“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
Have
you ever wondered what Jesus meant by the narrow gate?
Certainly it was no less than,
“I Am the way the truth and the life, no one will come to the
Father except through Me.”
It
doesn’t get narrower than that.
One Man.
One Way.
No other options.
While God is willing to meet you on many and varied other spiritual
paths, He will not allow you to remain on that path if you want the
salvation that He has to offer.
Those
who choose this salvation do so because they've realised:
.
They don’t have any spiritual resources on their own to make them
acceptable to God
.
They have a deep sense of sorrow and repentance for the sin that is
present in their life
.
They truly fear God in light of their own unworthiness and His
holiness
. They have a deep longing and desire for righteousness and yearn for
God’s holiness and love
Because
of the above criteria, this person:
.
Bestows mercy and grace on others without question to their spiritual
state.
.
Their thoughts and actions are pure, not scheming on how to get from
others in order to satisfy one’s own lusts.
.
They're eager to spread the message of peace between God and humans
through Jesus Christ
The
path of following Jesus demands Self-denial and Humility. His path
is:
-
Narrow
-
Specific
-
Demanding.
His
path is so narrow, specific and demanding that Jesus said, “Count
the cost before you put your hand to the plow.”
Not
everyone wants to hear this message. Most people choose the broad
road. They do so by picking and choosing from this religion and that,
inventing their own personal religion, faith, world-view.
For
example, according to Oprah and her millions of enlightened
followers, as long as “your heart is right” (whatever that
means), God will welcome you with open arms. Oprah doesn’t explain
just how right a person’s heart has to be, or according to whose
scale of rightness we must adhere. One thing she’s sure of, it
isn’t Creator God’s scale of rightness that we need to pay
attention to. On the other hand, it’s probably fair to say that
Oprah and every last one of her followers believe that for us to
reach our spiritual goal (whatever that is) our hearts must be at
least as right as hers and theirs.
That’s
why Jesus the Christ and the religion that bears His name is rejected
by Oprah and her followers. After all, Jesus is the only religious
leader who has or ever will proclaim with absolute clarity that none
of us, not a single person on planet earth is right enough to be
acceptable to God in our natural state.
Of
course, the idea that we’re all on the same road to God or that
there are many paths to God is ludicrous. Jesus said, “If you do
not believe that I Am who I say I Am, you will die in your sins.”
The answer to the question, “Was He right?” is not in the same
category of questions like, “What is the most pleasing thing in
life?” or “How would you describe the perfect holiday?” If
there is a Creator God, then the answer to the question of His
existence is of the same order as the answer to the question, What is
2 + 2? The answer will either be right or it will be wrong. Period!
.
If God has revealed Himself to us, as Jesus said that He has, and
.
If God has provided a path of belief that is intended to lead us to
Him, again as Jesus said that He has, and
.
If our very salvation depends on us following the path that has been
laid out for us by Creator God, as Jesus said that it does,
Then
other paths or alternate paths can only lead us away
from Creator God, and not to
Creator God. To know what Jesus taught and to then deliberately
choose to follow Buddhism or Native Religion or anything else instead
cannot and will not place you on the same path to God as Jesus
directed.
Either
Jesus was correct about who He is, or Oprah is right about who Jesus
is.
Who
are you going to believe?
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