Enter Through The Narrow Gate: Matthew 7:13-14 Explained
This is a video about the narrow gate and what it means in the Bible.
Today I’m going to talk with you today about how to get through the narrow gate. In this video, I’ll be talking about human effort versus faith as well as some other topics that are important for Christians to know like trusting God and what happens when we die.
There is a narrow gate that leads to life, and one that leads to destruction. Who do we get life from? We get it from Jesus. The gate that causes destruction is the ones you use for chasing after when they rejected Jesus.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
So, what do we see here? We see there is a narrow gate that we need to enter through because it leads to life.
We see there is a wide gate that leads to our destruction.
In context, who is this letter being written to? It’s being written to Jews.
Are the Jews chasing after Jesus for righteousness, or are they chasing after the law? I think we can all agree that not only are they not chasing after Jesus for life, they’re going to put them up on the cross and show how much they’re willing to reject him.
We know that the number of humanity who get saved will be as many as the stars. But only a REMNANT of the people of Israel will be saved (Isaiah 10:22, Romans 9:27). Why? That’s because they are not chasing after faith in Jesus for salvation. They are chasing after performance-based salvation. And today I want to walk you through some of the verses so we can see that.
But first, we need to rewind a few verses to get a little context. A good place to start would be Matthew 6:30
You of little faith!
So we have a faith problem here. They are not trusting God.
What should they do? Well, we that answer in verse 33.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you
So the starting point is seeking the kingdom and his righteousness. Note, the starting point is not trying harder or doing more.
Matthew 7:1-2
“Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
How do you think these Jewish elites are judging others? They are judging people by their performance. And what Jesus is saying is, if you were going to judge people’s righteousness by their performance, then that is the same way God will judge you. And that’s a pretty big deal, because they’re later going to learn their self-righteousness isn’t so righteous after all. Also, we need to know if this is not God’s standard of measure. Pay close attention to what he said in verse 2. He said ‘judging by YOUR standard of measure’. Let’s see what Jesus has to say about their own view of themselves.
Matthew 7:3
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
In the same sermon, Jesus taught them that the true standard of the law wasn’t quite as simple as they thought. He said if you look with lust you were guilty of adultery. If you were angry with a brother you were guilty of murder. If you didn’t forgive someone else, then God would not forgive you. If your right eye causes you to sin, cut it out. James teaches us that if you perfectly kept the entire law, but you stumbled at even one part, you will be found guilty of it all.
So, the Jewish elites are judging everyone by their performance, and that is the log in their eye that Jesus is referring to. And there’s no shortage of people doing that very thing today. If we’re sharing the gospel and teaching people how to inherit the kingdom, while pushing the law as a means of accomplishing that, we are nothing more than a hypocrite. Romans 3:19 teaches us that the law shuts every mouth up. It’s shut us up because there’s not one of us that is qualified to keep the law let alone push that method on someone else.
So, here’s the solution.
Matthew 7:5
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!
In other words, before you go trying to teach people how to inherit the kingdom, you might need to figure it out for yourself. Until you recognize that you are not qualified by human effort to inherit the kingdom, you have a giant log stuck in your own eye. The Scriptures are not confusing on this subject. You are saved by grace, through FAITH. It is not of yourselves, it is a gift, NOT by works. Ephesians 2:8-9
Now, with a little bit of foundation from what we were reading in Mathew’s letter, let’s get back to this verse about the narrow gate.
Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
There are a lot of seemingly very mean people yelling and screaming at us, telling us the way to get right with God is by human effort. Some are saying we do it by avoiding sin. Some say we do it by having a giant laundry list of good works. Some say it’s a combination of both, plus repenting, then begging and pleading for forgiveness each time you mess up. It seems you rarely hear any love in their voice. They point their bony finger in your face and condemn you. They threaten you with hell. They pound their chest as they brag about how they live perfect human lives, as if God is somehow amazed at how awesome they are. And while that may sound ominous and spiritual, it’s clear their focus is not on Jesus, but rather themselves. I honestly think it’s the next verse that applies to many of them.
Matthew 7:15
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits.
And I want to point out that this is not about the congregation breaking records for sin. Notice verse 15 is talking about the teachers who are pushing this garbage. They are FALSE PROPHETS. And he’s not talking about the congregation’s fruit. He’s talking about the fruit of his teachers. In context, he’s talking about people getting saved. If you teach people the way to inheriting the kingdom is by human effort, there will be no fruit because no one will be saved. No one will be seeking after Jesus when they believe the inheritance comes from us in our own human effort. The only way to produce fruit and bring people to Jesus is by teaching that salvation comes from hearing and believing. It comes to trusting Jesus, and recognizing there’s nothing you could do on your best day to propitiate for your own sins.
And this leads us to verse 21 which is usually why are we taken out of context because ignores everything we just talk about.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Let’s break these verses down a little. Keep in mind all that we just read.
Remember there’s a narrow gate that we need to go through to find life. That life is found in knowing Jesus, but some are teaching that this life is found through the law. They are judging people by their own standards of measure, not God’s. God standards through his son, so he sent to die on a cross so that we could be found blameless on the day of judgment day. These guys have a very big log in their eye. What they are teaching will not lead to salvation, but rather destruction. They are false prophets. So keeping that context in mind let’s break down the last three verses I just shared.
Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Just because you call him Lord doesn’t mean you’re actually a believer. And we’re about to discover that just because we have a bunch of outward works, doesn’t mean you actually know Jesus either. Before we continue I want to talk briefly about the will of the father.
[John 6:28-29]
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
[John 6:40]
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Matthew also writes about God’s heart and his will.
Matthew 18:14
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
No question God’s heart would be that we avoid sin. But that’s not how we get saved. That’s simply a normal outward flow of what has already been worked inside at the moment of salvation. Now let’s get back to the story about these people who have apparently called him ‘lord lord’ but they will not inherit the kingdom.
As we read this next verse I want you to ask yourself a question. Are these people thinking they had a lot of works or are they people that think they didn’t do anything for Jesus? In other words, I want you to pay attention to how they think they were performing. Because this is how they think they are getting into heaven.
Matthew 7:22
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
So what do we see here? What we see is a group of people pounding their chests bragging about what they did. Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Jesus, didn’t you notice we cast out demons in your name? Jesus, aren’t you paying attention when we performed many miracles?
You see, salvation is not about what we do for Jesus. It’s about what Jesus did for us. Now, remember, these people actually think they were doing all kinds of good stuff for Jesus. There’s not an ounce of them that thinks their human performance was not enough. Some people miss that, and as a result, they miss the context of Jesus calling them workers of iniquity. If we pay close attention we will discover that this inequity is not referring to outward sin. He’s referring to in word sin. Specifically the sin of unbelief.
Matthew 7:23
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Now notice, these were not guys who he used to know Jesus, and then suddenly started screwing up. These people never knew Jesus. Keyword NEVER. And remember there was not a single mention of a lack of works or too much sin. This was about not knowing Jesus. Unbelief. And that was the inequity. And this brings us full circle back to the narrow gate. The Jewish people were all about law-based salvation. They were not chasing after Jesus. And consequently, they certainly were not teaching Jesus as the way to the father. They chose human law-based methods for righteousness. And Romans 3:12 us that ‘through the law no one will be found righteous, no not even one’. That is a wide gate and it only leads to destruction. There is no fruit from that message. No one will be saved. And sadly many people who buy into that message will likely stand before Jesus on judgment day, pounding their chest, bragging about all the things they did for him, and Jesus will tell them plainly, Depart from me, I never knew you.
Take Away: We are saved by trusting God. Trusting that He sent Jesus to rescue us from our sins. What the law could not do, God did, sending His only begotten son that whoever shall believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.
Thanks for joining us today, and if you liked this message, remember to like, share, and comment below. God bless you.
Author: Mike Cynar
Mike Cynar was raised in a church setting where he frequently noticed that many attendees would eventually drift away. The church labeled these individuals as ‘back sliders’ or ‘fake Christians’ just looking for ‘fire insurance’. However, Mike realized the issue was rarely with these individuals but instead with the church’s message itself. The teachings heavily emphasized behavior improvement and one’s flaws, with only a fleeting mention of one’s identity in Christ. It felt as though every sermon was tailored to the church of Corinth, who as we know or committing sins that even unbelievers don’t partake in. This trend was noticeable not just in one denomination, but across Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, and many other churches. Upon understanding the true essence of the gospel – that our righteousness comes from Jesus’ actions, not our own – Mike was inspired to liberate believers from lifeless sermons and reconnect them with the genuine teachings of Jesus. He believes that one can nurture a vibrant and growing bond with Jesus, unhindered by rigid religious practices. And thus, “Jesus Without Religion” was born.
It turns out that it is grace that leads to repentance. And if our heart is to get others to walk in the Spirit and live a godly life, then the best approach is not a beat down sermon, but rather to remind other that it is only when we understand our true identity in Christ that we will live it out. Yes, it’s true, if you’re convinced that God thinks you’re a dirty sinner, you will ultimately continue a lifestyle that mirrors that view, but if you truly believe that even on your worst day, you are called holy, sanctified, justified, and will be presented blameless in the end, well, it turns out this is the secret to living out on the outside what has been worked in to the inside.
