Q: What are the narrow gate and the wide gate of which Jesus spoke?
A: When Jesus spoke those words, He was speaking to those who were under the law of Moses. However, the same concept of the narrow gate and the wide gate still applies today in this present dispensation of grace.
The narrow gate is the gate through which all those who truly believe the gospel pass to eternal life. The gospel is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, freely gave His life on the cross to pay for our sins, and He rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we truly believe that, then God will count our sin debt as having been paid, and we will have eternal life.
The wide gate is the gate to destruction through which everyone else passes. All of the unbelievers will pass through the wide gate. This includes those who deny that God exists, the agnostics, and those of religions that worship other gods. But it also includes all of those who call themselves Christians but believe they will be saved by their good works rather than by God's grace through faith in the gospel. Unfortunately, this is where most of the people who say they are Christians are today. They are headed for the wide gate.
I once heard a non-denominational Bible teacher tell of a discussion with a man who had placed his faith in the teachings of a very large denomination. The man had asked the teacher about Matthew 7:13-14, which says, "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."
The teacher then asked the man, "Is your denomination many or few?" The man replied, "Many." So the teacher said, "Then what does this passage tell you?" Realizing the truth of the passage, the man replied, "They are headed for destruction."
FROM:
http://www.matthewmcgee.org/qa4.html#Q55Posted By The Crusader
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