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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
The narrow gate, also called the narrow door, is referred to by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:23-24. He compares the narrow gate to the "broad road" which leads to destruction (hell...
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Dan Rivers
Supporter
The gate was NARROW and the road was HARD before the cross.
It was impossible for people to save themselves by trying to obey the letter of the Law.
When Jesus speaks about HIS way to salvation, he doesn't say it's narrow or hard.
He says it's easy and light!
{Mat 11:29-30 NKJV} {29} "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} "For My yoke [is] easy and My burden is light."
To be saved ALL one has to do is believe and confess in Jesus name, Rom 10:9, John 3:16, john 6:28,29
Is that HARD to do?
As to "few" finding it that also was true BEFORE the cross, But after the cross Paul and Jesus say "MANY" are saved...
Mat 20:28 NLT - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for MANY."
Rom 5:19 NLT - Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, MANY will be made righteous. Heb 9:28, Jesus also says "MANY" Rev 7:9
All Praise and Glory to the Lord! :-)
James Kraft
Supporter
To enter in at the narrow gate is to believe that Jesus work on the cross is the only way to be saved. That faith in what he did for us is the way of salvation, and all who have trusted Him as the only way are saved and have eternal life. We are all sinners. God hates our sin, but He loves us. So He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place to take the punishment we deserve so that we could be saved by what He did for us on the cross. Since He paid for all our sin, we do not have to go to hell to pay for them. First John 1:8 say, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. What is the will of God? John 6:40 And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and I will raise him up on the last day. Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me, will come to me, and all that come to me, I will in no wise cast out. Eternal security. John 6:39 And this is the Fathers will who hath sent me, that of all that He hath given me I should lose nothing. Jesus says He has never lost one. He is the one that keeps us saved. First John 5:13 We know we have eternal life because we have believed on the name of the Son of God. Eternal security. When we received the free gift of salvation by faith alone, We are sealed by the Holy Spirit that says I will never leave you or forsake you. We are given the righteousness of God. We are given eternal life. It is all grace. Romans 11:6 It is all grace, not works, (what we do or do not do) if it was by works, it would not be grace. Salvation is a free gift of God by faith alone without works. Ephesians 2:8-9 It is not by anything we do or do not do, (our works) but by His grace He saved us by His blood sacrifice for all our sin. Romans 4:5 but to him that worketh not, but believe on Him who justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name So, if you have trusted Jesus as your savior, you are saved and HAVE ETERNAL LIFE NOW. Jesus has never lost one. Those who are trusting in their works, what they do or do not do, are not saved. Only those that trust in Jesus work are saved. Salvation comes when we quit trusting in what we do, (our works) and trust in Jesus alone to be saved.
Marvin Reynolds
Supporter
Use of the phrase "narrow gate" is a construction fact of the age of the Bible and its writing. When you build a walled city then it is ALWAYS an open type door on the wall BUT it is so narrow that you could only move through one at a time on your knees. This allows troops to move in and out of the walled city to secure supplies, water or observe the enemy but NOT open the sealed doors!. Its use in the Bible speaks of the narrow door which is designed to ONLY allow in the people of faith where the evil ones would be destroyed by the defense of the Angels.. This might be hard to understand today as this is not a tool today but checking construction and military planning for a city walled gives this saying a lot of sense to open the door for you and make it impossible for the enemy of God to enter.
Bruce Lyon
Supporter
Just how narrow is the narrow gate? The gate is a symbol of the lord Jesus and all those who are in him can path through and find pasture - life in the coming new age.
Daniel Veler
Supporter
The question that was been asked is how narrow is the gate? The Lord tells us that many are called but few are chosen. Matthew 22: 14 For many are called, but few are chosen. Based on this scripture not all that are called by the gospel will be saved. We see in another scripture there will be some who will say in the following scripture. Matthew 7: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. If you look closely at the parable of the sower you will see only one out of the four hearers are considered to be saved. The answer is also in Luke where a woman approaches Christ and tells him his mother and brethren were trying to get to him but couldn’t because of the crowd. Luke 8: 19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. 20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. 21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. Let’s examine the parable. The first hearer was said to hear the word by the wayside. But just as soon as they heard the word the devil took it from their heart lest they should think about what they had heard and be saved. Here is the complete summary of the parable. The apostles asked the Lord to explain to them the parable: Luke 8: 9: And his disciples asked him, saying, "What might this parable be?" Christ told them concerning the first hearer this: Luke 8: 12: Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. We now know the first hearer was not saved by what Christ just told us. That means we have so far at least the first hearers were not saved. Christ went on to explain the second hearer and said this concerning them: Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. Matthew adds more to the second hearer. He adds the following: Matthew 13: 20: But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. The question is, are these saved? The answer was given to us when the woman approached him. The next hearers are those among the thorns. Christ says this concerning them: Luke 8:14: And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. Are they saved? The last hearers are those on the good ground. Luke 8:15: But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Now Matthew gives us more information concerning the last hearer that Luke did not. Matthew 13: 23: But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matthew said they understood the word. Now the answer was given to us by Christ’s own words. This is why the road is narrow to those that are in Christ and broad to those who hears the word and turn from it.
Chuck Smith Jr
Supporter
As I see it, Jesus' reference to the narrow gate in Luke was in response to exactly the type of question that is posed here. Someone wanted what appears to be statistics--i.e., "Lord, are there just a few being saved?" As is typical of Jesus' teaching method, he did not respond to the question with a direct answer. That Jesus rarely gave a straight answer to questions may have been his way of saying, "You're asking the wrong question." In this instance, the emphasis of Jesus' answer is that the person who asked the question needed to make certain that he was one of those people who passed through the narrow gate. It wasn't enough to say they had encountered Jesus over meals or heard him teach in their streets. There was some personal striving required. In Matthew's gospel, the narrow gate saying follows what may be the very heart of the Sermon On the Mount, the so-called "Golden Rule"; namely, "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Cf. Mt. 22:37-40 & Ro. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:12-15)
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
God’s people have always been a remnant, a small minority in this world. The reason is not difficult to discover: The way of life is narrow, lonely, and costly. We can walk on the broad way and keep our “baggage” of sin and worldliness. But if we enter the narrow way, we must give up those things. Here, then, is the first test: Did your profession of faith in Christ cost you anything? If not, then it was not a true profession. Many people who “trust” Jesus Christ never leave the broad road with its appetites and associations. They have an easy Christianity that makes no demands on them. Yet Jesus said that the narrow way was hard. We cannot walk on two roads, in two different directions, at the same time. https://bethelchurchmuncie.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/wiersbe-commentary-new-testament.pdf It is narrow to get through but once you are through the gate, God's welcome is big! “Strait Is The Gate To All That Come” (by Carolina Sandell): Strait is the gate to all that come, And narrow is the way, Which leads unto the heav’nly home, Where yet is room for thee, Where yet is room for thee. In Heav’n, where God His own shall take, There’s also room for thee. In Jesus’ Name, for Jesus’ sake, The gates shall opened be, The gates shall opened be. Where thousands stand arrayed in white, Whom God His own declared, There yet is room and life and light, By grace for thee prepared, By grace for thee prepared. In Jesus’ heart there’s room, I know, And in His Heav’n of bliss. He in His Gospel tells me so, Thanks be to God for this, Thanks be to God for this. Now God be praised, that even I May in that city dwell, Where peace shall reign eternally, And all with me be well, And all with me be well.
John Appelt
Supporter
When Jesus spoke of the narrow gate, He may have meant a narrow gate which was a smaller gate within the wide, main city gate. When the large gate was closed, for an hour or more after sunset, one could still enter the smaller gate, if he was willing to pay a small amount. Jesus could have also referred to gateways from the street to the house. Those of the normal people would be only large enough for one with a loaded mule. The elite and wealthy would have lavish and lofty gates with a park-like shaded area for guests or for business transactions. In Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:24, Jesus could not have meant salvation, because one is not saved by entering or striving to enter the gate which is doing something. Salvation is not by works, Ephesians 2:8-9. One is saved by believing, John 3:16, 6:47. Matthew’s context is the Lord’s teaching on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, specifically for His disciples (as all His discourses were). This discourse does not teach how to get to heaven. Instead, it taught how to be the best disciple. It was a discipleship training message. But if the narrow gate does not mean salvation unto eternal life, then an explanation is needed. This gate represents living a life focused on the Lord and forsaking the world with all its allurements. The broad way suggests the crowd-pleasing, popular acceptable life. In Luke 13:23, the disciple asks, “Lord are there few who are saved?” It sounds like he is asking about salvation to eternal life. But a Jew would be asking about safety from destruction. This is in the context about recent tragic events, Luke 13:1-9. Jesus was calling them to repent of their sins to be restored in their relationship to God and to live a holy life so that judgment would not come upon them. Jesus foresaw the great judgment that was coming on Israel in AD 70. Luke 13:24-30 would then be understood as the call to enter a holy and obedient life or the abundant Christian life with the blessed result of rewards of fellowship and communion with the Lord in His kingdom. The Lord states clearly that some will be shut out of this favored status and clamor to be granted entrance into the house of their Master. They are not unsaved people, but believers who are appealing to their Master. As described, their fellowship with the Lord was shallow. They had failed to go beyond mere acquaintance of the Lord and were “workers of iniquity.” What seems to picture eternal rejection and punishment, is actually the loss of blessings and rewards in the kingdom. They are thrust out of the banquet. Luke 13:30 shows the reversal of situations. Those who think highly of themselves will be brought low and vice versa. There are two gates for believers to choose from. The one they choose will affect their walk and their placement within the kingdom. One must choose wisely.
Dave Larsen
Supporter
Yoshua's (Jesus') description of the gate is Himself. John 10:1-3: “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Recognizing Yoshua’s voice requires knowing the WORDS of Life. Matthew 4:4: Yoshua answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every WORD that comes from the mouth of GOD.'" John 5:24: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my WORD and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life." Yoshua said the entrance into heaven is like the eye of a needle. He also said you must be born again. Yoshua, John, James and Peter all say we are born again or sanctified through the WORD of GOD. John 17:17: Sanctify them by the truth; your WORD is truth. 1 Peter 1:23: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of GOD. Yoshua is the WORD of GOD, the WORD of GOD is the gate and few will accept that.
Wayne Myhre
Supporter
Bottom line: you know saints by their works. 1 Co 6:9: 'Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?' It's not just a good profession of faith; it's a submitted life to the lordship of Christ.
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