The Difficulty of Conversion

(Article for publication week of5-22- AD 2013)

"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 that 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).

In our text the Lord Jesus Christ illustrates true conversion by the simile of a gate that must be entered. It is a "strait" gate, that is one that is difficult to enter. Our Lord taught that true conversion is a difficult thing. Contrary to what many suppose, salvation is not an easy thing. It is simple, but not easy.

The first difficulty a poor sinner faces in getting saved is his own rebellious nature. Our Lord said in John 5:40, "ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Eternal life is found nowhere but in the Lord Jesus Christ, and stubborn, proud, rebellious man will not come to the dear Saviour to be saved. Here is man's boasted free will- he will not come to Christ to be saved. Poor sinner, the only way you will ever be saved is if Divine Omnipotence conquers your stubborn will and humbles your pride. Except you cease from your rebellion, you will never be saved. Unless you come to Christ in faith, you will be lost, world without end.

The second difficulty of true conversion is in the sinner's inability. Our Lord says again, in John 6:44, "no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him." You will not come to Christ, and you cannot come to Christ, except you are drawn by efficacious grace. Poor sinner, you better cry out to God to make an exception for you and draw you to the Saviour, or you will perish in your sins.

But then, there is a third difficulty to true conversion, and it is found in the very next verse (Matthew 7:15)- there are many false prophets who distort the way to be saved. And here is a good place to point out that the Sermon on the Mount, from which we have been taking our text for a few weeks, is not a collection of sayings, but a reasoned argument. So, you see as soon as the Lord urges us to enter into the strait gate, He warns us there are many false teachers deceiving men. Note well, the false preachers are right by the gate of conversion telling men they can get to heaven some other way. Now here is the mark of a false prophet- he is one who tells you there is another way to heaven except Christ. A false prophet is not necessarily a preacher who differs with us on the ordinances, or matters of church government, or fine points of eschatology, or other matters secondary to the gospel. A false prophet is one who tells men they can bypass true conversion; they don't have to enter in the strait gate by repentance and faith in Christ.

With all these difficulties, it is indeed a miracle if any sinner is ever saved. But, praise God! That is what salvation is- a miracle of God's grace! I tell you it takes the same power that spoke the world into existence to convert a sinner. When a sinner dead in trespasses and sins hears the voice of the Son of God through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, he will be saved (John 5:25). May the Holy Spirit work in you now so that you may enter the strait gate and be converted.

The Urgency of Conversion

(Article for publication week of 5-22- AD 2013)

"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).

In this passage the Lord Jesus Christ illustrates true conversion by the simile of a "strait", or difficult gate. There must be an entering into salvation by the gate of conversion. This entering into salvation is a spiritual, not a physical act. Christ is the gate of salvation, and you must consciously enter into salvation by believing in Him and turning from your sins, or you will be lost forever.

Our text tells us that true conversion, salvation is a most urgent thing. It is urgent that you dear reader, get out of the broad way, and enter into the narrow way by the strait gate of conversion, because if you remain as you are you will be destroyed. The broad way, in which every unconverted person is leads to destruction. God will destroy the impenitent, unbelieving sinner’s soul and body in hell. Hell is a place of conscious, and eternal punishment. God is thrice holy, just, and immutable. His justice is inflexible and He is bound and determined to punish sin. He will punish the sinner, or He will punish the sinner's Substitute. How can you sit there unmoved and unconcerned when you are headed for hell? Hell is a place of fire hotter than Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. Hell is a place where the sinner is bound in everlasting chains. Hell is a place of darkness, blacker than the darkness of Egypt. Hell is a place where the sinner is hopelessly enslaved by his sins forever. Hell is a place where you cannot get away from God, and you must face Him forever as your Judge and Executioner. God only has two places to put people- heaven or hell, and unless you are saved by the justifying work of Christ, God will have no choice but to shut you up in hell forever. The only way God could not send an unsaved sinner to hell would be if He quit being God, and you can mark it down, God won't quit being God. Dear Friend, unless you enter into salvation by the gate of conversion illustrated in our text by the strait gate, God is going to eternally destroy you in hell.

And if you will continue reading in the following verse you will see that conversion is an urgent manner for there is a great day of final judgment coming. In that day (verse 22) multitudes will be exposed for the false professors they always were. There are many who profess the name of Christ who have never been genuinely converted. There are many who have entered into church membership but never entered in the strait gate. There are many who have walked the aisle, and shook a preacher's hand, but they are in the broad way. And there are some of you reading this who are another kind of hypocrite, the kind who despises the professed people of God thinking yourself better than those Christians, and you will also meet your doom, and hear the awful words of Christ, "depart from me, I never knew you”!

Dear reader, will you heed my warning and be converted? Or will you be like Felix and wait for a more convenient day? As far as we know that old sinner never had a convenient day, and he has been in hell for two thousand years now, and won't ever get out, except long enough to appear before the final judgment to get a condemned body to be punished forever, and then back down to hell for eternity. Neighbour, you have a convenient day right now. Turn from your sins and turn to Christ now. It is eternally urgent.

The Strait Gate

(Article for publication week of 5-15- AD 2013)

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be that 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).

As our Lord comes to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, He urges us to enter through the strait gate into the narrow way that leads to life. The word strait is somewhat archaic, and not used that much today. It means “difficult”. By the “strait gate” our Lord illustrates the Biblical doctrine of conversion. I pray the Lord may grace you dear reader (if you have not already), to enter into the way that leads to salvation by the strait gate that is by true conversion.

If you have ever read “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan, you will remember that Bunyan’s simile was the “wicket gate”, which opened to the way that led to the Celestial City. It is the strait gate of our text that Bunyan has in mind as copies of his book with marginal notes and scripture references show. If you have never read “Pilgrim’s Progress”, I highly recommend it, and would even lend you a copy if you are serious about salvation and the state of your soul, and your growth in grace.

Our Lord teaches us here in Matthew 7:13-14 that the only entrance into the way that leads to heaven, is through the strait gate, the gate of conversion. Unless you are converted, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven (see Matthew 18:3; John 3:1-8; and Colossians 1:13). Conversion is the turning of an elect sinner from a state of nature to a state of grace. Paul said of the Christians at Thessalonica that he knew they were elect of God because they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (I Thessalonians 1: 4,9). God turns a sinner, and that sinner, being turned, turns (Jeremiah 31:18). Theologically, conversion is the certain result of regeneration. In regeneration, God draws a sinner; in conversion that sinner comes freely to Christ. In regeneration, God grants repentance; in conversion the sinner repents. In regeneration, God gives the gift of faith; in conversion, the sinner believes to the saving of his soul. In regeneration, God gives spiritual life; in conversion, the sinner lives spiritually. God must draw a sinner, but when God draws, that sinner will surely come to Christ in faith repenting of his sins (John 6:37, 44). Such is the Biblical connection between regeneration and conversion. So, to enter in at the gate of conversion is to turn from your sins, and turn to Christ, as a result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Conversion is a conscious entering into salvation by the Door of Christ Himself (John 10:1-7).

There are many of you who have made some profession of religion, but you have never been converted by entering into the narrow way via the strait gate. Some of you grew up and matured and settled down and put off some of your youthful foolishness, but you have never been converted. Some of you perhaps came to understand certain biblical truths better, and changed denominations, but you are not converted. You can make all kinds of outward changes, and some of them may be for the better per se, but reformation of life, nor change of principles is necessarily true conversion. This is an area where we have to be so careful, because a converted person certainly will repent and follow after holiness, but please understand, moral reformation is not necessarily conversion or true salvation. True conversion is the result of God’s saving work, which brings a poor sinner to the end of his way, to seek and to find salvation in Christ Alone.

I have tried to point you to the gate that opens to Christ and salvation through Him. May the Holy Spirit draw you to Christ, Who is the only door of salvation.



Are You in the Narrow Way?

(Article for publication week of 5-8- AD 2013)

“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).

Dear reader, are you in the narrow way? According to my text, you are right now in one of two ways- you are either in the narrow way that leads to heaven, or you are in the broad way that leads to hell. There is no middle ground; there is no other way but these two.

I ask you not if you are religious. Many of you are religious as all get out, but you are in the broad way, not the narrow way. I ask you not if you have “accepted Jesus.” That terminology is not in the Bible, and you don’t accept a Lord, you bow down to Him, and Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. There are many of you that have made some kind of profession, or “accepted Jesus”, so-called, but you are in the broad way, and unless you get out of the broad way, and enter into the narrow way, you are going to wind up in hell forever and ever. Many of you are irreligious and living ungodly lives, but you vainly imagine that you will escape the wrath of God, and you are in the broad way, not the narrow way.

The vast majority of you are in the broad way. My text says, for there are ‘few” who enter into the narrow way by the strait gate. The narrow way that leads to God and heaven is the way of true holiness and perseverance, and there are but a few in that way. The way that leads to hell and destruction is broad enough to accommodate about everything. It is broad enough to accommodate scandalous sin, imagined morality and dead profession as well. The devil doesn’t care if you are living in open sin, or if you are outwardly moral, or if you are lost in the church, he’s got you any way.

Now if you claim to be in the narrow way, I have another question for you- how did you get into the narrow way? My text says there is only one way to get into the narrow way, and that is through the strait gate. The word “strait” is somewhat archaic, and is not used that much today, so we need to be sure we know what it means. The word “strait” means “difficult”. Contrary to what many teach today, salvation, or true conversion is not easy, it is difficult. Now be sure you understand, salvation is simple, but simplicity and ease are two different things. Conversion is simply repenting of your sins and believing in Christ. That is so simple a little child can be saved, if and when the Holy Spirit draws him. Salvation is so simple, a simple-minded person can be saved, and that is good, because I am a simple-minded man. But repentance and faith are not as easy as most think. In fact I will tell you it is IMPOSSIBLE for you to repent and believe in Christ without a supernatural work of God. Our Lord said in John 6:44, “no man CAN come to me, except the Father which sent Me draw him.” Dear reader, please heed my text if you value your never dying soul. If you have not entered through the strait gate, you are not in the narrow way, and your case is desperate. Dear reader, if you claim to be saved without going through the strait gate, I fear for your soul, and pray the Lord may have mercy upon you before it is too late.

I want to be sure that you understand that Christ Himself is this gate of conversion. He said Himself in John 10: 7, “I am the door.” I can point you to the door, but you must enter in. May the Lord by the power and personality of His Holy Spirit draw you to Himself today.