We’ve all heard the phrase, “walking the straight and narrow.” In contemporary conversation, it means holding to moral integrity, self-discipline, denying yourself some particular vice. In secular usage, this image is practically stripped of the profound meaning it carried when it was used by Jesus. This picture of a narrow gate (the word “strait” is in the KJV translation and means “narrow” or “confined” rather than “straight”) and a narrow or restricted road is found in Matthew 7:13-14.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matt. 7:13-14 NASB)
There is a close, though not exact, parallel in Luke 13:22-30, where Jesus warns, “Strive the enter through the narrow door.” The Matthew passage pictures a small gate that leads onto a narrow road. The narrow road seems to picture the Christian life with the narrow gate as the point of entrance. This narrow road leads to life. In contrast, Jesus warns of the wide gate and the broad or spacious road that leads to destruction. The Luke passage pictures just a narrow door, the entrance to eternal life. What do these images convey to us about salvation and the Christian life?
The way of salvation – the way to eternal life – is not the way of our natural inclinations. It is not our “default” setting. Only a few find the narrow gate. There is an effort (“strive to enter”) involved in coming through the narrow door. In contrast, the broad way and the wide gate is easy. Many go that way. We might be inclined, then, to assume that the narrow way can be reduced to self-discipline, hard work and self-effort to get to eternal life. Yet, that is the very thing that Jesus so strongly rebuked throughout the Sermon on the Mount. That was the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees – a self-righteousness, of which Jesus said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Self-righteousness, self-effort, self-justification – this is what comes naturally to fallen man. The self-righteous, who count on their own goodness, merits, self-discipline, etc. are headed down the broad road. Ironically, the modern connotation of “walking the straight and narrow” is somewhat antithetical to Jesus’ intended meaning. A life of self-discipline or works salvation is not the narrow way. To come onto the narrow road, we have to check the baggage of self-righteousness and pride at the gate.
This is, in one sense, what makes the gate/door so narrow and difficult. It goes against our grain. This was certainly true for much of Jesus’ original audience. Jesus’ warnings in both Matthew and Luke come in a context where most (or at least much) of Jesus’ contemporary audience believed that they were assured of heaven because they were Jews who tried to keep the law. They saw heaven as the default destination. In this, they were not unlike many today who believe they will go to heaven because they are a “good person.” To the careless self-assured, Jesus issues the urgent warning, “Strive to enter the narrow door.” The way is narrow because life is found only in Christ. We must trust in Him, alone, for salvation and righteousness. This goes against our sinful, natural inclination to rely upon ourselves and take pride in our own goodness. To enter the way of life requires that we recognize and confess our unrighteousness and utter need for the righteousness and salvation found only in Christ.
Furthermore, we can observe that Jesus’ words imply a concerted effort. The word translated in Luke’s gospel as “strive” is the word from which we get the English term “agonize.” That implies an intense effort. It was originally used of athletes straining with every fiber of their being to win at a competition. The word Jesus used in Matthew to describe the road as “narrow” is a word that connotes trial and difficulty. It’s not an easy road. It is constricted. The travelling is tough. At first glance, this seems to fly in the face of what was said above – that the way of salvation is not a path of self-effort or self-righteousness. In reality, these are complimentary truths. The entrance through the gate requires striving and effort, spiritually, because it goes against our natural inclination of self-righteousness. It requires a complete repudiation of our own works and faith in Christ alone. The striving, here, is ultimately a striving that’s initiated and empowered by divine grace. However, once we’ve entered through the gate, we find that the road, also, is narrow. It is strewn with difficulties and obstacles. The call of the gospel is not just a call to come to Jesus, in a decisive moment. It is a call to enter, through faith in Christ, upon a life of discipleship. This life involves struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. It will entail sacrifice and tribulation and persecution for righteousness’ sake.
We are not saved by enduring trials or making sacrifices for the sake of Christ. We are saved by Jesus Christ, on the basis of His perfect work of redemption. But to be saved is to be called to a life of discipleship, and it can be costly. To put it another way, we cannot merit eternal life by “walking the narrow way.” Salvation is, strictly, the free gift of God’s grace alone. However, there is only one way that leads to eternal life, and it is narrow. To receive the gift of salvation sets one upon the narrow road, for the only other option is the way that leads to destruction. If you’re not on the narrow road, you haven’t entered by the narrow gate either.
So, Jesus’ teaching leads us to see this profound paradox: Salvation is free, but extremely costly. It is incredibly simple, so much so that a little child can understand and embrace the gospel. Yet, it is so difficult as to be impossible, but for the grace of God. The gospel is a call to turn from sin and self-righteousness to receive Christ and the fullness of joy and salvation and peace that is found in Him. The implications of that call are profound, for this life and for eternity. To embrace and confess Christ as Lord and Savior changes everything. It means death to the old life, lived according to our own selfish whims and the course of this world. It means denying ourselves and taking up the cross to follow Christ. It signals the beginning of a lifelong struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil.
Jesus’ teaching here, as elsewhere, is such as would appeal (and does appeal still) only to those who hearts have been awakened and whose eyes have been opened by grace to see the great value of Jesus Christ. To those who perceive their great guilt and need, who are humbled and burdened under a sense of their own sinfulness and who see Christ as He truly is, an all-sufficient Savior for guilty sinners, the narrow road is a way of joy and blessing.