The Narrow Gate

by Scott Rossy
What exactly is the narrow gate? Why does it matter to you? Should you care?

During His well known “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7), Jesus Christ taught of the narrow gate saying: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14). Simply speaking, Jesus Christ is the narrow gate. He is the “gate’ or the “door”. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved.” (John 10:9). The gate/door figure of speech that Jesus speaks of concerns the way of entrance and the way of access into the Fathers’ presence in heaven. Jesus says: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

This raises the question: Why is Jesus so dogmatic? Why is He insisting that He alone is the only way to enter into the Father’s presence in heaven? That no man can enter into the Fathers presence and be accepted without Him? Aren’t there multiple ways to get to God? Is there really only one way? Isn’t man already acceptable in God’s eye? Although no one is perfect, isn’t it really only a matter of each individual being eventually judged by how relatively good he has been? Why is Jesus saying that there are only a few who are on the right path and that most other people are walking the road to destruction? Why does He say, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:23). Why won’t they be able to enter? To answer these questions we must have a correct understanding of mankind’s true condition. We must understand man’s condition from God’s standpoint. We must come to grips with how the Lord views man and see ourselves as He sees us. After understanding our true condition, we must understand exactly who Jesus Christ is and what He alone has done to remedy this hopeless condition we find ourselves in.

The question about our standing before God, about what will happen to us when we die and where we will spend eternity are the most important realities any of us will ever have to consider. This is the most important issue any human being will ever have. To not consider these matters is complete foolishness. The bible declares: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” ( Proverbs 14:12)

Because of who He is and because of what He alone has done on our behalf, Jesus Christ alone can say “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6). Many will seek to enter into the Fathers presence but will not be able to because they sought to come to Him through some other way. They will seek to enter, bypassing the Lord Jesus Christ, finding their own way. Seeking to be accepted by God because of their own self righteousness and good behavior, they will reject what Jesus Christ alone has done for man. They will follow other religious leaders and teachers, seeking to find another way to the Father. Believing the lie that “all roads lead to heaven” they will continue on in spiritual darkness and deception until they come to the end of their lives and find out they had entered through the wrong gate and have been traveling the wrong road that has now brought them to destruction. The door will be shut to them and they will plead, 'Lord, open up to us!' (Luke 13:25) Sadly they will hear the Lord proclaim: "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS" (Matthew 7:23), 'I do not know where you are from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets'; and He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.' In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Luke 13:25-28). A horrifying thought! People will come to the end of their lives only to find out that they are now being cast away from the presence of the Lord.

Contrary to what most people believe, man is not at peace with God. He is in fact separated and alienated from his Creator. As the Lord told ancient Israel “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2). Sin separates man from God. There is a massive gap between God and man. On one side of the gap is God, who is completely holy, “Holy is He” (Psalm 99:5). He is completely pure in His entire Being. There is no defilement or unrighteousness in Him. His holiness encompasses all that He is. It is impossible for Him to do evil, to sin or to lie. He is perfect in all His ways. Whereas all else is described as darkness, He is described as being light. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” (I John 1:5). His holiness is seen as so complete, strong and powerful that He is described as the One who alone “dwells in unapproachable light.” (I Timothy 6:16). His throne is described as a “great white throne” (Revelation 20:11), representing His purity and separation from all defilement and pollution. He cannot tolerate sin or evil of any kind. It is contrary to all that He is. Of Him it is said “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor” (Habakkuk 1:13). No one can compare with Him for “There is no one holy like the LORD” (I Samuel 2:2). Compared to Him, all other creatures are seen as impure and unclean. Even the heavens and the holy angels who live there and who never sinned against Him are described as unclean compared to Him. “He puts no trust in His holy ones (angels), and the heavens are not pure in His sight” (Job 15:15). He is so completely holy and pure that even the most holy and clean things that He has created are seen as impure in the light of His Presence. He is perfect holiness and purity. Absolutely nothing and no one can compare with Him.

So, on one side of this massive gap is the Creator God of holiness, light and purity. But on the other side of the gap is a defiled, polluted, corrupted and dirty mankind. Man is described as darkness. Jesus called man, his thoughts and deeds “evil” (Matthew 7:11) saying “men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil” (John3:19). This evil He said resides in the heart of man and is what produces the evil acts that proceed saying, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23). Scripture declares: “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). “The hearts of the son’s of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3). Of wicked man it is said "The imaginations of their heart run riot." (Psalm 73:7). We are described as “being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.” (Titus 1:16)

The sin of mankind is universal. No one is exempt from this description “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:23, Romans 3:10-12.) “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Unfortunately many people do not accept this evaluation of themselves. It is a blow to human pride to accept the fact that we are not at all fit to enter into Gods Holy presence, that He does not accept any of us as we are. Instead of accepting this evaluation, many reject it and continue on hoping that in the end, God will weigh the good and the bad they have done and the scales will tip more to the side of the good. That although they know they aren’t perfect, God will see that they weren’t all that bad but that they meant good. After all, they weren’t murderers or rapists, and so God will see the “good” within them and allow them into His presence. This sadly is a great deception. It proceeds from the darkened, deceived heart of man. “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12). The most righteous acts and deeds that we can produce are seen merely as filthy rags to our Holy God. “we are all an unclean thing, and all are righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). He is not impressed. To believe otherwise is to be greatly deceived. The human heart is described as “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it.” (Jeremiah 17:9).

As long as we compare ourselves to other people, we will continue to see ourselves as pretty good. This does seem reasonable but if we compare ourselves to a completely holy, pure and spotless God, we will come to see ourselves as defiled and dirty, in need of cleansing and forgiveness. Instead of being proud and claiming our own self righteousness we will humbly say as Peter, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:9).

All will agree that the future of all of us is death. But happens when we do die? Scripture states, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Judgment is what awaits us all. Mankind will be called to appear before our Holy God who will be sitting on His glorious White Throne judging humanity. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” (Revelation 20:11-12).

As has already been stated, God has already declared that all are guilty before Him and have sinned and rebelled against His holy Law. There are no exceptions. The verdict is that all are guilty. Since God is completely Holy and pure, nothing defiled or polluted can enter into His presence. Man is unfit and unworthy to enter into His Holy presence. The Holiness of God demands that those (all of us) who have rebelled against His Holy Law be punished. His Holiness and His Justice demand that sinners be punished. He can’t just overlook sin for the sake of overlooking it. He wouldn’t be a just God if He did. The carrying out of that verdict is what is left for the guilty. This would consist of being cast away from His Holy presence into the torment of an eternal hell. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23). Our sin is a debt that we owe to God. It is a violation of His Holy Law. It is rebellion against Him. We can never fully pay the debt our sin incurs which is why hell is described as eternal. It is the place where God is pouring out His eternal wrath and punishment on the guilty. “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” ( II Thessalonians 1:9).

If we stopped here and we are honest, we’d have to admit that God would be just in punishing us all eternally and leaving us in our hopeless condition. He would have been under no obligation to help us. But in His infinite mercy and grace, He provided a solution to the separation and alienation that exists between Him and us. Since no human being has ever completely obeyed His Law in both thought and deed every single second of his time on earth, God chose to prepare a Substitute for us. He had to be the One to provide a way of salvation for us. If we were going to be reconciled to Him, He would have to be the One to carry out the plan of salvation which would allow us to be accepted, forgiven and cleansed of all filthiness. He did this by providing a mediator for us. A go between. One who would bridge the massive gap of separation that exists between Him and us. The mediator He has provided for us is the Lord Jesus Christ, His Beloved eternal Son. “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5). Jesus Christ, the eternal God Himself, came to earth. He was sent to earth by the Father for this very purpose. “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). He was fully human and fully God. Only such a One could be qualified to mediate between God and man. He is the One to stand before God as our representative. He is our Substitute. Having left His eternal throne in heaven and being born of a virgin, He came and lived a perfect, sinless life here on earth. In the Old Testament God started preparing for the coming of this Substitute (the Lord Jesus Christ) with the nation Israel. Through Moses He instituted the sacrificial system, that is animal sacrifices. The priests in ancient Israel were required to sacrifice animals and to spill there blood on the alter to turn away the wrath of God, to cover the peoples sins. God established the principal that “without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). The animals that were being sacrificed represent the coming Substitute. Their life had to be taken and their blood had to be shed. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” (Leviticus 17:11) It was the responsibility of the high priest to represent the people before God with the blood of the sacrificed animal. The animal and the priest represented the coming High Priest, The Lord Jesus Christ. The animal was to be without spot or blemish. It represented the coming Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who was "a lamb unblemished and spotless." (I Peter 1:19). The unblemished, spotless blood of Christ represents His completely Holy and sinless, perfect life. The animal sacrifices were never intended to take away the sin of the people but to remind them of their sin and their constant need of forgiveness as well as to point to the coming Substitute. “in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year” (Hebrews 10:3). The Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, came into the world, born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20. He was fully God and fully man. He came as the fulfillment of the Substitute. He lived a perfect, holy, sinless life. Being God, He never sinned in thought, word or deed. The Father said of Him, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17). It was the Father’s plan before the foundation of the world to send His Son into the world to be man’s substitute Acts 2:23, I Peter 1:20. - As stated, the O.T. animals that were without spot or blemish represented the perfect sinless life of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus offered Himself up on the cross as a sacrifice to His Father in heaven. The cross was His altar and He shed His own blood. The Lord Jesus became mans substitutionary sacrifice for sin. As was said before, mans sin deserves to be punished in hell for all eternity. As mans substitute, the Lord Jesus took our punishment for us on the cross. “Christ also died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust” (I Peter 3:18). The wrath of the Father that we deserve was poured out on the Lord Jesus. “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (I Peter 2:24) “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Corinthians 5:21). Every sin, past, present or future that I would commit, Christ bore in His body. God the Father placed His wrath for mans sin on the Lord Jesus “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. If He would render Himself as a guilt offering.” (Isaiah 53:5,10). Christ is our High Priest. He entered into the presence of God with His own blood to make atonement for sins. Hebrews 8-10. Christ died, was buried and on the third day He arose from the grave. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (I Corinthians 15:3,4). The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is proof that the Father accepted His sacrifice. He was well pleased with His Son’s sacrifice. Those who are in Christ have had the penalty and punishment for their sins paid for in full. The perfect, sinless life that the Lord Jesus lived has now been credited to the believer. God now sees us as clothed in the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus illustrated this for us in Matthew 22:1-14. Believers will now stand in the presence of God and “be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:9). Standing before a Holy God, accepted, clothed in the perfect Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Praising, worshiping and thanking Him for eternity!

So what does any of this have to do with the “narrow gate”? Jesus Christ Himself is the “narrow gate.” He is the way of entrance into the Father’s presence. Not just entrance into His Fathers presence, but to enter without guilt or condemnation. Complete acceptance and reconciliation. Apart from Him, there is no salvation. He alone is the way to be reconciled to the Father. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5). "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12. The Lord Jesus stated: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6). and He warned, "unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (John 8:24). The salvation call now goes out wherever the Word of God is preached. The call today is “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15) “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13). The Lord Jesus Christ says; "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). and in the gospel of John He says; "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John 6:37). The Lord promises this. Whoever calls on Him in faith and repentance will be saved. No exceptions. He does not turn away any, and all who do call upon Him will be saved. There will not be people who call upon Him with true repentance who will not be saved. God cannot lie!

To answer the original 3 questions: What exactly is the narrow gate? Why does it matter to you? Should you care?

Jesus Christ alone is the narrow gate. It matters to you because your eternal destiny hinges on the gate you’ve entered and the path you are on. You should care about nothing else if you haven’t settled for sure your standing or position before the eternal God .

“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy.” (James 4:12)