"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."
Today's lesson is a simple one that is often misunderstood. Jesus said "Enter ye in at the strait gate" causing many to contend that a person is to live a perfect, sin free life in order to enter into heaven. That is not what this instruction means at all. To enter in at the "strait" gate is simply to enter through Jesus Christ, He is the "strait gate". We human individuals, without the righteousness that is imputed into us through faith in Jesus Christ, are incapable of living without sin. That fact was acknowledged by Jesus Himself in Matthew 19:17; "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." The commandments that apply to us today are the ones Jesus explicitly left for us; "And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. THERE IS NONE OTHER COMMANDMENT GREATER THAN THESE." (Mark 12:29-31)~
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