Stay On The Narrow Way

“Narrow is the way” doesn’t mean “hard to make it is the way.”  Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light and in Him we find rest for our weary souls (Mt. 11:28–30; Heb. 4:9–11).  The Christian life has its hardships and difficulties, but salvation itself isn’t one of them.  Jesus paid the entire price for our salvation.  He died not just for some of our sins, but for all of them (Rm. 4:25; 1 Pt. 2:24; 3:18; Col. 2:13; Heb. 10:11–12).  We are justified before God by faith alone in Christ alone.  “Narrow is the way” means that the way is exclusive and focused.  Jesus Himself is the Way (Jn. 14:6).  The way is narrow because the doctrine of salvation through Christ alone is narrow.  Few there are that find it.  The only way to Heaven and eternal life is through faith in Christ and the sufficiency of His propitiation and resurrection.

In a nutshell, the history of the Church is the story of Believers keeping the hope of the Gospel alive while continually fighting against the deceiving spirits that have infiltrated its ranks.  These deceiving spirits teach either law without grace (legalism) or grace without faith (lawlessness).

The legalists pay lip service to the Gospel, but effectively deny the Atonement.  They ridicule Believers who preach the simple Gospel message and pressure Christians to abandon grace and go back to the Law (Gal. 5:3–4).  They lay burdens on their brothers that no one can bear and hold them to standards that they themselves violate.  And as far as unbelievers are concerned, legalists shut the door of salvation in their faces.

The lawless pay lip service to Christ, but they twist the Gospel in many ways because they don’t really believe it.  Often they deny the literal resurrection of Christ, which must be believed for salvation (Rm. 10:9).  They run after the world and the lusts of the flesh and twist Scripture to justify themselves.  They don’t consider sin to be a real trespass against God and therefore don’t recognize their personal and desperate need for forgiveness and reconciliation.  Often times they even believe that Jesus is just one of many ways to Heaven.

What I believe God has shown me over the years is that the legalists hate the Gospel because of the excesses of the lawless, which they perceive to be evidence against grace.  The lawless hate the Gospel because of the hatred, vitriol, and condemnation coming from the legalists.  They both err and miss the truth because they associate the truth with the other side.

What both sides have in common is that they have a form of godliness, but deny its power.  They believe parts, but not all of Scripture, and they both deny the truth and power of the Gospel.

Consider what Paul says about the false Christians in the last days.  In RED I’ve highlighted qualities that seem to primarily define legalists, BLUE primarily defines the lawless, and ORANGE equally defines both.  This isn’t an exact science, but you’ll get my point:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.  Avoid such people.  For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2 Tm. 3:1–7)

In our day we see the presence of the same deceiving spirits that were on the earth in Jesus’ day:

The Pharisees were the proud and self-righteous condemners who worshiped the Law rather than Christ.  They thought doing the right things made them right with God and when Jesus showed up and told them that the only way they could find life was by believing in Him and His message, they condemned Him and had Him put to death.

The Sadducees denied the truth of Scripture and twisted it to fit their contemporary Hellenized lifestyles - just like many of the Christians today who justify whatever beliefs and behaviors they want by twisting Scripture.  They didn’t believe God’s words.

In the end, both groups missed what was staring them right in the face: God in the flesh.  Had they believed in Him and His message they would have been saved.  There were a few exceptions, like Nicodemus, but overall they rejected God’s only provision for sin.  The story is no different today.  The legalists and lawless reject the love of God and the simple truth of the Gospel.

The truth of the Gospel is simple and life-changing and will give rest to your weary soul, but satan comes to snatch the truth away from you.  Hold onto the truth with all you’ve got and pray that you would not be deceived.  Begin to recognize the rotten fruits of both groups, so that you won’t fall victim to either side.  Christ isn’t in the middle of them, He is far above them both.

For further reading:

WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

ATONEMENT: THE DIVIDING LINE

CREATED FOR GOOD WORKS

THE TIGHTROPE OF FAITH

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