. What is hard to believe is that people would rather accept the broad (but rather extremely unsure, difficult) way of destruction. The broad way adds and adds everything but salvation. It's for the self-righteous and the hypocritically religious. It's for people who want to show off. After all, works salvation is really the common denominator of all religions but true Christianity. They demand rituals and works. Their good works are but show-off, not God's grace in action. What is worse is that, while they teach works salvation they are full of evil. Martin Luther was in fact shocked to realize how sinful the Vatican City really was while it taught salvation based on works. Works salvation appeals to pride and hard to believe also, how many people would rather choose the unsure over the sure. Jesus already warned in John 5:43 that they reject Him who is the One and yet when somebody else preaches, they ironically believe the obvious fraud over the real deal that is Jesus Christ. Wow talk about extremely hard to believe- the real deal is rejected for a faker!
One reality we must face- the strait gate means you bring NOTHING. People today think of Jesus as a supplement rather than starting all over again. Being a Christian means to start all over again (John 3). Nicodemus had to forego his religion, his years as a Pharisee and so on. When Saul of Tarsus got converted, he even renamed himself as Paul to show he was a new person and he started all over again as he was no longer Pharisee, he was now a great preacher. When Simon got converted, Jesus renamed Him Peter to show that Simon was no longer Simon the fisherman but at that day on, Peter was already Peter the pastor who one day will win 3,000 souls to Jesus Christ in Acts 2. However, people are so proud of their riches which they trust in or their good works which are not enough (Isaiah 64:6). They do not see the necessity of being born again. The rich young ruler, in fact, was a self-righteous man who trusted in his riches that he presumably made out of his hands that he left. He saw the narrow road is a road to no return, a road that would cost a lot in this life and he failed to see the end of it- the one thing he wanted- eternal life.