Luke 13:24 "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and not be able."
When you hold to a particular theological view the tendency is to focus only on the passages that seem favorable to your position. To truly hold a position you need to be comfortable wrestling with the difficult passages that can appear to challenge what you believe.
Some argue that this passage is teaching that in order to be saved you will have to strive, or exert yourself. That there is an element of work that is required by the believer in order to enter in. Notice this quote from John MacArthur.
"The Greek word for “strive” is agonizomai, implying an agonizing, intense, purposeful struggle. It is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 9:25 of an athlete battling to win a victory. It is also used in Colossians 4:12 of Epaphras laboring fervently, and in 1 Timothy 6:12, of the Christian who “fights the good fight of faith.” It is a struggle, a battle, an extreme effort. There is almost a violence implied. And appropriately so, because entering the kingdom is like going into warfare. . . .
How does this fit the modern notion that salvation is easy? . . . .
Salvation is not easy. “For the gate is small . . . and few are those who find it” (Matthew 7:14). That implies that unless a person is looking diligently for the gate, he is not likely to know that it is there. . . .
The message of Jesus cannot be made to accommodate any kind of cheap grace or easy-believism. The kingdom is not for people who want Jesus without any change in their living. It is only for those who seek it with all their hearts, those who agonize to enter. Many who approach the gate turn away upon finding out the cost.
(John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus, 182-83)"
So on the surface, I must admit that I agree with a lot of this statement. In order to be saved, we do need to seek the right gate. The problem with this quote, however, is that if the idea is that we need to exert ourselves and put a lot of effort into our salvation then it puts our works and our effort at the forefront of our salvation. By this logic, one is not saved until they have done enough. This isn't consistent with the rest of the Scripture. Paul is emphatic that if we work for it then it is a wage and not a gift (Romans 4:4-5), that we are saved by faith APART from works (Romans 3:28), and that it is not our own doing (Ephesians 2:8). I won't rehash my arguments for salvation by faith alone, you can read my previous post for an in-depth look at the relationship between faith and works.
In this post, I want to look at the idea of striving, why does Jesus say this? What does it mean?
First, we need to pay attention to what Jesus is actually commanding us to do here. He says, Strive to enter through the narrow gate. This is also recorded in Matthew 7:13-14 also.
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
So yes, we are supposed to fight, struggle, to diligently seek after the gate. But not because it requires our effort to be saved, but because it's a specific gate that can only be found by those seeking it.
The point is that those who don't know the way to salvation should exert every effort to find it!
Jesus contrasts two gates in Matthew 7, one gate that is narrow and that leads to life and another that is wide or broad that leads to destruction. There has been a lot of bad teaching on this passage. Some argue that the way to life is narrow, meaning that it's a tight fit, and only a few will be able to pass through it. This leads them to conclude that only a small number of people will be saved. This is often used by fringe groups to justify their low numbers.
Others argue that this passage is explaining that it is hard to be saved and only those strong enough to fight their way through will be saved. Both of these explanations are missing the point of the story. It was never about our efforts, never about the literal size of the gate, it was always about Jesus establishing himself as the only way.
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus is the narrow gate!
John 10:1-9 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for. they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door, If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture."
Jesus is clear, if you want to be saved you must enter through him. He is the door, he is the gate, he is the only way to salvation. The gate that leads to life is narrow because that gate is Jesus Christ. There's only one way, there's only one door. It's narrow because it excludes every other way, nothing else works except entering through the door that is Christ.
We can see that Jesus is the gate. But what does it take to enter into that gate? Does it require work? Does it require effort? No!
Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
The King James Version says, "... he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
The Greek word is 'ekzeteo', this means to seek out, search for, or investigate. The writer of Hebrews is acknowledging that God rewards those who seek and search for him. This is the context of our striving. We aren't exerting ourselves as some people mistakenly believe. I heard a preacher say one time that anything worth having requires effort so if you want to make heaven you will have to work for it. This is such a sad mindset for a Christian to have.
God doesn't require our effort to save us, Jesus came to live the life that we couldn't so that we could have the righteousness of God that we could not earn. Scripture is clear that salvation does not come by our works.
2nd Timothy 1:8-11 "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,"
Titus 3:4-7 "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
How do we reconcile these passages with what Jesus said about striving?
John 6:27-28 "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. Then they said to him, What must we do, to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."
The works that Christ asks us to perform are simply to believe in him. There aren't certain rules that we must follow in order for God to save us, our works are not the root of our salvation, Jesus is. Our works are a by-product of what Jesus has done in our lives. They are the fruit of our salvation!
There's a reason we aren't saved by our good works, because no matter how hard we try our works will never be good enough. God's standard is perfection.
Matthew 5:48 "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Do your good works cause you to be perfect? Can your effort bring perfection? That is the standard. It's not striving for perfection, it's not doing our best and hoping grace makes up the difference, it's perfection. That is God's standard. Too many people are living for God with this mindset that says, I have to do everything I can to be holy and trust Jesus to make up the difference.
The reality is that we aren't holy or righteous based on what we do. It's a status that we have by virtue of being in Christ. It has never been about what WE do to be saved, It has always been about what CHRIST has DONE.
1st Corinthians 1:28-31 "God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."
Strive to know him, diligently seek him, but once you find him do not rely on your own effort. Rely on him and him alone for salvation.
Romans 10:9-11 "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame."
Acts 16:30-31 "He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."
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