“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
As a young girl, I lived in the northern part of the country, where we received a lot of snow, and it was difficult to walk in; especially, when the snow was light and fresh. So I learned to follow in someone else’s footsteps at an early age. That way, I was not as likely to sink in the snow. Later, when I learned about the Lord and I wanted to be more like him; I asked the Lord if I could be like a little girl again. In my mind’s eye, I imagined myself holding on to the back of his shirt, so that I could follow in his footsteps. Because I grew up in a dysfunctional environment and moved so much during that time; I attended many different churches and heard so many different teachings that I began to wonder if anyone really knew what they were talking about. Why did each place of worship believe that they owned the cornerstone of salvation, when they each seemed to teach and behave contrary to what I read in the Word of God? I also wondered why the Lord did not speak to us like he did in the past, with the people who are mentioned in his Word. Why are we not witnessing the great miracles that were mentioned in the Word of God? What was wrong with us that kept us from experiencing this same presence in our lives? Perhaps this is where my journey began―to find God. I developed a hunger to want to know the Lord and to understand his Word. Along my journey, I had the opportunity of attending a church that was teaching something new that I had never heard before. At that time my knowledge of the Word of God was still minimal, and therefore I was naive enough to believe just about anything. There, I became a Born-Again Christian and I was encouraged to speak in tongues. (A gibberish language) Immediately after this, I felt a strong conviction in my heart that when I was speaking in tongues, I was not really speaking in tongues. So I began to furrow through the Word of God and I compared my experience with what the Word of God said. The Word of God teaches that *speaking in tongues is a gift that is given, so that those whom receive it will have the ability to communicate with others, in a foreign language, and teach about God. My enthusiasm for this church quickly dwindled, after I learned this.
*The following scriptures support that the gift of tongues is the ability to speak in more than one language and that it is not the gibberish noise that many church leaders would have us believe: Mark 16:15-18, Act’s 2:1-12, 10:44-48, and 19:6; 1 Corinthians 13:1, 13:8, 14:1-25, and 14:39.
Now, I would like to refer back to the beginning of this chapter, when I quoted Matthew 7:14.
Doesn’t it seem that if only a few people will find the way that leads to life; than those whom teach, “All you have to do is profess that Jesus Christ is Lord and you are born- again/saved,” is perhaps too easy? If this were true, then why didn’t Jesus teach this as well, so that everyone could be saved? In truth, it is not possible for anyone to be born-again; unless they have passed away and experience the rapture, at the time that the Lord returns, when the great trumpet sounds. The only exception to this rule is if one experiences the rapture like Enoch, Moses, Elijah and Jesus Christ. Please review the following scriptures that support what I have just stated:
... Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. ...
Revelation 1:4-5 (NIV)
Jesus died on the cross. He was dead and then he was buried and he rose again. Jesus was dead, but now he is alive; thus, he was resurrected and born-again.
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born-again.”
John 3:3 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. *Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. ... ‘You must be born-again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
John 3:5-8 (NIV)
Those whom are born of the Holy Spirit will participate in the first resurrection; then, they will truly be “born-again.” (Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Matthew 24:30-31)
*One born of woman, in water, from the womb.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:10-13 (NIV)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26 (NIV)
Please review the great mystery shared by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Colossians 1:17-18 (NIV)
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:6 (NIV)
At the *resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the **angels in heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
Matthew 22:30-32 (NIV)
*This is the second resurrection that will take place, after the millennium, when the Lord dwells on earth, on the Day of Judgment.
**The fallen angels who rebelled against Almighty God.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The Lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-15 (NIV)
When we are born into this world, we are born of the flesh and of this world. If during our lifetime, we develop a relationship with the Lord and learn how to walk according to The Way, then we have an opportunity of becoming born-again. However, this requires more than a few simple steps to the front of a congregation and professing, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Until we actually submit to the Lord and truly allow him to become the Lord of our life, our words are meaningless. During the remainder of our lifetime, we are required to study the Word of God, learn the Laws of Moses, and to observe them. This is necessary in order to recognize our sins, turn, and repent. This is not a Sunday morning commitment; but this is a continual, nonstop, every day, for the rest of your life commitment. Then by the grace of the Lord, we will be lifted up and resurrected to eternal life. By being lifted up and resurrected, we are born of the spirit and we have been born-again.
