Garments of Salvation

by Scott Rossy
“I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” - Isaiah 61:10

In scripture, our spiritual condition is often described by the garments we wear. God refers to clothing to describe what we are inside, of how He sees us and how He views our standing before Him. Our clothing is seen as an outward manifestation of what’s truly inside of us. For instance, this was certainly the case of Jesus Christ during the “Transfiguration” when “Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” (Mark 9:2-3.) Matthew’s account of this spectacular event adds that “His garments became as white as light.” (Matthew 17:2). This was a rare, spectacular glimpse of Jesus Christ being shown in His glory while still here on earth. Both Peter and John would later say in their epistles that what they were witnessing was Christ in His glory. The whiteness of Jesus clothing is described as a whiteness that has never been seen before. A whiteness that is like a radiant light and exceedingly white. No launderer on earth can whiten clothes as this. This whiteness is descriptive of what Christ is inside. His exceedingly white clothes are a manifestation of what He is in His divine nature. They show His absolutely complete Holiness and perfect righteousness. He is without spot or blemish. He is completely pure, through and through. His purity emanates from within Him and shines through Him. He alone is sinless and spotless.

Man’s Garments

Similarly, what is inside of mankind is also depicted as clothing. But in God’s eyes man is seen quite differently than His Beloved Son. God says through the prophet Isaiah that “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” or as the NIV translates it “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). That’s God’s evaluation of man. He sees us as spiritually clothed in polluted, filthy, rags. This is true of “all of us”. Man in his inner spiritual condition is clothed in filthiness. It’s what we are in the core of our being. He says this of “all our righteous deeds”. The most righteous, good deeds we perform are viewed as nothing but filthy garments, filthy rags before the Lord. It’s what we and our works are. This is because our deeds are a product of our true, spiritually dead, inner condition. Whereas Jesus’ true inner condition is of complete purity and holiness manifested in His exceedingly pure white clothing, our true inner condition is of polluted, sinful, spiritual deadness manifested in our filthy rags. Jesus who “Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25) said that we are evil and defiled within 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).

Hopeless condition

Humanly speaking, God’s evaluation of man leaves us in a hopeless condition. He is holy, pure, white, spotless and righteous. He is our Judge and knows full well that we are completely polluted, evil, filthy and defiled within. He’s declared we are unfit to enter into His glorious presence. “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?” (I Samuel 6:20), whose “eyes are too pure to even look on evil.” (Habakkuk 1:13). The prophet Isaiah, after seeing “the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” , was completely aware of his own filthy condition when in the Lords’ presence and declared “Woe is me, for I am ruined! because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:1, 4)

Clean Clothes Provided by God

In order for man to enter into the Lord’s presence he needs to be properly clothed. The dirty clothes will have to be removed and the necessary clean white clothes will have to be given to him from God. This is exactly what God has done for those who are His. Man can’t change his own condition. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23) The evil within us can’t be changed by self effort. The salvation we need must come from God. “Salvation is from the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). It’s He who provides those who are His with the spotless “white robes” (Revelation 7:9) that are necessary to enter into His presence.

Jesus illustrated through a parable the need to be properly clothed in order for us to enter into the presence of God. Jesus taught this lesson in Matthew 22:1-14 saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” (Matthew 22:2). The king in this parable is God the Father. He is giving the wedding feast for His Son, who is Christ. The wedding feast is representative of future glory in the presence of God (heaven, the millennium). The king “sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.” (v.3). For various reasons, those who are the invited guests are unwilling to come. The king responds by calling others. He orders his slaves to “Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.” (Matthew 22:9-10). The slaves are successful in their efforts to fill the wedding hall with guests. The hall now being full, the king now arrives to the feast. “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless.” (Matthew 22:11-12). Upon arriving, the king notices this one man who was not wearing the proper clothes. He is not wearing wedding clothes but is still in his dirty street clothes. This man is not fit to enter into the kings wedding feast. Apparently, all the other guests were clothed properly. Since these guests were last minute invitees, having been gathered in directly from the “main highways” and “streets” they wouldn’t have been able to get their own clothes to change into but instead needed to be clothed by the king himself upon arriving at his feast. The necessary clothes would be provided for the guests from the king. All the guests comply except this one man. He remains in his own clothing. In pride and self righteousness he does not accept the kings’ provision but tries to enter the feast on his own terms. When confronted by the king, “the man was speechless.” The man does not know what to say. He has no defense. He now realizes the consequences of his decision. The king shows no mercy. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:13-14). Earlier, the king showed mercy by providing these unworthy guests with the necessary clothes to enter into his presence. But now, this proud, self righteousness man is shown no pity. He is cast away from the kings’ presence. He is banished, unfit to be with the king. He is cast into a place of darkness and weeping.

This is a picture of the salvation that God has provided and what happens to those who reject it. It shows man’s need. It shows that man in himself is unfit to enter into the presence of God. It shows man’s need to be clothed properly and that he must receive clean garments from God in order to enter heaven. In Jesus Christ, God has made the provision for filthy, sinful man to be able to appear before Him as righteous. On the cross, Jesus became sin for us; “He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Corinthians 5:21) He did this by bearing our sins in His body on the cross (I Peter 2:24) while the Father in heaven poured out His wrath and hatred for sin on Him. The guilt and debt of sin has been taken away in Christ. Those who come to God in repentance and faith, confessing their own personal guilt and spiritual depravity before God, who see themselves as impure and filthy in God’s presence are the ones who will be clothed in the proper clothes. Those who truly can say from the depth of their heart; "I know that nothing good dwells in me" (Romans 7:18) and can only cry, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” (Luke 18:13) will be clothed in the “white robes” (Revelation 7:9) necessary to enter the presence of God. The white robe that the repentant sinner receives and is clothed in is the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. He clothes them in His righteousness. As stated earlier, He is in His entire Being, “radiant and exceedingly white.” He is completely Holy. When the Father looks at them, He sees them as perfectly righteous. He sees them clothed in His perfect Sons righteousness. They are wrapped in His Holiness. It’s given to them by the command of God. He says; “Remove the filthy garments from him…See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” (Zechariah 3:4) The exchange has been made. The dirty, filthy rags have been taken away and the clean white garments of salvation have been given. Those who have been clothed are the children of God and can worship God saying:

“I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” (Isaiah 61:10)

They have a righteousness, but it’s not of their own doing “but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:9) They’ve given up all hope and desire to reform their inner corruption and defilement. They’ve given up hope of trying to do things to gain God’s approval but instead gladly receive the perfect righteousness that He clothes them in.

Are you attempting to enter into the presence of God still dressed in filthy garments? Will you be like the man at the wedding feast who the king said “throw him into the outer darkness”? We already know that the Lord calls our righteous deeds “filthy rags”. Are you trusting in your own goodness? Your own works? Are you hoping that church attendance or serving in a church or partaking of church sacraments will gain God’s approval? If so, you aren’t trusting in Christ for your salvation. You haven’t seen your need to be washed of sin and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. How can we come before Him clothed in our own self righteousness which He views as mere filthy rags and expect Him to accept us? It’s an affront to Him. It’s a rejection of the cross of Jesus Christ. It’s a rejection of the only salvation that He has provided. Salvation is in Christ and Christ alone.

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5)

“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 testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (I John 5:11-12)

“WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED”

Romans 10:13

Jesus on Homosexuality

by Scott Rossy

There are those within professing Christianity who support and defend the homosexual lifestyle and homosexual marriage. Among them there are those who are practicing homosexuals as well as those who although they themselves are not homosexual, are of those who give “hearty approval” (Romans 1:32) and support to those who are. This may sound strange since homosexuality is clearly prohibited in the bible, but in recent years there have been more and more Christians who gradually adhere to this view. So how then, does someone who claims to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ defend a lifestyle and an act that the bible calls an abomination?  

There are two lines of argument behind their reasoning:

1) Jesus never spoke about homosexuality, so therefore He never condemned it. They attempt to find support for their view from Jesus supposed silence on the matter concluding that He would support and condone homosexual marriage.

2) It was Paul (and Moses) who condemned homosexuality and since Christians are to be followers of Jesus, we don’t need to obey what Paul said. He was just a man and his words aren’t authoritative to Christians today. It’s only what Jesus spoke that matters.

Neither of these arguments are valid. Concerning the second argument about the authority of the Apostle Paul, please see the previous post titled, That's Paul, not Jesus  where I give some thoughts on the authority of Paul. 

But what about Jesus? Do we know His view on marriage and sexual relations? Did He ever speak on these matters? Yes! He absolutely did. Jesus did reveal His will on these matters. He spoke clearly on God’s will for marriage and sexuality. He clearly upheld and affirmed that marriage is to consist of one man and one woman. He states that this has always been God’s purpose and plan for marriage. He did this in a number of ways:

First, He speaks directly about marriage. “He[Jesus] answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,  and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6).  Of these 3 verses that Jesus spoke, the first 2 were quoted directly from the Genesis chapter 2 account of the creation of man and woman on the earth. The third verse was added directly by Him. He states clearly that marriage is between one man and his one wife. He upholds the Genesis account of creation and marriage. The institution of marriage has been created by God, not man. He states; “What therefore God has joined together…”  It’s a man and a woman joined together in marriage by God. This is exactly what happened in the Genesis account that Jesus quoted. After creating the first man (Adam), “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18).  The helper that God created for the man is the first woman (Eve). Genesis 2 continues; “The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22).  The bringing of the woman to the man was done by God. He brought her to the man to be his wife, uniting them in marriage. This was His plan, His will and His purpose in creating marriage. The idea of marriage and the definition of marriage were not conceived by man. Again, this is what Jesus meant when He said; “What therefore God has joined together...”   It started with God, in His mind. Marriage exists by the work and will of God. It exists for His purposes. Man is not at liberty to change what God has created. He created the man and then created the woman as the corresponding helper for the man. He then brought the woman to the man and joined them together in marriage. Adam understood this and responded joyfully to what the Lord had done. The Genesis account ends with the words that Jesus quoted; “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24). The two become one in the union of marriage. This would prohibit the idea of polygamy as well.

Secondly, Jesus spoke more of the marriage/family unit saying, “‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ – (Matthew 15:4).  These two quotes are both contained in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy and Leviticus.  Here, Jesus again affirms that the family unit is to consist of both a father and a mother. He does not say to honor “your parents” which is quite different and would have left it open for a mixture of family units, but instead He reveals that in His mind a child is to have both a father and a mother. Not a father and a father or a mother and a mother. In fact, Jesus quotes some 7 times the “father and mother” unit. Obviously, from His perspective, He considered this to be the norm.

In the Old Testament Moses speaks against and prohibits homosexuality saying,

“If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” – (Leviticus 20:13).

“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” – (Leviticus 18:22)

These 2 verses are from the book of Leviticus.

Some attempt to pit the words of Jesus against the words of Moses or Paul, claiming their words don’t have the same authority as Jesus. It’s important to note that Jesus quotes Moses. In fact, Jesus quotes from the book of Leviticus, the very book in which Moses clearly condemns homosexuality. He (Jesus) affirms that what Moses spoke was scripture, the very words of God. Moses didn’t make these things up. This is what God revealed to him.

Man, who loves darkness, may choose to pervert God’s purpose and plan for marriage but man certainly CAN’T use Jesus to support his rebellion. For sure, those enslaved to homosexual sins can be cleansed and purified of their defilement and rebellion just the same as those enslaved to heterosexual sins can be cleansed and purified of their defilement and rebellion. But it is utter blasphemy to claim that the Holy Son of God who was without sin and obeyed the Law of God perfectly would in any way condone and approve of what is clearly prohibited in scripture.

There are countless matters that Jesus never spoke directly to. He never spoke directly of embezzlement, bribery, arrogance, rape, bestiality, etc., etc. His silence in these areas should in no way be taken as Him somehow supporting such acts.

Professing Christians who are not involved in the homosexual lifestyle yet support homosexual marriage may think they are being Christlike, loving and charitable but in reality they are of no help to those enslaved to this sin. Why not share the truth of the gospel with such folks, showing them that God has a better way and a better life for them where they can be reconciled to Him, cleansed and forgiven of all unrighteousness and defilement? Then will they experience His peace and joy, saying with the rest of the redeemed, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!”

Either, Or

by Scott Rossy
We live in a postmodern world. It’s a world that hates absolutes. It’s a world that rejects the idea of knowing anything for certain. It hates clarity. It despises the idea of seeing things as either black or white. It despises being absolutely sure or certain in our faith and in our beliefs. Instead, it loves the idea of gray, of not being completely sure of anything. It loves the concept that in spiritual matters, we really can’t know anything for certain and to claim certainty is a sign of ignorance. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking has also spilled over into the church. While there are things in scripture that are hard to understand and leave room for honest debate and discussion, man’s eternal destiny and standing before God is not one of them. The Bible is very black and white on this. Every human being on the face of the earth is in either one category, or the other. We all fall into either this or either that.

For instance, we’re all:

Either saved or we’re unsaved

Either born again or we’re not born again

Either a child of God or we’re a child of the devil

Either a child of light or we’re a child of darkness

Either a sheep or we’re a goat

Either wheat or we’re chaff

Either spiritually alive or we’re spiritually dead

Either in Christ or we’re in Adam

Either a slave of righteousness or we’re a slave of sin

Either have a mind set on the Spirit or we’re have a mind set on the flesh

Either married to Christ or we’re married to the Law

Either we’ve entered through the Narrow Gate or we’ve entered through the Broad Gate

Either we’re traveling on the Narrow Path or we’re traveling on the Broad Path

Either we’re clothed in the righteousness of Christ or we’re clothed in self righteousness

Either we have the Son or we don’t have the Son

Either we’ve been reconciled to God or we haven’t been reconciled to God

Either we’re on our way to heaven or we’re on our way to hell

In all of these, there is no middle ground. There is no 3rd option. In every case, we all are in one of the two. There is no situation where someone is neither saved nor unsaved but is in the middle, trying to be saved. The same with being born again. Nobody is in the middle, hoping, working on or trying to be born again. Either we are or we aren’t. To be in the middle would be like being sort of pregnant. It can’t be. Either you are or you aren’t. The same with salvation. Either you’re in Christ or you’re not. If you’re in Christ, you’re saved. If you’re not in Christ, you aren’t saved.

The good news is that God does want us to know for certain. He doesn’t want us to be uncertain about our eternal destiny, but to know Him and to have an intimate relationship with Him. He wants us to be able to live a fruitful and productive life for His glory and to have the joy and assurance of our faith. He says in 1 John: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (I John 5:13). It’s those who believe in the name of the Son of God who already, right now possess eternal life. They are the only one’s who can know for sure. Believing in the name of the Son of God is to believe fully in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. To trust in Him and Him alone for forgiveness. By coming to Him in faith and repentance, we no longer place any hope in our own self effort and goodness as a means to gain approval and acceptance from God. It’s to truly believe that if it weren’t for Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, then no one could be saved. We’d all be consigned to an eternity in hell. Forgiveness would not be possible.

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (I John 5:11-12)

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that 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)

“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)

Jesus 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)

The concept of grayness or finding the middle ground is not admirable. It’s not a virtue and it doesn’t come from God. It’s spiritual poison, don’t drink it. Know for sure! You can know for sure. God wants you to know for sure. His salvation in Christ is certain, sure and complete. “He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

Do you know for sure? If you don’t know for sure, could it be that perhaps you are placing your trust and hope in something else other than Christ? Are you trusting in your own goodness? Thinking that you’re not that bad and that you’ve done enough good to outweigh the bad, hoping God will understand that even though you’re not perfect, you meant well? If you think this way, you’re still on what Jesus called the road to destruction. You’re not trusting completely in Him.

“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)



Treading the Wine Press Alone

by Scott Rossy
“I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath. And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments. And I stained all My raiment.” – Isaiah 63:2

I still remember the first time I heard these verses as a new Christian and I can still remember the strong impression it had on me. This vivid, awesome image of the Lord Jesus Christ is something I’ve never forgotten. When most people think of Jesus, this probably isn’t the way the picture or think of Him. Here the Lord Jesus Christ, who is “The King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelation 19:16) is pictured at His second coming as marching to Jerusalem, in anger having trampled in judgment His enemies under His feet. He’s portrayed as a Majestic warrior King, with wrath and vengeance in His heart.

Isaiah 63:1-6

"Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength?

"It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."

Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?

“I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. "For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come.”I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me. "I trod down the peoples in My anger and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."

This is an awesome picture of Christ coming in judgment to carry out God’s vengeance on the nations. The winepress imagery that’s portrayed here refers to the process of winemaking in Isaiah’s day. The grapes are the essential element. To make the wine, they needed to get the juice out of the grapes. The grapes would be put in a large winepress. The workers would then step into the winepress and begin trampling the grapes to squeeze the juice out of the grapes. As the juice squeezed out of the grapes some of the juice would inevitably splash up and stain the workers garments. But when Christ returns in judgment, instead of grapes, it’s people that are portrayed as being thrown into the winepress and trampled. He then tramples them in His wrath and instead of grape juice, it’s their blood that squirts out and stains His garments. He’s asked in v. 2: "Why is Your apparel red, and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? He answers: “I trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment.” His garments are red because He has just trampled His enemies in the winepress of judgment and it’s their blood that has stained His garments. The wine press imagery for God’s judgment on the nations is not unique to Isaiah. Other scripture passages also use this imagery. Habakkuk says: “In indignation You marched through the earth; In anger You trampled the nations.” – Habakkuk 3:12. This picture of treading the winepress is also described in the book of Revelation. Here, as in Isaiah’s vision, the Apostle John’s vision of the Lord Jesus Christ also sees Christ pictured as coming in glory, riding on a white horse, marching in the greatness of His strength. Here, as in Isaiah His garments are pictured as bloody, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” –Revelation 19:13. The trampling is described further, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” –Revelation 19:15.

The Angels Reap People for the Winepress

Both the prophet Joel and the book of Revelation describe people as the grapes to be thrown in the winepress and the angels as the ones who harvest these people. Joel says:

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great”. – Joel 3:13

“So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.” – Revelation 14:19-20

This is an awesome picture of judgment. As I said, this is not the way the world thinks of Christ. The idea of God’s judgment is lost to the world. It’s a thought that never enters their mind. The world prefers to view Christ as weak, non judgmental, tolerant and accepting of sin. A “loving” Jesus that changes with the times. Sadly, even many Christians reject the idea of God’s wrath and judgment. They prefer to be “positive”, speaking only of God’s love. They will never speak of God’s wrath and judgment. They will mention that Jesus said He didn’t come to judge the world but to save it. Yes, Christ did say that, but that was true of His first coming. Then, He came to atone for His peoples sins’. But at His second coming, He will be coming in judgment. His first coming He came as “the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) but at His second coming, He comes as “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).  In fact, all judgment has been given to Him:

“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.”...“He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” – John 5:22, Acts 17:31

All of humanity will bow and appear before Him for judgment “at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” – Philippians 2:10-11

Redeemer or Judge

Christ is the Redeemer/Judge. To every single person who has ever lived, He will be either one or the other. He’s either your Redeemer or He’s your Judge. There is no other option. He alone is worthy to judge. He, being fully God and fully man was the only One to live a perfect life, without sin, always obeying the Law of God in all points. He as the sacrificial “Lamb of God” has alone provided salvation. Coming in judgment, He states in verses 1 and 5 “"It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save...I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me.” The One who has provided salvation is also the Judge of all. The One who came to reconcile man to God is the same One who will trample under His feet those who remain unreconciled. Those who are abiding in Christ, who have been born of His Spirit, who have come to Him in faith and repentance, trusting in Him and Him alone for their salvation and forgiveness have already passed from judgment to life. They are not amongst the ones trampled in God’s wrath. But this is what the world has ahead it. This is what those who have never been reconciled to the Father through the Son are destined to. Those who are still abiding in their own self righteousness and are trusting in their own goodness.

Who is Jesus to you? Your Redeemer or your Judge? Will you be amongst those who He will trample in His wrath? Have you called on Him?

“WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” – Romans 10:13

 

Born Again

by Scott Rossy
The term “born again” when used in Christian/religious circles tends to lead to a lot of misunderstanding. What is meant by this saying? Is it just another “type” of Christian? Just another denomination? Is being born again nothing more than a person deciding to start over again by turning over a new leaf in life? Some well meaning people understand it to be just that. They see it as something similar to making New Year’s resolutions. Taking stock of one’s life and determining to make some changes. Changes that attempt to clean up one’s life in the hope that these changes will make one more acceptable to God. These changes can include going to church, trying to do “good” things and trying to stop doing “bad” things. Maybe even volunteering and getting involved in church. But making changes in one’s life is not what the bible means when it speaks of being born again. Making changes like this is clearly the work of man, trying to improve himself by self effort.

The most direct portion of scripture that talks of being born again is in the gospel of John, chapter 3.   Here a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus is recorded. Their conversation, though taking place almost 2000 years ago has as much significance for us today as it did when these words were originally spoken. In this conversation Jesus talks of the need to be born again.

We all know who Jesus is but who was Nicodemus? Well, Nicodemus was a very devout, sincere religious leader in Israel. He is described as “a ruler of the Jews” and as “the teacher in Israel”. He was a member of the Pharisee’s who were the spiritual leaders and rulers of the Jews. Jesus tells this very sincere, devout religious leader what he is lacking and what is necessary to enter heaven. The necessary thing that Nicodemus and all of us lack and must have is the New Birth, also known as being born again or born of the Spirit.

John 3:1-10

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? “

I’ve been asked by people if it’s necessary to be born again or born of the Spirit to be a Christian. Whether it’s necessary to be born again or born of the Spirit to get to heaven. The words of Jesus leave no room for doubt. Jesus uses the words must, unless and cannot. He states: “You must be born again”, “Unless you’re born again”, “You cannot see the kingdom”. He says these things more than once. Unless! Must!, Cannot! But why? Why does Jesus say we must be born again? What does He mean by these things? The reason why Jesus said that it is necessary for Nicodemus and for all of us to be born again or born of the Spirit is because we do not possess spiritual life within us. He says in John 6: “you have no life in yourselves.” – John 6:53. Obviously, we all possess physical life but what Jesus is speaking about is spiritual life. We do not possess spiritual life within us when we come out of the womb. Our parents can give us physical life but they cannot give us spiritual life. To understand Jesus meaning, we must understand what the bible says about man’s true spiritual condition. The bible teaches unequivocally that all of mankind without exception is spiritually dead. This is the case of every one of us. We are spiritual corpses. Walking around in physical bodies but dead spiritually. None of us possess spiritual life within us. The reason for the spiritually dead condition of man is SIN. Sin brings about spiritual death. It is by the decree of God that the result of sin is death. He says: “when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” - James 1:15 “so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” – Romans 5:12. In Ephesians 2:1 we are described by God as being “dead in your trespasses and sin”. Spiritual death is what sin deserves, “the wages (earnings) of sin is death” – Romans 6:23. So all of us are dead spiritually. We do not possess the necessary spiritual life we need to enter into heaven. Only God, the Creator of life can give us the necessary, eternal, spiritual life we need. It must come from Him.

The new birth spoken of by Jesus is described in the 36th chapter of the book of Ezekiel. Here God says through the prophet: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh…"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” – Ezekiel 36:26-27. This is the new birth. God places His Spirit in us, giving us the spiritual life necessary to enter heaven and to obey God. At this point, a person becomes born again or born of the Spirit. He has new life, spiritual life. He is no longer spiritually dead but is now spiritually alive! God’s Spirit is now permanently in Him and gives him the ability to know and understand the things of God. He now can perceive the beauty, the greatness, the holiness and the majesty of God. He now desires to obey God and walk with Him. He now delights in God. This spiritual life is permanent, making him fit to enter into and live in the presence of God for all eternity. He is now a child of God. He has experienced spiritual birth, spiritual renewal and spiritual regeneration. “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

This new spiritual life comes only from God. He alone is the Author and Creator of life. We can’t inherit it. As stated before, our parents can give us physical life but they can’t give us spiritual life. This is why Jesus said: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” – John 3:6 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” John 6:63

If being born again or born of the Spirit is absolutely necessary to enter into the kingdom of God, then how does one become born again? The Lord continually tells us throughout scripture to call upon Him. Repeatedly He says: call upon Me, seek Me, come to Me. Over and over again throughout the bible He continually calls on man to do this. Romans 10:13 says: “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

”Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” - Isaiah 55:7

“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” – Isaiah 55:6

“AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ – Acts 2:21

“Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” – John 7:37-39.

Jesus promises: “The one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” – John 6:37. Whoever comes to Him in faith and repentance, believing that He is the only way to the Father has the promise that He will not be cast out. Jesus alone has provided salvation for His people “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (I Peter 2:24). While He was bearing in His body the sins of His people, the Father in Heaven was pouring out His hatred and wrath towards sin on His Beloved Son. He was our substitute. He was punished in our place. "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that 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 debt of sin was paid and those who believe are now clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not their own self righteousness that they possess but it is “the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” – Philippians 3:9. They are born again with God’s Spirit and are now clothed in white robes, representing the perfect life of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. They can now stand before God without the debt of their sin hanging over them and are now viewed by God as perfectly holy.

Psalm 14 states that one of the characteristics of the wicked is that they “do not call upon the Lord” – Psalm 14:4

The Test

Scripture declares that the new birth is the test of whether we are truly of the faith. It’s the test of whether we are a genuine Christian. Paul told the Corinthian Christians: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?” – II Corinthians 13:5. The test of whether we are of the faith is if Christ is in us, if we’ve been born again. If Christ is not in us, if we haven’t been born again, we fail the test. We’re not of the faith. Similarly he says in Romans 8:9, “you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Spiritual life is found only in Jesus Christ. He alone can give it. “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” – I John 5:12

A person who is still trying to gain acceptance from the Lord based on the “good” things he is doing has never been born again. It’s an indication he’s never received the new life Jesus spoke of. He is like the person who views being born again as turning over a new leaf in life. He is still spiritually dead. His works or deeds proceed from his spiritually dead condition and are nothing more than an attempt to try and reform his condition. It can’t be done. Good deeds cannot produce spiritual life. It can only come from above, from God.

 If you leave this life while still in your spiritually dead condition, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven but will be separated from God for all eternity. Jesus says; "Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (John 8:24) “You must be born again!"

Nicodemus’ end

As a side note, Nicodemus did become a true believer in Jesus Christ. He is amongst those who have been born again. John 19:38-42 records that after Jesus was crucified, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Christ, gained permission to take the body of Jesus from the cross to bury it. It then records that Nicodemus came also and brought with him “a mixture of myrrh and aloes” for Jesus burial. For many reasons, Nicodemus certainly wouldn’t have done this had he not become a true believer in Christ.

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)