A New Start
Bible Facts Newspaper Article (Ian C. Kurylyk)
"Enter ye in at the strait gate" (Matthew 7:13a). There are a lot of schemes in the world to leave behind the past and start off afresh. New Years resolutions offer, it seems, a psychological advantage to help folk redirect their lives toward better ideals. More often than not they are short-lived and the things of lighthearted humour rather than serious change.
Jesus offered a new life and the power to effect changes through Bible Christianity. The text quoted above is part of His invitation to a genuine change described in two simple verses. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
Jesus used a well-known figure of life; a journey, a road or "way" being traveled. He depicted the great crowds of the human race making their way along what He called the broad way. He envisioned a road so broad it would accommodate all the nations, the great variety of philosophies, the different lifestyles, and even the many the moral standards of humanity. It must have lanes also for the many religions of the world too, since the road accommodates religious as well as profane. Churchgoers and atheists proceed along this great road shoulder to shoulder. It offers breadth and passage sufficient for any man born into the human race with any ideas he clings to and any lifestyle he embraces.
The problem with the road is where it ends, "destruction". This word does not mean annihilation, but ruin - destruction of well being for all eternity. It corresponds to what Jesus warned of in another place. "The rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments" (Luke 16:22b-23a). This is the greatest reason of all for a change.
Jesus spoke of the necessary change as a real possibility. He spoke of a different life, a different pilgrimage, a different road than the one terminating in hell. This road is apparently far less accommodating of the great moral and spiritual breadth represented in the human race. It is described as a narrow road. The word suggests discrimination about right and wrong and a word that has nearly passed from our vocabulary - holiness. But despite all the slurs against such a way of life today, it has a rather nice feature. Jesus Himself says it "leadeth unto life". Jesus taught of a real place called heaven as well as a place called hell. This passage contains a sober caution against being content with the majority approach to these matters of heaven and hell since the narrow road to heaven has "few".
But we need to listen very carefully to His exact words. The challenge is to, "Enter ye in at the strait gate". He is telling of a better life to be lived (narrow way) and a better place to be going at the end of this pilgrimage (life), but we must take careful note of how He tells us to start. This is the truth of the "strait gate" (strait means narrow). Every road has a beginning and so the Lord draws our attention to this need for a departure from the broad road to take up the narrow one by way of passage through the narrow gate. Some think they can live a good life like the ones on the narrow road without passing through the narrow gate. However, without the gate, a person is still on the broad road - in the self-righteous lane. He is still destined for eternal destruction and ruin.
Jesus tells us what that all-important narrow gate is. "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved" (John 10:9a). Jesus Christ came into this world to pay for our sins by His death on the cross. He rose again and gives a new life for those who believe. We go through that narrow gate by putting our trust in Him personally for our salvation. He puts us on the road to heaven. This is the only new start which perfectly meets the need of the human race in its condition of sin.
