What Exactly is the Narrow Gate, in Mat. 7:13-14
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The strait gate is Jesus, & entering the gate is doing the things he said by faith.
The greasy grace way says as long as you accept Jesus, you will go in regardless.
"few that be that find it" are those that enter the only way they can.....faithful obedience
Anybody can talk a good game, but the winner strives lawfully. (by the rules)
The greasy grace way says as long as you accept Jesus, you will go in regardless.
"few that be that find it" are those that enter the only way they can.....faithful obedience
Anybody can talk a good game, but the winner strives lawfully. (by the rules)
I would say it this way:
the Gate is receiving Jesus Christ out of LOVE as LORD, which means MASTER,
and the Way is our Walk of Obedience, which is produced by out Love for HIM.
Actually that LOVE is GOD's LOVE that the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts, the moment we believed.
Many want a Savior, but FEW want a MASTER who is our LORD.
Matthew 7:14 (NKJV)
[SUP]14 [/SUP] Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Romans 5:5 (HCSB)
[SUP]5 [/SUP] This hope will not disappoint ⌊us⌋, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
1 John 4:7 (NASB)
[SUP]7 [/SUP] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
This will help you understand and explain your comment about the Lord not micromanaging our lives.
English is a poor language to translate the Bible into, without losing some of the intended meaning. For example, in the Greek language there are FOUR primary verb tenses, whereas we only have THREE: past tense, present tense, and future tense. The FOURTH Greek primary verb tense is called the perfect tense. Despite it's name, it does NOT imply perfection of doing that verb, but rather it refers to forming a lifestyle of continually striving to do that verb. Like Dr. John MacAurther has explained on several occasions, "It is not describing the perfection of our walk, but rather the direction of our walk." Which should be to become more and more like Christ as we mature spiritually.
With that in mind, you need to know the JOHN, the Apostle, is extremely fond of perfect tense verbs, and uses them A LOT. For example, and this will point out the confusion the weakness of the English Language causes:
1 John 2:3-6 (NASB)
[SUP]3 [/SUP] By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
[SUP]4 [/SUP] The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
[SUP]5 [/SUP] but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
[SUP]6 [/SUP] the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Let's deal with verse 6 first, and yes all of the four words that I highlighted and underlined are perfect tense in the Greek. NO, I am not a Greek Scholar, so what you are getting comes from the Teachings of Dr. John MacArthur. I used to work a night shift for years and years sorting mail, where we could listen to our Walkman's if we wore the headset. While others were listening to their tunes, I was listening to sermons by Dr. MacArthur on cassettes, which over time, I had collected nearly 500 of them. Over the years, I listened to every cassette 4 times, so that teaching has a way of beginning to stick in one's head after awhile.
With JOHN,the Apostle, using those perfect tense verbs, he had a specific meaning in mind that does not fully translate into English, because we do not have those verb tenses. So in verse 6 walking like Christ is not the perfection of our walk, but rather the direction of our walk, where we become more and more like Christ as we mature.
If the verbs "KEEP" in the first 3 verses, were originally in the English present tense, they would imply PERFECTION of our Walk, as some try to claim it is saying. HOWEVER when you take it that way, verse 6 makes absolutely no sense. All three of those verbs "KEEP" are in the Greek perfect tense, implying a continual lifestyle of striving to KEEP. In other words the lifestyle of a genuine Christian is characterized by living in a way that we are continually striving to KEEP His commands.
AND WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE FAIL?
1 John 1:9 (NASB)
[SUP]9 [/SUP] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
YES, that word "CONFESS" is also a Greek perfect tense verb. So our lifestyles are also characterized by continually repenting and confessing each new sin or failure we discover it in our lives. Like Dr. John MacArthur has said, "A Christian is not sinless, but as he or she matures spiritually, they will sin Less, and Less, and Less."
English is a poor language to translate the Bible into, without losing some of the intended meaning. For example, in the Greek language there are FOUR primary verb tenses, whereas we only have THREE: past tense, present tense, and future tense. The FOURTH Greek primary verb tense is called the perfect tense. Despite it's name, it does NOT imply perfection of doing that verb, but rather it refers to forming a lifestyle of continually striving to do that verb. Like Dr. John MacAurther has explained on several occasions, "It is not describing the perfection of our walk, but rather the direction of our walk." Which should be to become more and more like Christ as we mature spiritually.
With that in mind, you need to know the JOHN, the Apostle, is extremely fond of perfect tense verbs, and uses them A LOT. For example, and this will point out the confusion the weakness of the English Language causes:
1 John 2:3-6 (NASB)
[SUP]3 [/SUP] By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
[SUP]4 [/SUP] The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
[SUP]5 [/SUP] but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
[SUP]6 [/SUP] the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Let's deal with verse 6 first, and yes all of the four words that I highlighted and underlined are perfect tense in the Greek. NO, I am not a Greek Scholar, so what you are getting comes from the Teachings of Dr. John MacArthur. I used to work a night shift for years and years sorting mail, where we could listen to our Walkman's if we wore the headset. While others were listening to their tunes, I was listening to sermons by Dr. MacArthur on cassettes, which over time, I had collected nearly 500 of them. Over the years, I listened to every cassette 4 times, so that teaching has a way of beginning to stick in one's head after awhile.
With JOHN,the Apostle, using those perfect tense verbs, he had a specific meaning in mind that does not fully translate into English, because we do not have those verb tenses. So in verse 6 walking like Christ is not the perfection of our walk, but rather the direction of our walk, where we become more and more like Christ as we mature.
If the verbs "KEEP" in the first 3 verses, were originally in the English present tense, they would imply PERFECTION of our Walk, as some try to claim it is saying. HOWEVER when you take it that way, verse 6 makes absolutely no sense. All three of those verbs "KEEP" are in the Greek perfect tense, implying a continual lifestyle of striving to KEEP. In other words the lifestyle of a genuine Christian is characterized by living in a way that we are continually striving to KEEP His commands.
AND WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE FAIL?
1 John 1:9 (NASB)
[SUP]9 [/SUP] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
YES, that word "CONFESS" is also a Greek perfect tense verb. So our lifestyles are also characterized by continually repenting and confessing each new sin or failure we discover it in our lives. Like Dr. John MacArthur has said, "A Christian is not sinless, but as he or she matures spiritually, they will sin Less, and Less, and Less."
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