Posts Tagged ‘Enter the narrow gate’

I happened to be reading recently in one of my favorite John MacArthur books and came across a very interesting point he made that I thought you would find interesting. And it starts with the very hard question, “Did Jesus come to save everyone?”

Now my first reaction to his question was obviously yes, of course he came to save everyone. Gods plan had to be that Christ would save everyone. How could the answer to that question NOT be yes? But then I read a little further and learned a very important detail I had not thought about before. But lets start with a very direct quote from MacArthur before we begin:

Is God unfair in not choosing to save everyone? Fair would be to send everyone to hell. You don’t want fair, you want mercy. 

Again, very direct but straight and to the point. The truth of the matter is this, God did NOT come to save everyone, ONLY the ones who want to be saved. Let me unpack that for you.

You see, there are and always will be, those in this world who will make the choice; their own personal choice, to do what they want to do. You may even know someone who thinks this way. Someone bot interested in Christs call to them. This choice they make puts them on a path to what Christ called the wide gate:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Matthew 7:13

In His own words, we see Christ’s warning to those who take the wide road that it leads to emminent destruction. And, as He says, the MANY people that choose that direction Christ did NOT come to save. Here is another verse from John with Christ speaking in a prayer to His Father:

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. John 17:9

Some people will read this verse and think God is harsh or even unfair but one thing I have learned about God is that everyone was created with FREEWILL. Which means we get to choose what we want to do with our own lives. And one of those life options we get to choose to accept or turn down is God’s free gift of salvation. That is 100% up to you.

So as the alternative, or the ones of us who make the choice to enter the narrow gate, we are called Christ’s elect. As Peter tells us below:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

So guys, let me challenge you on this first day of 2026. I know firsthand that it is hard to pursue holiness and live in this world. It requires major effort for you to separate yourself for Him every single day. But it is NOT impossible. But it does require a conscious effort each day to seek Him…but that is the real key.

Seeking God…with all of your heart.

Let me end this post with words from Jeremiah the prophet.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

I wish you the best 2026 possible-

Until next time Guys-

I wrote a blog a few months back titled, By Not making a Choice, You have made a Choice, and I wanted to expand on that further after reading some very direct, and to-the-point scripture. You see, as I have learned by reading His word, God has a serious edge to Him. What I mean is, there is a STRONG reason why Fearing Him is a real thing and that point very rarely gets mentioned…Unless you read His word like below:

God ALWAYS speaks directly and He means what He says

I can’t communicate this any clearer than that. Secondly:

If you dont fear God, please rethink that. (I will unpack the Fear of God in an upcoming blog)

But please…read this verse below:

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  Hebrews 10:28-31

What in the world does this mean to you and me? It means that God takes His gift of salvation to all of humanity extremely seriously. He sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, so He could provide a free gift to everyone who would accept Him. However, if you make the conscious choice to reject His gift, the writer of Hebrews asks, How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot…? 

Here is a really important point to understand about this. You, me, everyone…is accountable, whether you believe in Him or not. And I wrote that blog about not making a choice…is actually making a choice, specifically so that you can’t or won’t plead ignorance when the time comes.

No excuses are accepted.

Remember the story about the wide gate and the narrow gate that Jesus talks about in Matthew? 

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”. Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus tells us that many will enter the wide gate and few will enter the narrow one. And then, when judgment day comes and we try and remind Jesus that even though we actually entered the wide gate…because we chose NOT to make a decision for Him…His answer will be simple, “I never knew you”. No conversation. Just judgment.

THIS IS REALLY TOUGH TALK

I completely understand that but this blog serves zero purpose to you or anyone if I pull punches and not clarify what God really is asking of you. Remember that you, me, everyone are accountable for our own actions on this earth. My question is, did you make your choice and then follow through by living out that choice in front of God?

Every single person who has ever lived on Earth will face the same judgment, all having been made accountable for either accepting or rejecting the gift of salvation.

Guys, I cannot end this blog without pointing out the last couple of verses I shared earlier from Hebrews. God is absolutely serious when He tells us…

“It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

No one can live in denial after reading these verses. Yes, God is a faithful and loving God…but He is also a God of vengeance and judgment…and if you reject Him then all I can say is…

It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Until next time Guys-