Why Is the Road to Destruction Wide and the Road to Salvation Narrow? A Meditation

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 06-24-15 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[LearsFool]

When he said that, he had not completed his work on the cross yet.

Well, that's true. Okay then, let me pose a question to you, if you don't mind. Jesus said:

"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 who is in heaven."

When He said that, He had not completed His work on the cross yet. Would He say that now? Or change it?

[Bryanw92]

>>When He said that, He had not completed His work on the cross yet. Would He say that now? Or change it?

I’m not saying that he would change anything he said. I’m saying that when he said it, the audience’s understanding was quite different than it would have been after the resurrection. Even his disciples could not understand what he was really saying prior to the cross.

To the people who followed him, “the will of my Father” was interpreted quite differently than we would since we know more of the will of the Father. They still expected Jesus to develop into a great and powerful leader who would save the Jewish people from the evils of the world. We know that the will of the Father is actually to have faith in his son that he sent to live perfectly and to die on the cross. You follow the will of the Father just by admitting that you cannot buy, earn, or work your way into salvation.

[LearsFool]

I’m saying that when he said it, the audience’s understanding was quite different than it would have been after the resurrection.

Not only was the audience's understanding different before Jesus' death and resurrection, but the Father's will was different also. ("if thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments" - Matt. 19:17) When He sent His son, the Father's will was that people believe on and obey the Son, both before His death and after. ("And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" - Luke 6:46)

With the coming of the new covenant at Christ's death came also the full exposition of the gospel, as we read about in Acts when the Holy Spirit was sent upon the apostles and guided them into all truth (John 16:12ff). And in this fuller exposition of the gospel delivered by His apostles, we find what the Son commands of us in order that we may be among the few allowed into His kingdom, having our sins forgiven.

When this gospel was preached for the first time after God's plan had been fulfilled, after the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb paid the ransom for sin, after all that could be done by the Lord on our behalf had been done, people asked - as had been asked before - "What must we do?"

And Peter replied, "There's nothing you can do. It was all done at the cross." ;-)

No seriously, when the 3000 were pricked in their hearts and were striving to enter into the kingdom by the narrow gate, Peter told them through the Holy Spirit exactly how to get in.

We must do the same.

[Bryanw92]

>>We must do the same.

So what must we do then to fulfill the “will of the Father”? What works must we accomplish to walk through the narrow gate?

[LearsFool]

If you're asking about a "list of good deeds" that will compel the Lord to let a person in, there isn't one. Why? Because that can't undo the wicked works he's done. Doing good deeds can't make a guilty person not guilty.

The only way a person could get in on his own merit is by his flawless record of "works" as Paul wrote about in Romans - namely, being not guilty of any sin. Such a person would have no need of forgiveness! "he has something to boast about". (Rom. 4:2) God would be forced to render a verdict of "not guilty", and allow him in, right?

Neither you nor I can demand such a verdict, can we? Our records don't make us look good, they make us look awful. Since we're guilty, we need some other way to be pronounced righteous (i.e. not-guilty verdict), some way other than actually BEING not guilty. Because our works convict us as guilty.

So how does a person get a verdict of "righteous - not guilty" when his record of works is a rap-sheet of crimes? When his works expose him as unrighteous, is there a way the Judge can acquit him anyhow? Maybe by considering something besides his ugly record of works?

"...just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.'" - Rom. 4:7-8

God be praised, there IS another way to be acquitted - a way to be acquitted IN SPITE OF our works! (Cuz we sure screwed up the chance to make it on works. Sin #1 did that.)

[tet68]

Today, the road to destruction is a super Highway
and Obama has the pedal to the metal with no brakes.

[MHGinTN]

When your religion sold them were they valid?

[Bryanw92]

>>God be praised, there IS another way to be acquitted - a way to be acquitted IN SPITE OF our works!

I’m confused now. You just said the same thing I said, yet you’ve been disagreeing with me from the start. :-)

[LearsFool]

I don't mean to be confusing. Forgive me, perhaps I got off the track a bit in the enthusiasm of my last post. :-)

You asked about works we must accomplish to walk through the narrow gate. That's different from works that can't save us (because we screwed up the one shot we had) that Paul talks about (Rom. 9, Gal. 3, Titus 3, etc.) and that many people confuse with works of obedience. I want to make sure we understand which works we're talking about.

It's the works of obedience that the Lord requires of us. These works don't "buy, earn, or work your way into salvation," as you put it in #62. On the contrary, they are the works wrought by one who is "making every effort to enter in by the narrow gate".

Consider, for instance, the Israelites making every effort to take the city of Jericho. They were told to march around the city, blow the trumpets, shout, etc. Were those works? Was is those works that made the walls come tumbling down? Or were they merely doing their part in God's plan, and trusting Him to bring down the walls they were unable to topple on their own?

[caww]

.....Today, the road to destruction is a super Highway
and Obama has the pedal to the metal with no brakes.....

Yes...and we’re going to see more of this before the man is gone.

[Bryanw92]

>>It’s the works of obedience that the Lord requires of us.

What are these works? I ask everyone who goes down this path and no one ever really answers the question, or the follow-up question: what differentiates these works from the works that don’t do anything but condemn?

[tet68]

io[\45689-1+Sad to say. As Obama gets more resistance he will /0-
do what he always has done......double down.

RESISTANCE!

-^^^^-

[LearsFool]

It's whatever the Lord commands, isn't it? He has authority to command, right?

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" - Matt. 28:18ff

After announcing the authority God had given Him, Jesus instructed His apostles to "make disciples". A disciple is a student, a follower, one who learns from his master and imitates him. That's what Jesus wants - followers who believe on Him, submit to Him, obey Him, learn from Him, imitate Him, lean on Him. That's faith. When He commands, a disciple obeys without question. A disciple doesn't try to figure out why, he just does it. If the Master explains why, well and good. But the disciple doesn't demand an satisfactory explanation before obeying.

If the Master says to love one another, that's the work we must do. If He says to confess Him before men, that's what is required, so we submit and do it. If He says to assemble together on the Lord's Day, proclaim His death with the memorial of the bread and the cup, sing songs of praise to God and of teaching to one another, we obey. If He tells husbands to love their wives, wives to submit to their husbands, children to obey their parents, it's because that's the work He wants from us.

Who is going to refuse to obey and still call himself a disciple? Who's going to rebel against the King and still think he'll be allowed into the kingdom?

The Master has given a law, and the disciple submits to Him, in whatever He commands. That's the work involved in striving to enter into His kingdom. And why does the disciple do this? Because he has faith in his Master.

[LearsFool]

I'm sorry, I forgot to answer your follow-up question.

The works that condemn are violations of the King's law - sins. If anyone thinks his works will save him, he need only take a look at his record to discover he has violated the law.

Consequently, no one can be acquitted on the basis of his works of law. Why? Because he's guilty. What he needs instead is forgiveness, otherwise he's due for punishment. (That forgiveness is granted only to disciples, only to those who put their faith in the Master.)

That's Paul's point in the first few chapters of Romans. And so he concludes:

"For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin."

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." - Rom. 3:9, 19-20

[Bryanw92]

>>If the Master says to love one another, that’s the work we must do. If He says to confess Him before men, that’s what is required, so we submit and do it. If He says to assemble together on the Lord’s Day, proclaim His death with the memorial of the bread and the cup, sing songs of praise to God and of teaching to one another, we obey. If He tells husbands to love their wives, wives to submit to their husbands, children to obey their parents, it’s because that’s the work He wants from us.

A lot of people think that the narrow path requires you to be perfect in all these things. If you could do that, you would be the Master.

>>Who is going to refuse to obey and still call himself a disciple? Who’s going to rebel against the King and still think he’ll be allowed into the kingdom?

Refusing to do is quite different from trying and falling short (literally missing the mark, which is the meaning of sin.)

>>And why does the disciple do this? Because he has faith in his Master.

And that is all there is to it.

[LearsFool]

A lot of people think that the narrow path requires you to be perfect in all these things.

They didn't get that idea from the Bible.

Refusing to do is quite different from trying and falling short

Indeed it is. The Master knows His disciples will stumble from time to time.

And that is all there is to it.

Indeed. The faith that compels the disciple to obey his Master is the faith that saves. Such faith causes the striving, the diligent effort, the working that gets one in the narrow door. Any other sort of faith is, as James said, dead.

"Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." - James 2:17

[Bryanw92]

>>Such faith causes the striving, the diligent effort, the working that gets one in the narrow door. Any other sort of faith is, as James said, dead.

Those works are the fruit of obedience, not the source of salvation. You do these things out of gratitude for the gift. They are not conditions required for a reward.

[LearsFool]

So you would advise a person not strive to enter in until after he's already in? He strives to get in out of gratitude for getting in? That sounds different from the Lord's advice.

No, the faith that gets a person IN Christ's kingdom is living faith, not dead faith. Those who heard the gospel preached on Pentecost understood this, and strove to get in. Peter told them how, and 3000 people obeyed and "were added to the church".

They didn't wait until after they received the gift and then obey. Rather, they obeyed in order to receive the gift, because that's what the Lord commanded.

Just like the Israelites at Jericho: They didn't wait until after the walls fell and then march. Just like Naaman the leper: He didn't wait until after he was healed and then dip in the Jordan. Just like Noah: He didn't wait until after he was saved from the flood and then build the ark.

The Bible tells us God "is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." It doesn't say "those who are rewarded should then diligently seek God."

[MHGinTN]

"... the work involved in striving to enter into His kingdom." Um, Jesus didn't agree with that assertion. Jesus didn't indicate we are to strive to enter the Kingdom. He said to Nicodemus except a man be born of water and of the spirit, born from above, he cannot see the kingdom. When the twisted leadership of the Sanhedrin asked Him what work God required that they could be so born from above, Jesus told them the work of God is to believe on Him Whom God has sent for their deliverance. [John 3 and John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.]

We are saved by believing in Him as Deliverer, not by works striving to attain some reward. BUT, once born again, born from above, He comes into us to raise us up in the Way that we should go as members of His family. And brother, that is no easy road to walk even though He said His yoke is easy.

[LearsFool]

Jesus didn't indicate we are to strive to enter the Kingdom.

Why, sure He did. Haven't you read Luke 13?

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able." - Luke 13:24