The Narrow Way

A gate is the generally accepted term for a controlled entry point to a property. Two such gates are described as synonyms for believers and unbelievers or religious and born again people. The narrow gate is often seen as something that accompanies a lot of sacrifice, lack of joy and ironclad discipline. But this is not true at all. If it was, the message of the Gospel wouldn't be one of grace, but of religiousness and self-redemption. Jesus Christ is the Way (John 14:6) and also the door of the sheep (John 10:7 “I am the door of the sheep”). And in John 10:9 Jesus repeats “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” The narrow way and narrow gate is Jesus Himself, because there is no salvation other than through the Son of God, as proclaimed by the apostles in the Gospel.


The broad way is the way of atheism and other religions or self-redemption ideologies. Every message which teaches and promises salvation without Jesus Christ is a lie and false even if they call themselves Christians. The apostle Luke emphasized in Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” There is no place for anything else even as only a believer will fit through the narrow gate. Therefore no-one has access to God without Jesus Christ (John 14:6 “...no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” For this reason the gate is narrow, and for this reason the religious world protests vehemently about this “injustice” and proclaims the opposite.


They conclude that we all eventually come to believe in a God who reveals himself in different names and cultures. Whether it be ''Allah'', ''Krishna'', ''Buddha'' or ''Jahwe'', it is all the same God and the gate is not narrow, but wide. This is a lie. Jesus is the Door and we see in John 10:1 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” Whoever seeks redemption and a place in heaven in any way other than through the Person of Jesus Christ and the Biblical Gospel and says he found grace, is a false teacher, liar, seducer, robber and deceiver. The general ecumenical vision may teach reconciliation, peace and humanity, but it proclaims the wide way and the wide gate which in end effect will lead to eternal destruction. Obviously people should communicate with each other and live in peace, but lazy compromises in the form of outward fraternization with un-scriptural religions and the suggestions of so-called similarities, is dishonest (and sometimes also feigned) and a false peace that does not lead to the truth. Whoever follows Jesus in faith (and takes up His cross) goes through the narrow gate. There is no other possible way (Luke 9:23). The saving grace is unique, which has its beginning and its eternal end only through the Name Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). This may sound narrow-minded and inhumane to some, however it is as vital for every sinner as the air that they breathe.

Jörg Bauer