Why is His Way narrow and only a few find it? Matthew 7:13-14

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Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.


22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?


23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Bible study: Question for anyone?

Why did Jesus tell these people who thought they where Christians at the Great White Throne Judgement that their works in His Name is iniquity?

Because they where trying to justify their eternal place with God by the Many wonderful WORKS... Any true Christian knows ( or should know ) that their eternal salvation is a gift from God that is had when it is accepted in belief by Faith.. Not by works..

These people had rejected salvation by the gift of the Atonement of Jesus and had tried to earn their salvation by doing good works..

What is the will of the Father?

1 John 3: KJV
22 "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. {23} And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

Finally, why is His Way narrow and only a few find it? Matthew 7:13-14

Narrow in that it depends on a very clear and specific set of beliefs..
Narrow because there are only a few.. Many people don't find it because as proverbs says:::

Proverbs 14: KJV
12 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

The way that seems right to a lot of men is that rewards must be earned and nothing is free that hard working good people should get the prize while those who don't perform should be cast out.. You only have to read some of the Works salvation promoting posts on this forum to know that the works salvation way is popular with a lot of people who cry LORD LORD..

 

[UnoiAmarah]

Finally, why is His Way narrow and only a few find it? Matthew 7:13-14

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the voice of the Son of God, so it might be few find it because many are called to repentance but only a few truly repent?

 

[Blade]

Its been misunderstood for sure. Its not the great white throne judgment. Context. Read Chapter 24. Seems as I read and understand the great white throne judgement happens about 1000y after this (sheep and goats) one Rev 20:11-15.

Just being honest, this is used by those that believe your saved by works. Like I said context. What was being said up to this point? Remember when this was written there were not "verses" or "chapters". Tribulation just ended. Christ comes He then gathers the nations vs who shows up at the great white throne? It talks about the "dead" small and great. So forth so on. The sheep and goats says what? He gathers the nations. Again its written "all the nations". Gee where did read the before? "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations "

Where in the word does Christ/NT refer to the poor and needy as 'my brethren"? Seems Hes judging the nations "Gentiles" how they treated his brethren during the great tribulation. The fact the "tribulation" is has always been about Israel not the Church. All this is mute for me. Well I stop when He gathers the nations. No one from heaven is pulled down told to come. No dead are raised to now stand before Him. Then.. 1000y later we have the great white throne judgement.

Also.. "I never knew you". For me.. no matter what happens in my life... He can never say to me "I never knew you". Well all heaven rejoiced when He found me. He told the Father about me. He will have to lie to say "I never knew you". Please tell me were not looking at this through the eyes of man? Well we say this to someone we THOUGHT we knew. So what Christ is now brought down to our level? Read just what and how He talks in Matt-John. When GOD says "I never knew you" that means what He said. They were never saved.

So context. Read above and below. Matt 24 was talking about a period of time. He told those that asked what they would see. Until Israel call on the one they pierced.

 

[Jackson123]

Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.


22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?


23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Bible study: Question for anyone?

Why did Jesus tell these people who thought they where Christians at the Great White Throne Judgement that their works in His Name is iniquity?

What is the will of the Father?

Finally, why is His Way narrow and only a few find it? Matthew 7:13-14

The reason say there in verse 21

Because only people that do the Will of the father go to heaven. And not much people do the Will of the father.

What is the Will of the Father?

The Will of the Father is to love God and love your neighbors

This is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Can you love your neighbors like yourself?

It mean If you have $10 and your neighbors hungry, you have to give them $5

People tend to love themselve more then love neighbors, is this the Will of the Father?

No the Wiill of the Father is, you love your neighbors must equal to the way you love yourself.


Matthew 22:36-40 New International Version (NIV)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

[UnoiAmarah]

Also.. "I never knew you". For me.. no matter what happens in my life... He can never say to me "I never knew you". Well all heaven rejoiced when He found me. He told the Father about me.

I just have a question to ask you since it is written in 1 Peter 3:15 to sanctify the Lord, Lord in your hearts, so I will let you choose which one....

Did he tell the Father about you because of how great thou art?

Did he tell him about that thing you can do that he can't?

He will have to lie to say "I never knew you".

If you believe all things are possible with God then how does that help your argument of getting into heaven?

When GOD says "I never knew you" that means what He said.

Well, it is written that faith comes by hearing, so if you didn't hear the voice of the Son of God then if you walk by faith and not by sight then why do you believe the Son of God would have to lie to say he never knew you if you walk by faith in the word of God seen?

 

[UnoiAmarah]

It mean If you have $10 and your neighbors hungry, you have to give them $5

What if I gave them $5 for mowing my lawn, would that be considered love?

If a person loved someone would they tell them a lie?

Spoiler: 2 THESSALONIANS 3:10

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

 

[Deuteronomy]

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2Peter 3:9)

Not wanting ANY to perish maybe not be clear but when we are told that God wants all to come to repentance that clearly indicates it is God's desire for everyone - all to be saved. The word ALL in the Bible is a very strong word. Greek is a military language that was used to conquer the world. All means all, it means everyone goes and there are no excuses allowed. We all know how serious it is for a soldier to neglect his duty.

Hello again John, as I just mentioned (in post #52 above), the entire Epistle of 2 Peter, Chapter 3, as well the very passage within Chapter 3 that v9 is found in, is written to/about God's saints/saints to be, not to/about the reprobate. As v9 states, God is longsuffering toward "us" (His saints), those who He knows will eventually come to saving faith in Him, ~NOT~ towards those who He knows never will!!

As for the word "all", in Hebrew, Greek and in English, context dictates the meaning and/or intent/sense of the word, even if it is used twice in the same sentence or paragraph. For instance, if we were at a university's graduation ceremony, and the school president stood up in the midst of it and spoke to the stadium full of people saying, "You are ~all~ invited to the Field House for a reception for our graduating seniors. The party will begin as soon as the commencement exercises are over, as soon as ~all~ have received their diplomas", you would know that the second "all" is referring to ~all~ of the graduating seniors alone, not to larger group in attendance in the stadium, who are all (along with the graduating seniors) invited to the reception.

Here is the definition of "all" from one of my Greek lexicons that may also prove to be helpful here.

πᾶς [pas] adj. ; AV translates as “all” 748 times, “all things” 170 times, “every” 117 times, “all men” 41 times, “whosoever” 31 times, “everyone” 28 times, “whole” 12 times, “all manner of” 11 times, “every man” 11 times, “no + 3756” nine times, “every thing” seven times, “any” seven times, “whatsoever” six times, “whosoever + 3739 + 302” three times, “always + 1223” three times, “daily + 2250” twice, “any thing” twice, “no + 3361” twice, not translated seven times, and translated miscellaneously 26 times. ​

​

1 individually. ​

1A each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything. ​

2 collectively. ​

2A some of all types. ​

​

Additional Information: … “The whole world has gone after him”. Did all the world go after Christ? ​

​

“Then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.” Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? ​

​

The words “world” and “all” are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely that “all” means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts—some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile.​

~Deut
p.s. - you said above, "We all know how serious it is for a soldier to neglect his duty." Do we? Do those who have not served truly know how serious that is? (I can guarantee you that my granddaughter, for instance, is someone who does not) Does "all" always mean "all" without exception
.

 

[Jackson123]

What if I gave them $5 for mowing my lawn, would that be considered love?

If a person loved someone would they tell them a lie?

Spoiler: 2 THESSALONIANS 3:10

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Love is in your heart, give $5 may consider love may not.

If I go to Burger King and give $10 for pay a cheese butger it may because I am hungry and buy food, nothing to do with love.

If you give $5 to a person to love him and ask him to work for you, it may consider love, because of love you teach him to work and not being lazy. It may the best give, more than give $100 and make him lazy.

 

[JohnR7]

Hello again John, v8 speaks of those whose names were not written in the Book of Life

Believe what you want because you are the one that has to stand before God. Personally I am not going to allow anyone to translate the Bible for me. I am going to use Strong's and other resources to look at the original language to determine for myself what God is telling me through the written word.

What I did notice, other then your name your post does not give us any reference from the Bible, just your unsubstantiated opinion with nothing to establish why you have the opinion that you do. So if you do not want to share your private thoughts as to why you believe the way you do, that is fine. I am just saying the research I have done on this is producing different results then what you are trying to support here. Which is to say that YOU believe God created people with the intention of destroying them. This all sounds like thinly veiled hyper calvinism to me. That even calvin himself would have rejected.

If God created us to destroy us then we were not created in the image of God, we do not have the breath of life and we are little more than the animals. Peter talks about this: "But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption," (2Peter2:12) So Peter would suggest that the people that perish like the animals are the false teachers and the people who do not represent God.

 

[Mii]

Spiritual Adultery is a serious sin.

While I don't agree that we are to simply focus on the propitiation solely, it is good to see you interacting. Personally, I think believing in the son is a work we are called to as believers. The work of the cross is definitely the crucial component but there are so many more elements to apply in one's life I have found. Perhaps it works differently for you, but when I focus too much on the propitiation without focusing on the rock/strong tower (future and present hope) then I open myself up to the accuser if I take it to extremes. It's also mood dependent, so I just go with the flow on where my focus is directly. Sometimes I look forward, sometimes I look ahead. Sometimes how I look at Jesus is what matters...am I seeing him as a Lord today? Slave/master relationship? King? Friend? Sometimes it's a combination. Thinking of my friend going to the cross to die for me is different than a master paying the price for his servants. Or a God so loved the world view. Or the king of kings dying in such a way. There are many ways to understand it deeper....Most of how I interact is all dependent on what the day throws at me. I give the Lord the majority of the credit for the day to day moods and his grace for allowing me to see through the trials.



I fully agree with this statement though. Harlotry is quite serious. It's caused deep rifts in my life, the times where I have one foot in the world and one foot with the Lord I am the least secure in my salvation. That's not to say that I willfully participate in sin directly, but indirectly through ways that are difficult to pinpoint. It wasn't until the last few years that I've begun to understand this and THIS is the grace of the Lord that I know. "Ok, just so you know what you're doing, and how this hurts me". Opening our eyes to something is by grace.

Israel played the harlot many times and we can see what the results were. That was "with" a sacrificial system that the Lord put in place.

It is also interesting to note that intentional sin by certain persons were to be cut off from the assembly. Accidental sin is a different matter. So as pertaining to grace, if the Lord is the same (which scripturally it seems to me this is so) it stands to reason that "on purpose" sins that are specifically forbidden is very serious as well.



Oh, baffling...but another element of harlotry (or at best unfaithfulness) is the bride of Christ "look". This one is the hardest for me because I'm not married and since I have spent a lot of time warring against the fleshly side of my biology that has its portion in marriage, it is only until recently I've been focusing on this more and more as I've gained ground or just my passions have cooled a bit (I've been single all my life).

But, if your wife was constantly watching other males. "Lusting" after them...how would that make you feel? Sure sometimes they might have eyes only for you, but then whenever things get a little harder, or they are tired. Or they are "bored"...their may start to stray.

I'll confess I don't understand this element well enough yet. I look at it how I "would" interact. Not how I do because I haven't ever been in a romantic relationship physically so it's just postulation. I'm not sure if Jesus felt human weaknesses like lack of confidence (scripture shows that his confidence in the Father was firm, but what about his friends or private thoughts about people), there's no way to know...

However, I'm pretty confident for a lot of men, day in and day out, your wife constantly just roams about sort of lusting after men it might at the very least make you angry at times. Presuming the lust stayed out of the physical in this analogy...it's still relational growth wasted. Operating together as a unit when you are not in full agreement with one another...again wasted growth and missed harvest.

Reading the letters to the seven churches is of GREAT utility in this regard. I can't tell you all how much that has helped me lately. Sometimes I didn't want to hear the message (or read rather) but it struck the mark. Three times. Three different letters. I won't say exactly what but there are actually benefits to remaining faithful.



Anyway, that wasn't specifically at you. I'm not sure why your post struck me so, except yes, time is short. There was one other reply you gave me quite a long time ago when I was in a "mood" that struck me as well.

There are times when the way can lack "elbow room" for our flesh. Being a bit uncomfortable I'm sure most of us are somewhat useful, but past that? This is where collectively we must work together. Nobody is in this alone.

The way is narrow, but it is not impossible with Christ. Steadfastness and peace be with you all

 

[MessageOfTheCross]

While I don't agree that we are to simply focus on the propitiation solely

Please explain?

 

[UnoiAmarah]

Hello again John, v8 speaks of those whose names were not written in the Book of Life .. "from the foundation of the world". Therefore, their names could not have been blotted out because they were never written in the Book of Life from the get-go.

~Deut

You might want to review v8 in ch. 13.
".... whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Rev 13:8

The 'he' in the following scriptures avers to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:4

Understanding that everything which exists in this universe, would not have existed prior to the heaven and the earth being created in the beginning. The beginning being obviously what is referred unto as the foundation of the world.