"Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that
leads to destruction, and many enter through it . . . . . . Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
leads to destruction, and many enter through it . . . . . . Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
"Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me
on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name
drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Matthew 7:13-23 (NIV)
but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me
on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name
drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Matthew 7:13-23 (NIV)
It
is if it changes us, if it is lived out.
It isn’t if it doesn’t.
The sinner’s prayer is when I thank God for what He did for me on the
cross, choose to believe, and tell God that I have made him the leader of my
life. My personal fear
(based on what I see and reading the results of tons of studies) is that there
are multitudes of people who’ve prayed the prayer, self identify as Christian,
yet have not entered the narrow gate.
Yes,
a true believer can be identified by the spiritual fruit in her life, but Jesus
goes on to say that even fruit can be faked.
There will be many who lived what looks from the outside to be a great
Christian Life but are in big trouble with God.
Conversely I am certain that there are many more whose lives look like a
mess from the outside yet will find themselves in God’s Kingdom, indeed are
within it now.
CS
Lewis puts it this way in Mere Christianity
“When
a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is
still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness
less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad
man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep
when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in
arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you
cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are
sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad
people do not know about either.” — from Mere
Christianity
The man who is good by nature, good by upbringing and generous by disposition may be farther from God than the man who is bad and selfish by upbringing, but has begun the journey beyond himself to God and others even though he by convention standards looks like a bad person. What’s inside him may not be visible to others, just as pride within the cultured man might not visible to others. It is the second man who will walk through the narrow gate.
“Lord, give me the Grace to take these
words of Jesus neither as a means for me to judge others, nor as a tool of self
condemnation for my shortfall before you. Rather
help me to realize your never ending patience and love for me for others in
spite of our sin. In that and in
you, Lord, I know that I am safe
forever. Amen”
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