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Matthew 7:13–14 (LEB)
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it,
14 because narrow is the gate and constricted is the road that leads to life, and there are few who find it!
Surely, you have heard Christians preaching and advocating based on this passage that the narrow gate and the constricted way have to do with your obedience and your holy and godly living. They say things like: “If you live a holy and righteous life, you can be sure you are on the tight path, and at the end, you will enter eternal life through the narrow gate—that is, life after physical death. However, if you don’t live in continuous obedience, you are on the broad way that leads to eternal destruction, which means you will lose your salvation.”
Let’s assume that this understanding of the text is accurate, you agree with it, and believe that it takes into account Christ’s sacrifice for sins. Then, imagine for a moment that Jesus Christ never came on the earth, never died on the cross for humanity’s sins and you encounter this passage in the Bible. Question: “Without Christ in the picture, would your interpretation of the text change in any way?” Most probably not. If it wouldn’t change, then how did Jesus contribute to your entrance into life through His costly suffering and death? What is the significance of His death in this whole business of salvation? None, according to the most common perspective on this passage. This should be a sufficient signal for us that there is a problem with this understanding. What are the narrow gates and the constricted ways? What are the broad gates and the spacious ways?
Jesus says in Matthew 5:20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus uses the Law and its application in the Sermon on the Mount to convince the Jews of their inability to obtain the righteousness necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus accomplishes this by amplifying the Law of Moses from a mere set of outward rules and requirements (the letter of the Law) to the inner motivations of the heart (the spirit of the Law). According to Him, these people were to have a greater righteousness than the holiest people known by them —that is, “the scribes and the Pharisees.” Thus, Jesus brings them to the point of seeking righteousness outside of themselves. In this context, Jesus then talks about the narrow gate vs. the broad and about the constricted way vs. the spacious one in terms of salvation. He was preparing them for the only righteousness that God will accept as the basis for entering His Kingdom, that is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus alone (Romans 3:21–4:25).
The word “constricted” (gr. tethlimmene) in Matthew 7:14 means “confined, narrow.” It has nothing to do with a difficult lifestyle, as some teach. The point is that you go through a gate and immediately arrive at the destination. In those days, you had the gate of a city that didn’t have a path on the other side of it. The path went underneath the gate but didn’t go beyond this entrance point, so, the moment you went through the gate, you were in the city. There was not a long path on the other side of the entrance leading to the city.
The word “enter” (gr. eiserchomai) in 7:13 means “to go into.” Matthew never uses this word in this kind of situation in terms of going toward something. It is always used to show that you are going directly into something. This is confirmed by the use of the Greek preposition eis at the beginning of the word eiserchomai, which is “into” in the accusative. If you were going to use a preposition in the Greek text to talk about going toward something, you would most likely use the word pros, “toward.” But the use of eis (“into”) with eiserchomai (“to go into”) indicates you are going through a gate that immediately brings you “into” your destination. Jesus is not talking about entering onto a difficult path that will lead to a destination.
The “narrow gate” refers to the same thing Jesus said in John 10:9 and 14:6:
John 10:9 (NKJV)
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The narrow gate is named that way because there is no other way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven except through faith alone in Christ alone. The entrance point is narrow because it alludes to faith in Jesus and no one or anything else. The way is “confined” or “restricted” in that there is no other one that leads to the Father except Christ. In contrast, the “wide gate” has many people entering through it because it is an extended entrance that immediately leads to eternal destruction. The “wide gate” represents all the other options through which people say eternal life can be entered. But Jesus is inviting His unsaved listeners to seek the “narrow gate,” which in fact is Himself. There is only one way to salvation, which makes it “narrow,” and this way is Jesus and Him alone.
In Matthew 18:3, Jesus responds to His disciples’ question about ”being great” in the Kingdom by saying, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” For people to enter it, they must be “converted” or turned away from the cynicism and lack of trust that characterizes most adults and become like children who possess childlike faith. Little children must depend on others to do what they cannot do for themselves. Doing the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21) meaning to receive Kingdom entrance is choosing to place childlike faith in Jesus Christ that He will do for you what you could never accomplish on your own. And that is the most challenging thing to do for a legalistic mind.
In the context of the passage, Jesus is talking about “false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). These false prophets stand in front of the wide gate that leads to destruction, while true prophets are standing in front of the “narrow gate” that leads to life. These preach the only way that leads to blessing and is “narrow” (John 10:9, 14:6). Only faith in Christ alone leads to eternal life (John 3:16, 6:40, 47, 14:6; Acts 4:12; I Timothy 2:4–6). Those who teach others a “faith plus something else” type of salvation are standing in front of the “wide gate” that leads into death both here and in eternity. Jesus says, “there are many who go in by it.” But those who teach a faith-alone Gospel are standing in front of the “narrow gate,” which is too narrow to carry your works baggage through it. Jesus says, “there are few who find it.”
Just because a Bible teacher or theologian has a large following does not mean they are teaching the right message. There are many false religions today that have millions of followers, but that does not mean they have found the “narrow gate” that leads to life. It is as if Jesus is saying, “Be careful about those who have a large following. They may be standing in front of the wide gate that leads into destruction.”
On the other hand, if a Bible teacher or evangelist has a small following, that does not mean they are not standing in front of the wide gate that leads to evil. If their message emphasizes that the only condition for salvation is faith in Christ, then they are standing in front of the narrow gate leading to life.
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Session 11 – The Post-Salvation Unbelief (Saved for Eternity) – June 19th, 2024
