Allen Raynor Weblog:
“Two Paths to Follow” (Pt. 2)
(Mar. 6, 2019)
Christians
are often called “narrow minded” these days for holding to a belief that the
path to salvation is limited rather than inclusive or broad. The reason the world is attracted to the
broadness is that they do not wish to be told their way is wrong; that the way
of someone they love is wrong; or that even total strangers, in some cases, are
wrong. These days it is not unusual to
hear someone say something to the effect of “Well, my god would/would not do . . .” Perhaps their “god” is ok with
whatever they seek to justify; however true and absolute justification does not
come from one’s own mind, heart, ideas, or philosophies but rather from the one
true and living God. The one true God has revealed Himself to mankind through
His written Word - the Bible.
The English word
“narrow” comes to us from (stenos) in
the original Greek language of the New Testament and carries the meaning of “groaning” or “to groan” as from being under
pressure. It is the word from which we
derive our word “stenography” which refers to writing that is abbreviated or
compressed. “Narrowness” or “Narrow-mindedness”
is seen “selectively” as a bad thing in our culture. People insist on “many” paths to certain
things – such as God; they are however fine with “narrowness” in a great many
other areas. Commentator Douglas
O’Donnell writes “We are all opposed to narrow-mindedness but we are not as
opposed to exclusivity as we might at first think. For example, no one is opposed to a
supermarket or restaurant – a place where food is handled and sold and consumed
– having an exclusive sign on the front glass that reads, ‘No shoes, no shirt,
no service.’ No one is opposed to the
Spanish Club at your local high school being comprised only of members who have
an interest in and a basic knowledge of the Spanish language. No one is opposed to Woman’s Workout World
having a policy that men are not allowed to work out there. And nobody thinks that if there is only one
vaccine that will cure polio, that is too narrow, that we should be able to
take whatever drug we want to cure polio.” (Douglas O’Donnell; Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and Earth;
PTWC; 195)
Beyond
simply “narrowness” some believe it is “unjust” for there to be only “one way”
to God (through Jesus Christ). Scripture
is abundantly clear on this issue; for instance in John 14:6 Jesus says,
exclusively “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
Me.” In Acts 4, Peter is preaching
before the Sanhedrin. Verse 8 tells us
he was filled with the Holy Spirit as
he spoke. He then says in verse 12 “Nor
is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given
among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) In Matthew 18 the disciples came to Jesus and
asked Him “Who then is the greatest in the
Kingdom of Heaven?” In response
to that question, in verse 3 He says “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are
converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom
of Heaven.” (Mat. 18:3) Is Jesus too
narrow and/or exclusive? Many certainly
think so! Interestingly, and quite
ironically, there is a prevailing belief that many, or perhaps almost all,
paths lead to God except for the one
God actually tells us that leads to Him!
This is what philosophers call an “absurdity” when trying to follow a
track of reasoning that simply makes no sense.
It is such a strange position you can hardly believe anyone would hold
it; however, it is prevalent. Sadly,
this position often does not go much deeper than the surface.
Where do the
questions leveled against the exclusivity of the Gospel and Jesus’ requirements
really come from? Are they from a
genuine and humble desire to locate the truth; or are they merely attempts at
self-justification? O’Donnell goes on to
write “We would not question the justice and goodness of the scientist who
found the one cure for the Great Plague.
So why do we question God when he has provided only one cure for our Great Plague [sin]? Thus the question ‘why so narrow?’ is a
question of ingratitude and insubordination.
It is as contemptible as putting Sir Alexander Fleming on trial for only
giving us penicillin. Therefore in this
courtroom I throw out this case against God.
Instead I do what God does here in his Word. He puts us on trial. We must stand before him
and give an account to our choices.” (Douglas
Sean O’Donnell; Matthew: All Authority in
Heaven and on Earth; 195)
When you
think about it, Jesus has done a wonderful thing by making it so
straightforward. He is saying, in
effect, this is it! In John 10:9 Jesus
said “I am the door. If anyone enters by
Me, he will be saved . . .” All people
are told they must enter by that narrow way if they will come inside. Jesus gives true rest to all those who find
Him. In Mat. 11:28-30 we read His words
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is
light.” Why would anyone be resistant to
such an offer? We are told the answer to
this perplexing question in John 3:19-20 “And this is the condemnation, that
the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. For
everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed.” Sinful man creates his own confusion and
ambiguity when it comes to salvation. He
actually finds self-affirmation for his sinfulness in the self-made murkiness. When you stir up crystal clear water it
becomes hazy. That is precisely what
some in our day are doing. Through it
all, Jesus’ Words are clear “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by
it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Mat.
7:13-14)
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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