Matthew 7:13-15 - Enter through the narrow gate

7:13,14

People like the idea of Jesus as a good teacher and a great example (though we are less keen on what He actually taught, and on putting His teachings into practice!). People want a wide open gate, open to all in any way. That is not what Jesus taught. We are to enter through the narrow gate. There is only one God, only one way to the Father. We are not free to pick and choose. Jesus is absolutely inclusive in that anyone can come to Him, repent, believe and seek to follow Him and live according to the word of God. Absolutely anyone, no matter what we are like, or where we come from, or what we have done. But Jesus is also absolutely exclusive. We need to repent, we need to believe in Christ, we need to choose to walk in His ways. There is no alternative.

There are many other ways, but they all lead to destruction. Jesus also says that many find the broad way, and few find the narrow way. There is a severity about Jesus’ words here, and we need to take them seriously.

7:15

There have always been warnings about false prophets, right back to Deuteronomy, and throughout the Old Testament. Nothing has changed. Jesus warns about them here, and the letters in the New Testament have plenty to say about false teachers and prophets. We learn something about how they operate. They come in sheep’s clothing, rather than wearing a t-shirt proclaiming their status as a messenger of falsehoods and lies. They will seem to be harmless, claiming to have the best interests of the church and of being faithful to Jesus. Just listen to the false teachers/prophets of today, whether they be from the prosperity gospel end of things, or the so-called progressive end. In reality they are ferocious wolves. They are destructive of people’s lives. We are far too tolerant of false teachings.