meaning of MAKE EVERY EFFORT (or strive) to enter in through the narrow gate.

[SophieT]

It could mean a number of things:

1. Strive to hear the true Gospel. That will not be easy in this day and age.

2. Make a serious effort to understand what God's salvation is all about.

3. Arrive at an unshakeable understanding that Christ Himself is your salvation.

4. Understand clearly from the Gospel that God commands genuine repentance.

5. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work of salvation without any reservations. That is how you will be saved.

6. Receive Christ into your heart and soul as BOTH Lord and Christ. Easy Believism is not the narrow way.

7. The "strait gate" is none other than Christ Himself, who said "I am the Door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved".

8. The narrow way is the enmity of the world, and being forsaken by friends and family for your faith, while you strive to separate yourself from all that is evil and sinful in this world, and love your enemies.

great post

as Jesus said, if He is lifted up, he will draw all to Himself

we have every variety of a semblance of church, but actual Christians are the body...the church. Jesus is left standing like a beggar in so many places, while people seem to want what He gives, not pay the price, and desire to 'use' God and the Holy Spirit and so they are led into deception

 

[4ChristAlone]

Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Speaking Of Jesus God the Father said of Him

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

While we were yet sinners Christ died for us

Ti 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Here Paul says Let every one that names the name of Christ to depart from iniquity

2 Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Versus those which are naming his name who are told to depart from him that work iniquity he says

Mat 7:23 saying I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 

[throughfaith]

You have asked the single most important question that one could ask. How does one become saved? I hope that what I am about to share with you blows your mind . . . it blew me away when I discovered this.

Above, it appears that you may have used the KJV translation, where it uses the phrase, "Ye workers of iniquity." Another translates this phrase as "lawbreakers." In order to make such a judgment, there must be a law that a person is able to assess and allocate the appropriate consequences. The only way to be called a "worker of iniquity" is if there is a standard by which to compare or gauge. I hope that makes sense. Well, the point is, is that Christ sets us free from the Law. How could a person be a "lawbreaker" if they have been set free from it? How could Christ refer to a person as a "worker of iniquity" if there were not a worldly law by which to make this statement?

Colossians 2:14 shows us that Jesus sets us free of worldly laws by which to be judged.

Colossians 2:14 KJV - "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross . . ."

Romans 8:2 KJV - "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
Romans 6:14-15 NLT - "Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"

Why does Jesus set us apart from worldly laws? Because no Law, not even the Laws of Moses could Truly Redeem a person.

Acts 13:39 NIV - "Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses."

As said above, the Law of Moses could not remove the Curse of Adam and Eve . . . it did not relieve the problem of the Law of Sin and Death.

So how does God know if a person has received the Circumcision of Christ . . . the only act that separates a person apart from the Laws of this world, creating them to be an Alien in a strange land? A foreigner amongst those whom he once called "mother" and "father" - "sister" and "brother"? It is the Lord who searches our Hearts to verify that the Circumcision of Christ has taken place. And this act was a picture for us in the Old Testament in the acts of the Passover . . . the sprinkling of Blood that the Spirit of God searched for . . . and thus made His Holy Judgments upon the people.

Romans 8:27 NIV - "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."

After Jesus cuts away the Sinful Nature from our now Purified Hearts, He sends the Free Gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the Lord searches the Hearts of human beings, He searches for the Mark of the Indwelling Holy Spirit; the Lord listens and knows the Holy Voice of His Indwelling Spirit . . . should they Indwell His Children or not. No one can possess a Holy Spirit unless their Hearts have first been Purified, for no Holy Spirit will share His House with any demon . . . impossible.

So, the reason why Jesus referred to these seemingly good and Righteous people as lawbreakers, or, workers of iniquity, is because they had yet to be freed from the Law. They may have appeared to be good people according to many of their works, but they did not Truly Turn to Christ for His Holy Circumcision, the lifting of the Curse that beset us all, apparently from birth. The Purpose of Christ is to become the remedy for the malady that occupies, or at one point, occupied our stony hearts. That stony heart must be cut out and removed, and until that happens, Hell is our destination and there is nothing that can be done about it.

Deuteronomy 30:6 NIV - "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

Deut 30:6 is a Keystone passage of the Bible. This shows us that it will be God who Circumcises our Hearts . . . not ourselves. And as the text shows, this Spiritual Circumcision of all that is ugly and evil must be done . . . don't miss this . . . "SO THAT . . . you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." - If this Circumcision does not take place, we cannot and will not Love Him with all our Heart and with all our soul, and live. It cannot and will not happen. Christ MUST Circumcise our hearts so that we will be set apart from the Law.

Romans 7:8 NKJV - "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all [manner of evil] desire. For apart from the law sin was dead."

That's right . . . where there is no law to break, sin cannot live. Where there is no law, there can be no transgression, just as Paul teaches below:

Romans 4:14-15 NKJV - "For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression."

There is so much more that could be written, in fact, I could write a book on this single question that you have asked. The reason for why there could be so much more material given to you about this topic is because this topic is the Core Doctrine of the entire Bible. Hundreds of pages, this fictitious book would be . . .

I agree with the general thrust of what your saying ,but I don't think ' circumcision of the ' heart ' is correct . Yes its a term used in the OT . Where they are commanded to circumcise their own hearts . The operation of Christ is distinct from this . The distinction is important if we are to rightly divide . Israel during the tribulation ,when they turn to the Lord, he will give THEM a heart of flesh, and to THEM will he cause THEM, to follow his law s and statues .

 

[Pilgrimshope]

This is so beautiful, Pilgrimshope, I love it your answer. We should be willing to forsake all for the Lord, I mean everything, our own will, selfishness, pride, pleasures, possessions and seek him with all our hearts.

I’m glad that you found some value I appreciate your hunger for the lord and it’s evident and brings joy

your right in your conclusion there and the thing that really Makes everything amazing is as we begin to sirredner our will over to the gospel , we find that it’s not as it seems surrendering ourself to him doesn’t empty our life of joy and enjoyment it actually makes our cup runners over as we make our way into his family

We begin to see our purpose in creation and the importance of accepting the gospel

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:12-13‬ ‭KJV‬‬



“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28-29‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:10-11KJV‬‬

If we can look beyond this short lifetime there is eternal glory promised by God who cannot be wrong or tell a lie press on In Your faith and be thankful to the good lord for all he has done for us as you already are thanks for the smile on my heart !

 

[throughfaith]

Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Speaking Of Jesus God the Father said of Him

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

While we were yet sinners Christ died for us

Ti 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Here Paul says Let every one that names the name of Christ to depart from iniquity

2 Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Versus those which are naming his name who are told to depart from him that work iniquity he says

Mat 7:23 saying I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Its worth noting that Acts 3 is to Israel.
23And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

 

[girl-interrupted]

We, humans, overthink things too much. Perhaps the question is, what if I'm [not] "making every effort"?

Are we thinking of this or do we choose to shove our heads into the proverbial sand on this matter? What does it mean, exactly, when we find that we are the utter opposite of what a Christian is supposed to be? And why is it so difficult to simply just say . . . "I give in. I know for a fact that my Heart has not been Circumcised by Christ. I give up."

It won't be until we have received the Spiritual Circumcision of Christ that a person will be Enabled to "make every effort."

Colossians 2:11 NLT - "When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision--the cutting away of your sinful nature."

This, of course, is the fulfilled of the near exact prophetic statement by God Himself, when He said:

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT - "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations."

Did you catch that little caveat? God will give us a New Heart and Spirit . . . SO THAT . . . we will obey, or, "make every effort." So then . . . what [does] it Truly mean if we are not "making every effort"? According to Scripture, it seems clear that it means that the Lord hasn't given "you" a New Heart SO THAT "you" can and will obey.

I wish someone would have taught me these clear, Scriptural things when I was a child. I wouldn't have hurt as many people as I did. Had I known that I was not saved, so many people, especially women, would have been spared.

Wow, exactly! You said it so well. We can do nothing of ourselves, but only with the Holy Spirit in us.

 

[girl-interrupted]

I'd just add that I can't possibly face whatever is thrown at me without the help of my Lord.
Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my Rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I trust; my buckler and the horn of my Salvation, and my high tower.”

Amen to that!

 

[4ChristAlone]

Yes ,but that is irrelevant to this verse . This is about coming to Jesus to be saved ,not once your saved you need to erm ..come to Jesus to be saved . Its about people coming to Jesus to begin with. Thats the narrow way..Its narrow because there is only ONE way and thats through Jesus .

This,

Because both Christ and his words are the rock the foundation of our lives are built upon

Luke 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them,
I will shew you to whom he is like:

Luke 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

This one has neither foundation or rock

Luke 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

 

[4ChristAlone]

Its worth noting that Acts 3 is to Israel.
23And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

Yes this is why I quoted it and made the first contexts of my posts Israel, since he came to his own first before the master of the house has risen up and there after they went out to the Gentiles

 

[throughfaith]

Yes this is why I quoted it and made the first contexts of my posts Israel, since he came to his own first before the master of the house has risen up and there after they went out to the Gentiles

Yes this is why I quoted it and made the first contexts of my posts Israel, since he came to his own first before the master of the house has risen up and there after they went out to the Gentiles

Apologies, if you already stated .

 

[4ChristAlone]

Apologies, if you already stated .

I actually should have quoted your post when I originally posted it that was my fault because the page turned and my point was lost, sorry bout that.

I actually like your posts because you provide so many open doors lol And I'm sitting here thinking, how to bring something in and I been trying to do it in pieces.

But yeah, my first post, if I insert the verse you brought forward there into it might be a little clearer, but I pulled that one from another study.

As he was headed towards Jerusalem teaching

Luke 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

Aside note: We know Jesus is the gate John 10:9 and its by Christ we are saved

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

The man asked are there few that be saved even as the word remnant also means a few as He Jesus came to his own and his own recieved him not (and there was a remnant at the present time) the rest be not gathered, or blinded (as if almost at the door itself) and in the context of his own (Israel) it says,

Acts 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel,
Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant (a few) shall be saved.

Seeing he says, Many will seek to enter and not be able

Which I thought sounded a little like,

What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for

Only because of the mention of when the master of the house has risen up THEN you (unto whom he came) begin to stand without which seems to go with the same thing as it pertains to the kingdom they were in possesion of. Because elsewhere he says, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (in Mat 21:43) even as elsewhere it speaks of the children of the kingdom being cast out, (as is shown earlier in Mat 8:12). or as He says in Luke 13:28 "you yourselves cast out" at that particuar point. Or even like in Luke 3:8 where it says, " Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, when John said in Luke 3:8 and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Then speaking of how now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.

So backing up as is shown in the above (verse 28 along with 29)

Luke 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Luke 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

Then he goes into the last being first and first last in verse 30

Luke 13:30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

Even as God raised up Jesus first unto them

Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

And soon after the master of the house has risen up (then) they begin to stand without as others are being brought in

They were first, whereas the Gentiles were last

Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said,
It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

I find these things hard to write out without and certainly dont do it as well as I would like, takes awhile to.

 

[Blik]

[QUOTE="2ndTimothyGroup, post: 4561111, member: 305370"

Colossians 2:14 KJV - "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross . . ."

Romans 8:2 KJV - "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
Romans 6:14-15 NLT - "Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"

Why does Jesus set us apart from worldly laws? Because no Law, not even the Laws of Moses could Truly Redeem a person.

Acts 13:39 NIV - "Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses."

As said above, the Law of Moses could not remove the Curse of Adam and Eve . . . it did not relieve the problem of the Law of Sin and Death.

So how does God know if a person has received the Circumcision of Christ . . . the only act that separates a person apart from the Laws of this world, creating them to be an Alien in a strange land? A foreigner amongst those whom he once called "mother" and "father" - "sister" and "brother"? It is the Lord who searches our Hearts to verify that the Circumcision of Christ has taken place. And this act was a picture for us in the Old Testament in the acts of the Passover . . . the sprinkling of Blood that the Spirit of God searched for . . . and thus made His Holy Judgments upon the people.

Romans 8:27 NIV - "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."

After Jesus cuts away the Sinful Nature from our now Purified Hearts, He sends the Free Gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the Lord searches the Hearts of human beings, He searches for the Mark of the Indwelling Holy Spirit; the Lord listens and knows the Holy Voice of His Indwelling Spirit . . . should they Indwell His Children or not. No one can possess a Holy Spirit unless their Hearts have first been Purified, for no Holy Spirit will share His House with any demon . . . impossible.

So, the reason why Jesus referred to these seemingly good and Righteous people as lawbreakers, or, workers of iniquity, is because they had yet to be freed from the Law. They may have appeared to be good people according to many of their works, but they did not Truly Turn to Christ for His Holy Circumcision, the lifting of the Curse that beset us all, apparently from birth. The Purpose of Christ is to become the remedy for the malady that occupies, or at one point, occupied our stony hearts. That stony heart must be cut out and removed, and until that happens, Hell is our destination and there is nothing that can be done about it.

Deuteronomy 30:6 NIV - "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

Deut 30:6 is a Keystone passage of the Bible. This shows us that it will be God who Circumcises our Hearts . . . not ourselves. And as the text shows, this Spiritual Circumcision of all that is ugly and evil must be done . . . don't miss this . . . "SO THAT . . . you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." - If this Circumcision does not take place, we cannot and will not Love Him with all our Heart and with all our soul, and live. It cannot and will not happen. Christ MUST Circumcise our hearts so that we will be set apart from the Law.

Romans 7:8 NKJV - "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all [manner of evil] desire. For apart from the law sin was dead."

That's right . . . where there is no law to break, sin cannot live. Where there is no law, there can be no transgression, just as Paul teaches below:

Romans 4:14-15 NKJV - "For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression."

There is so much more that could be written, in fact, I could write a book on this single question that you have asked. The reason for why there could be so much more material given to you about this topic is because this topic is the Core Doctrine of the entire Bible. Hundreds of pages, this fictitious book would be . . .[/QUOTE] If your sermon about having no law, about not listening to any guidance from the law is to preach lawlessness, or disobedience because the law is ignored, then it is a sermon against faith. If we have faith in Christ, if we have the holy Spirit within, we then walk in the straight and narrow way of Christ, we have faith in that way.

 

[throughfaith]

[QUOTE="2ndTimothyGroup, post: 4561111, member: 305370"

Colossians 2:14 KJV - "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross . . ."

Romans 8:2 KJV - "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
Romans 6:14-15 NLT - "Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"

Why does Jesus set us apart from worldly laws? Because no Law, not even the Laws of Moses could Truly Redeem a person.

Acts 13:39 NIV - "Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses."

As said above, the Law of Moses could not remove the Curse of Adam and Eve . . . it did not relieve the problem of the Law of Sin and Death.

So how does God know if a person has received the Circumcision of Christ . . . the only act that separates a person apart from the Laws of this world, creating them to be an Alien in a strange land? A foreigner amongst those whom he once called "mother" and "father" - "sister" and "brother"? It is the Lord who searches our Hearts to verify that the Circumcision of Christ has taken place. And this act was a picture for us in the Old Testament in the acts of the Passover . . . the sprinkling of Blood that the Spirit of God searched for . . . and thus made His Holy Judgments upon the people.

Romans 8:27 NIV - "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."

After Jesus cuts away the Sinful Nature from our now Purified Hearts, He sends the Free Gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the Lord searches the Hearts of human beings, He searches for the Mark of the Indwelling Holy Spirit; the Lord listens and knows the Holy Voice of His Indwelling Spirit . . . should they Indwell His Children or not. No one can possess a Holy Spirit unless their Hearts have first been Purified, for no Holy Spirit will share His House with any demon . . . impossible.

So, the reason why Jesus referred to these seemingly good and Righteous people as lawbreakers, or, workers of iniquity, is because they had yet to be freed from the Law. They may have appeared to be good people according to many of their works, but they did not Truly Turn to Christ for His Holy Circumcision, the lifting of the Curse that beset us all, apparently from birth. The Purpose of Christ is to become the remedy for the malady that occupies, or at one point, occupied our stony hearts. That stony heart must be cut out and removed, and until that happens, Hell is our destination and there is nothing that can be done about it.

Deuteronomy 30:6 NIV - "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

Deut 30:6 is a Keystone passage of the Bible. This shows us that it will be God who Circumcises our Hearts . . . not ourselves. And as the text shows, this Spiritual Circumcision of all that is ugly and evil must be done . . . don't miss this . . . "SO THAT . . . you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." - If this Circumcision does not take place, we cannot and will not Love Him with all our Heart and with all our soul, and live. It cannot and will not happen. Christ MUST Circumcise our hearts so that we will be set apart from the Law.

Romans 7:8 NKJV - "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all [manner of evil] desire. For apart from the law sin was dead."

That's right . . . where there is no law to break, sin cannot live. Where there is no law, there can be no transgression, just as Paul teaches below:

Romans 4:14-15 NKJV - "For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression."

There is so much more that could be written, in fact, I could write a book on this single question that you have asked. The reason for why there could be so much more material given to you about this topic is because this topic is the Core Doctrine of the entire Bible. Hundreds of pages, this fictitious book would be . . .

If your sermon about having no law, about not listening to any guidance from the law is to preach lawlessness, or disobedience because the law is ignored, then it is a sermon against faith. If we have faith in Christ, if we have the holy Spirit within, we then walk in the straight and narrow way of Christ, we have faith in that way.[/QUOTE]
//we then walk in the straight and narrow way of Christ, we have faith in that way.// Again ,this is linking a phrase which is not referring to a Christian who has found Jesus. " walk in the straight and narrow way of Christ" Is misleading. What does that mean ? Does it relate to the verse in question ?

 

[oyster67]

In Luke 13:24 Jesus said to MAKE EVERY EFFORT (or strive) to enter in through the narrow gate. The Greek verb for "strive" means to agonize. So I'm wondering what "MAKE EVERY EFFORT" (or agonize) means to y'all. This has been on my mind for weeks. I'd love your input.

It means that Jesus wants us to do the best we can to be clean, pure, and holy. We can never be good enough, or even begin to earn our own way, but as long as we trust in the blood of Jesus and remain humbly committed to Him, the Father will see us though the Blood of His Son and all will be well. God looks upon the heart. We have nothing to fear. He loves us. God bless you and give you peace.

1 John
1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

 

[4ChristAlone]

The word strive in the OP

Strive G75 to enter in at the strait gate

Is also found in

1Cr 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery G75 is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

1Cr 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

1Cr 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

In a handful of other places as well, I just used that one because it sounds much like its definition here

https://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G75&t=KJV

1. to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games
2. to contend with adversaries, fight
3. metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers
4. to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom;
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:


Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving G75 according to his working,
which worketh in me mightily.

 

[Evmur]

In Luke 13:24 Jesus said to MAKE EVERY EFFORT (or strive) to enter in through the narrow gate. The Greek verb for "strive" means to agonize. So I'm wondering what "MAKE EVERY EFFORT" (or agonize) means to y'all. This has been on my mind for weeks. I'd love your input.

It cannot mean salvation for salvation is a free gift and it can't be got any other way than to receive it as a free gift.

Discipleship is a different kettle of fish. That is costly, that is entering into the life of the Spirit, learning to manifest the life of Christ in the soul ... for that we must strive.

 

[Evmur]

The word strive in the OP

Strive G75 to enter in at the strait gate

Is also found in

1Cr 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery G75 is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

1Cr 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

1Cr 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

In a handful of other places as well, I just used that one because it sounds much like its definition here

https://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G75&t=KJV

1. to enter a contest: contend in the gymnastic games
2. to contend with adversaries, fight
3. metaph. to contend, struggle, with difficulties and dangers
4. to endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom;
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:


Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving G75 according to his working,
which worketh in me mightily.

But salvation is not a reward to be won or a prize

 

[4ChristAlone]

But salvation is not a reward to be won or a prize

Who is saying this?

 

[Evmur]

Who is saying this?

Me, I say so.

Nobody will be able to say they earned salvation by any work what-so-ever. If it were so that salvation must be earned then the weakest, the most foolish and the most poor folks could not be saved.

"come unto Me all ye that do labour and are heavy laden, learn from Me for I am humble and lowly of heart , take My yoke upon you, for My yoke is light and My burden light and ye shall find rest for your souls".

 

[4ChristAlone]

Me, I say so.

Nobody will be able to say they earned salvation by any work what-so-ever. If it were so that salvation must be earned then the weakest, the most foolish and the most poor folks could not be saved.

"come unto Me all ye that do labour and are heavy laden, learn from Me for I am humble and lowly of heart , take My yoke upon you, for My yoke is light and My burden light and ye shall find rest for your souls".

What are you adressing on my post is what I mean when I ask who is saying what you are saying.

What on my post are you adressing?