“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.” Matthew 7:13-14
Before finishing His sermon on the mount, Jesus adds this admonition to his disciples: “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.”
What could Jesus mean? Won’t most people be saved and go to heaven? The answer is why Jesus added this admonition. Most will not be saved. Most will not enter unto life eternal. The road to heaven is narrow; the gate is strait and hard to pass through. He wants His disciples – including you and me – to take the narrow and unpopular path which leads to life rather than taking the broad road and the wide gate which leads to death and eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.).
People usually err in one of two ways: Either they think they can enter life by their own good works and life, or they think they can use the cross of Christ as a license to sin. Both groups are on the wide road, thinking they are heaven bound when, in fact, they are headed for the fires of hell!
Those who trust in their own works and deeds err because they do not recognize their own utter sinfulness and place their faith in God the Son and His innocent sufferings and death upon the cross. It is as the Scripture says, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Eccl.7:20). No one can enter heaven by his own works, because all are sinners!
Remember that Jesus had said earlier in this same sermon: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). The scribes and Pharisees were some of the most religious and righteous (at least outwardly) people of Jesus’ day, but their righteousness didn’t measure up, nor does ours.
And there are many who claim faith in Christ Jesus and may also hold church membership but do not wish to follow Christ Jesus or live in accord with all that His Word teaches. They use the cross of Christ like a life insurance policy tucked away in a file cabinet or locked in a safety deposit box. They are baptized and may even go to church, but they are not truly penitent – they wish to have forgiveness and eternal life but they are unwilling to give up their selfish and sinful ways and walk with Christ Jesus and seek to live in accord with His Word.
It happens all the time. People want forgiveness and heaven, but they don’t want Jesus or God’s Word dictating how they live. They don’t want to go to hell, but they aren’t interested in living like a citizen of heaven either. They want the assurance of heaven in the life to come, but they want to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin – at least certain of their favorite sins – while they live here in this world.
Yes, it’s the broad way – the way the world seeks to obtain life. But even though the road is a superhighway and a well-traveled path, even though the gate is broad and inviting and no one is turned away, it leads to eternal death and hell!
Jesus doesn’t want us to travel that path or seek to enter by that gate. Rather, He would have us take that strait and restricted path and to enter that narrow gate that few ever find. What is that narrow way and path? Jesus answers that for us when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
There is only one way to heaven, and that is through faith in Christ Jesus and His innocent sufferings and death on the cross. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24).
But though our salvation is by God’s grace alone and received through faith alone in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world, it is not a license to sin. In fact, the Bible sternly warns us that we can lose our salvation if we willfully turn back into sin and rebellion against God our Maker (cf. Romans 6).
Hebrews 10:26-29 says, “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
And so, don’t follow the multitudes down the road of life. Don’t be fooled into thinking all is well with your soul while you trust is in your own works and deeds rather than in Christ Jesus and His holy and precious blood shed for you upon the cross. Instead, repent and acknowledge your sins and failures and place your faith in Christ and His cross and the redemption He accomplished for you.
But also, don’t be deceived into thinking you can continue on in sin and rebellion against God and His Word and still have true faith in Christ. To turn back into sin and disobedience is to reject Christ and count His blood shed for you as a common and unholy thing. To claim faith in Christ and yet choose to live in sin and disobedience to the LORD God is that broad and wide path that appeals to so many. But, in the end, it leads to death and hell.
St Paul told the Romans that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And St. Peter wrote of those who turn back to their old sinful ways: “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire” (cf. 2 Peter 2:20-22).
Christ died to redeem you from sin that you might live unto God (cf. 2 Cor. 5:15; Eph. 2:8-10). He did not shed His blood that you might continue to freely sin and live in rebellion against God. Jesus calls upon each of us to sincerely repent of our sinful ways and trust in Christ Jesus. He would have us walk on the strait and narrow – trusting in Christ alone for forgiveness and life and seeking, as a fruit of our faith, to live our lives for Him in full obedience to God’s Word.
Dear Lord Jesus, grant that we walk on the narrow way and enter through the strait gate. Keep us trusting in Your shed blood alone for the forgiveness of all our sins and for life everlasting, and grant that we not be deceived into thinking we can continue in sin and disobedience without consequence. Forgive us for grieving Your Holy Spirit, and renew our hearts and minds that we may love You and gladly and willingly walk in accord with Your commandments. Amen.
[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]