Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.—Matthew 7:13-14
This passage is often preached from the perspective of how hard it is to obey God and keep his laws—how hard it is to “make the grade” to get into heaven—how relatively few souls will be counted worthy of heaven while the broad majority will end up in hell.
Matthew 7:13-14 is one of those passages that is regularly preached to mean something altogether different than the meaning that God intends. In fact, it may make my list of the top 25 most misunderstood and often misapplied passages in the entire Bible.
The passage begins with Jesus’ admonition to “enter through the narrow gate.” As many preachers and students of the Bible read these words, it seems to me that they take their own feelings about what constitutes a difficult and narrow gate (and a wide gate and a broad road) and apply them to what Jesus is teaching.
