Which Way Do We Go?
Part Two
Some start out down NARROW WAY, but make a U-TURN in the face of the inevitable persecution (1) 2Tim. 3: 12 associated with godly living.
Others will take the LAST EXIT RAMP BEFORE THE NEXT TOLL when the upcoming cost of remaining on the NARROW WAY of discipleship becomes more than what they are willing to endure or to pay.
Making such U-TURNS and taking such EXIT RAMPS will suspend one from moving forward in the life of discipleship. One can be reinstated, but only if and when he or she is willing to pay the next toll.
Substituting alternatives (good deeds, service) in lieu of what God wants addressed, will not get you through the next toll booth along the NARROW WAY.
There is no status quo along the NARROW WAY of discipleship. One must either continue to move forward towards the destination of spiritual maturity or take the exit ramp before the next toll.
There is a breakdown lane.
Those found in the breakdown lane will be removed by the Lord (2) Rev. 2: 5. After making the necessary repairs, the one that had been removed can re-enter the NARROW WAY and move forward in the plan of God.
Otherwise, there is no other alternative but to follow the crowd down BROADWAY.
The ignorance and or arrogance in many believers will deceive them into thinking they can take the easy BROADWAY and circumvent the “destruction” spoken of in the Matthew 7: 13 warning.
Misinformed and deceived believers misinterpret and or misapply Romans 8: 1, that states there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8: 1 is speaking about the eternal security of SALVATION.
Eternal security is NOT a license to sin. While one can rest assured that his or her salvation IS secure, there are still other forms of divine discipline (3) Heb. 12: 6 awaiting born again believers for the post salvation sins they commit. Such discipline can range in anything from having to live with a guilty conscience up to and including physical death.
The “destruction” spoken of in Matt. 7: 13 refers to TWO different types of destruction involving to two different groups of individuals.
One form of destruction speaks of unbelievers being cast into the Rev. 20: 15 lake of fire for having rejected the one and only (4) John 14: 6 narrow way that leads to eternal life, and choosing the broad way that leads to destruction instead.
This broad way encourages both immoral degeneracy and moral degeneracy. The devil, knowing the damage that they can cause, promotes both of them.
Immoral degeneracy consists of a-n-y activity that the Bible labels as sin.
Moral degeneracy consists of all the different, Man-made, human means and efforts (e.g. good behavior, good deeds, religious rituals) that Fallen Man embraces in a futile attempt to make themselves right with God and to earn a home in Heaven.
“For (it was) by (unearned, undeserved) grace you have been saved through faith (in the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ); and this (obtaining salvation) is not of (by) yourselves, it is a gif from God; not a result of (doing) works, so that no one may boast (about earning it, or deserving it).”. – Eph. 2: 8. 9 NASB2020 parentheses mine.
Such means and efforts are held in high esteem by those who promote and participate in them. But they are abominations in the eyes of God, if and when they are perceived to be the means of salvation, either replacing or being added to faith (trust/confidence) in the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Chris.
Isaiah put it this way, “…all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (Isa. 64: 6 NASB2020).”
Note that he was speaking of our RIGHTEOUS deeds (not our unrighteous deeds) in this verse.
The Matt. 7: 13 destruction also speaks of the elimination of the Mark 4: 20 production in the post (after) salvation spiritual life of born again believers. The Mark 4: 20 production is the result of being used by God to evangelize and or to edify others. The Mark 4: 20 fruit are saved and or edified souls that are produced.
THIS was the assignment that Jesus gave to the Church (5) Matt. 28: 19, 20 at large, and to each and every member of it, wherever they find themselves on a daily basis.
“… they (on the narrow way of discipleship) hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much (Mark 4: 20 NASB2020).”
Born again believers who do not choose to take the narrow road of Biblical discipleship have rejected or neglected their call to discipleship, denying God the glory, resulting in the loss of heavenly reward and privileges (6) 1Cor. 3: 14, 15/ Rev. 2/Rev. 3 that he or she would have otherwise received.
“But the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things enter and choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful (Mark 4: 19 NASB2020).”
In conclusion, time is a non-recyclable resource. How much of our time here on Earth that we spend and invest on the NARROW WAY that leads to life, or waste on the BROAD WAY that leads to destruction, is a daily choice that we make.
(1) 1Tim. 3: 12 (2) Rev. 2: 5 (3) Heb. 12: 6 (4) John 14: 6 (5) Matt. 28: 19, 20 (6) 1Cor. 3: 14, 15/Rev.2/Rev. 3