In Matthew 7:13-14, at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ issued this admonition:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

NKJV

In my previous post on this passage, I warned of two common misinterpretations of this passage:

• That only a few will be saved;
• That the Christian life is a narrow life and we must work hard at it, so that we do not lose our salvation.

My previous post explains why those are incorrect (and harmful) applications of this passage.

In this post, I will explain the implications of these verses for those of us who hear it now. Both Christians, and unbelievers exposed to the Gospel for the first time.

The original audience who heard the Sermon on the Mount were not Christians. Christ’s ministry had only just begun. The objective facts upon which Christian faith rests: the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ; had not yet taken place.

Christ was speaking to his newly-minted disciples, and to a crowd which contained those who might be about to become disciples.

In its original setting, Matthew 7:13-14 would’ve been an encouragement to disciples and would-be disciples: Keep on the path with Me, even if it’s narrow, and there’s only a few of you. Because it’s the only way to life.

But what do these verses mean now, when the church is not just a ragtag handful of fishermen and tax collectors, but has grown to embrace a multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue under heaven?

What do these words mean in light of the rest of scripture; the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ; and the promises of the Gospel?

Christ has us picture two ways or roads: one broad, and full of travelers; the other narrow, and seemingly lonely.

Christ says of the broad way: wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

Here’s what we need to understand first: We are not walking a neutral path until we are confronted with the Gospel—and then we must choose which path we will take.

We must recognize that we are all naturally walking on the broad path. We were born at the wide gate, and took our first steps in life on the broad way that leads to destruction.

St. Paul teaches us this in Ephesians:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV, emphasis added

These verses teach us that everyone, by nature—not by nurture, we’re born this way—is walking the broad way towards destruction. This is humanity’s natural bent. We are the walking dead, traveling mindlessly towards wrath and punishment.

But Christ tells us to: Enter by the narrow gate … Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.

The narrow gate is God’s gracious way of escape from this broad road of destruction, upon which we are all traveling by nature.

Think of it this way. You have just heard Christ preach the Sermon on the Mount.

He has taught you that the peacemakers are blessed; that you must turn the other cheek, and love your enemies; that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also; and to judge not, lest ye be judged.

Perhaps you hear this and you respond, Yes, that is a very fine teaching. I must really learn to be more agreeable and forgiving; to curb my temper and be more tolerant; and to give more of my treasure to the needy.

But still, your takeaway is basically: This is good philosophy for living happily. So you incorporate it into your life, along with say, the Tao Te Ching and your self-help books on the power of optimism.

Then again, perhaps you hear the Sermon on the Mount, and you realize that this is the way you’d like to live. But you’re a sort of rugged individualist, and you say to yourself: You know, I could do this if I only exert a little more effort.

Christ’s words about the two ways are a warning against either of these responses. He is telling us: You cannot get to God and life by natural means. Not by an effort of the will, nor by the works of your hands.

Both those who imagine that they can incorporate the teachings of Christ with that of other philosophies or religions to build a happy life; and those believe they will be pleasing to God and find eternal life by their own self-discipline are still on the broad road to hell.

They’re just on that road clutching stolen treasures. They seem not to realize that the silver and gold and fine silk they have taken from the treasury of the Sermon on the Mount will do them absolutely no good on the broad way. Those stolen treasures will simply turn rusty and worm-eaten in their sinful hands.

But now imagine there is another fellow who hears the Sermon on the Mount.

And when Jesus says: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, he feels an acute emptiness beginning to well up in him, because he knows he has no righteousness.

When Jesus says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, this man winces in pain. Because he sees clearly the corruption of his own heart. He despairs of ever seeing God.

Then Jesus says: You must be perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect. And this man says: Not me! Because he is now seeing how far indeed, in his sin, he has fallen short of the glory of God.

And finally, Jesus says: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. And he is utterly hopeless. Because if that means living how Christ has taught in the Sermon on the Mount, he has never done it, and knows he never can. He understands that all of God’s Law is set against him.

This third man is exactly where he needs to be to enter in the narrow gate.

He now sees clearly that he is on the broad path, and that all the other men and women walking this crowded road are zombies walking blindly towards their own eternal doom.

This man hears Christ say: Enter by the narrow gate; and he says: Lord, please: Take me to that narrow gate, and lead me on that narrow way, no matter how difficult it is!

And Christ doesn’t give him a lecture on morality; or a list of rules to obey; or spiritual disciplines and an accountability partner; or pontificate about free will and personal responsibility; nor any of the other dozens of things we see so much popular Christianity substituting for a simple offer of the Gospel.

When a man sees that he’s on the broad road and cries out for Christ to lead him to the narrow gate that opens to eternal life, Christ tells him:

I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 10:9; 14:6 CSB, emphasis added

The way to life is as narrow as Christ Himself. He is the gate and the way that leads to life. There is no other way.

And so the man says: Lord, if you are the narrow gate, and the way that leads off of this cursed road, and to life: How can I come to you?

And Christ answers: By faith alone. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John‬ ‭5:24‬ ‭ESV)

But then, suppose this fellow, knowing his own sinfulness and weakness, asks: But Lord, what if my faith is weak and wavering? How will I ever stay on this narrow and difficult way?

Then Christ will answer: It’s not really up to you. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out … My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John‬ ‭6:37; 10:27-28‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

So Christ Himself is the narrow gate, and the way that leads to eternal life. Whoever comes to Him believing has already passed out of death, into life. They have walked through the narrow gate, off of the broad road.

And when you come to Christ by faith, you find that He satisfies your hunger and thirst for righteousness, because He is your righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 1 Corinthians 1:30).

His heart is pure, and by His Spirit, He gives you a new heart (Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26-27).

You are saved because He is the Father’s love for His enemies. Christ loved His enemies enough to die for us (Romans 5:6-10; 1 John 4:10).

You find that even your best efforts will not take you through the narrow gate or sustain you on the difficult way. But that Christ has already fulfilled all of the Sermon on the Mount, indeed, the whole Law of God, on your behalf.

Enter by the narrow gate. This does not mean: Keep striving to get better and better at the narrow way of the Christian life, lest you be lost.

Rather, it is the offer of the Gospel, of Christ Himself. He alone is the way to life, and you cannot get to Him by trying harder. You can have Him by faith alone, or not at all.

For the unbeliever confronted with the Gospel, Matthew 7:13-14 means: I am the narrow gate. I am the only way off of the wide-open road to hell. Come through me to life everlasting.

And to us who are already believers, this passage is no longer a warning, but a comfort. We have already passed out of death and into life, through faith in Christ. And He will never cast away anyone who comes to Him, and nothing can snatch us from His hand. Our salvation is secure.

I mentioned in my first post on this passage, that once we plainly see the meaning of Matthew 7:13-14, we will understand the rest of the warnings at the end of the Sermon.

And so we shall.

For example, Christ then warns:

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 7:15-16 NKJV

For all the thousands of religions there are on paper, there are really only two faiths in the whole world: The one which receives and rests upon Christ and His finished work alone; and all the others, which have you trying to work your way to God.

Anybody who teaches the second kind of religion is a false prophet and a wolf. Even if they’ve disguised themselves with a thousand Bible verses.

Christ said you would recognize them by their fruit. That is, you must pay attention to both their conduct and their converts.

Here’s what Jesus said about some of the false teachers of His day, and their fruit:

[T]hey bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

[W]oe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Matthew 23:4, 13, 15 NKJV

False teachers and wolves will bind heavy burdens on you. They will shut the door of heaven in your face, and any converts they do make will be children of hell—because they will likewise be trained to lay heavy burdens and slam doors in faces. That is their bitter fruit.

Likewise, Christ spoke of those who would come to Him at judgment saying:

“Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

Matthew 7:22-23 NKJV

These people are lost because they stayed on the broad way. They come to Christ boasting of their own works. Remember, there are only two religions: the one which through faith rests in Christ’s finished work; and all the rest, which have us earning merit by our own works.

Those who teach this second type of religion will sometimes quote scripture to justify themselves: Faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

This is true. It is equally true that any works done which are not offered out of faith in Christ, but seek to earn favor with God are destructive: all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (Isaiah 64:6 ESV).

The way of trying to earn our way to God, is still the broad way that will lead to destruction.

Finally, Christ tells a parable at the end of the Sermon about two men: one who builds his house on a foundation of rock, and one who builds on a foundation of sand (Matthew 7:24-27).

Christ concludes His parable by saying this of the fellow who built on sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.

Elsewhere we are told that no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

To entrust your life and salvation to anything other than Christ, and have your security there, is to be the man who built upon a foundation of sand.

And so the four warnings at the end of the Sermon on the Mount are all saying the same thing, in different ways:

• Christ is the narrow way that leads to life. Every other way—even trying your darnedest to life by His teachings without relying on Him alone—is the wide road to hell.
• Anyone who tries to get you to look for another way—even if that way is through morality and discipline—is a false teacher and a wolf.
• It is only by faith in Christ that we enter into life. He will not recognize anyone who tries to come to Him with nothing but their own righteousness to plead for them.
• Faith in Christ is our only security and assurance. All other foundations will be destroyed, and you along with it. Like the old hymn says: On Christ the Solid Rock I stand / All other ground is sinking sand.

You are ready for the narrow gate when you see yourself on the broad way to destruction, and cry out: I need a Savior to rescue me from this awful road to hell!

You see the narrow gate when you recognize that Christ is the Savior.

And you pass through that narrow gate, which is the way to life, when by faith you confess: Christ is the Savior for me!