I don't understand this. Please explain.

Can we change this at all? Does God want us to change this?


Matthew 7:14 (King James Version)

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

God will be left with only those that truly love Him.

We can and should endeavor to make it a "few more" rather than a "few less".

We need to get our hands clean, our hearts pure. We need to get right with God. And we need to continue confessing and repenting of our sin to stay right.

Then, we start praying for the salvation of people. Whom ever God leads us to pray for. Sometimes this means people groups, some times it means some one you barely know (Like the cashier at the mini-mart), sometimes it is your closest friends or relatives. Pray for them, wrestle with God for them, stand in the gap and intercede until God saves them.

You may not make the way any broader, But God will have saints to worship Him.

Jason

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Jason Smith

Honestly if God knew how little people would be saved. Couldn't he have made a better way for us to be saved?

Right now, I don't know any saved christians in my life. Everyone is using Christ for their own benefit.

It feels like there is gonna be 100 people up there.

Was God too harsh with His standards

GOD gave what was most dear and precious;
HE offered up HIS Only Son as an expression
of HIS eternal love. The gift of saving
grace that forgives and pardons us is free.
But GOD is holy and HE is just, so HE
cannot allow what is not holy and justified
in HIS heaven.

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Martin G. Smith

Actually, Spurgeon believed that the majority of mankind would be saved (and many other godly men have believed this). I don't mean the majority of people alive today necessarily, but over the course of all history, the number of saved would be more than those who weren't.

"It is a sweet belief to my own mind that there will be more saved than lost, for in all things Christ is to have the pre-eminence, and why not in this?" - Spurgeon

This excerpt is from his sermon "Infant Salvation".

With care in Christ...

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Taylor Otwell

God "won" on the cross, and His victory is not measured by how many people get saved by God in his grace. The number of rebels who are transfered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son is a consequence of victory, not a determiner of it.

God made a perfect way for us to be saved, and scripture says any man can come to him, his perfect way can make us perfect in His son. And it is free and open to all who believe.

the problem is many will not, they can not and even if they could by themselves they would still refuse, they are many enemies of God, haters of God etc.

God slaughtered His only son and shed his blood as a ransom for those who would humble themselves and place their faith in His Christ. What God will do to those that despise that payment we can only imagine...

Whenever we blaim God for something, we are reading the word wrong or we are missing something in the big picture.

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CHRISTIAN

Actually the bible says few will be saved if we take verses like Matthew 7:13-14 to mean saved.

Here's an article by J C Ryle with bible verses and showing how the bible history (eg: during Noah's days, Lot's days, King David etc)has played out which seems to support the notion that more will be lost than saved. A good read
http://www.the-highway.com/articleSept07.html


I know Spurgeon and some others believe that more people will be saved but so far I have not seen them give any convincing bible text from it (except for infants that are saved as the bible states it). Spurgeon mentioned that he believes more will be saved because to him if more go to hell than heaven than that means the devil will win over God(sorry can't remember the exact word here as I can't find the article which I read it from). Spurgeon mentioned that the bible says and I paraphrase 'many people from all over will be saved as mentioned in the bible'. The problem I see in this remark is that although yes there's a lot of people will be saved but nowhere does it compare with the number of people that will go to hell. So it could very well be possible that although many are saved but if we compare it to the whole population, this is but just a fraction of those that are going to hell.

The verses that has even an inkling of comparison between the number of people going to heaven/hell is in Luke 13:23-24 and Matthew 7:13-14 and some others as stated in the J C Ryle article.


PS: If we include all those infants, then maybe there will be more going to heaven than hell??--this I do not know as I would think infants will not apply to verses like Matthew 7 and Luke 13

PPS: While I can understand Spurgeon's reasoning of if more people go to Hell than Heaven, than wouldn't the devil be victorious over God...I will then ask this question. If we see the world today and its history, we will see very few bearing the fruits of the Spirit and following God's commands and we are told this is how we know that they are Christians. God had said that He rescue us for His glory and His namesake. So if so few are showing fruits yet they are still saved (excluding infants)--it seems to go against the very word of the bible (evidence of being saved is the fruits of the Spirit) and also lessen God's glory.

One cannot say that many more are saved than lost when those people that show fruits of the spirit are a minority. Are we then to say that the majority that are saved are baby Christians. Nowhere in the bible does it mention that majority of Christians saved are spiritual babies (immature) in Christ or that majority saved are not showing fruits of the spirit.

Thus, from the bible verses and history in the bible plus present day world and history (outside the bible)--it seems to me that more people will be lost than saved.
But I also remember that 2/3 of the angels were on God's side (ie majority was with God)

PPPS : The only other option is if towards the end (ie in the future), so many more will be saved than lost. This I do not know.

Edit to add more things

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geraldine

Codek,

Does it say that everyone on the broad road goes to the lake that burns with fire?

I personally think v14 should be taken as a whole with Matt 7.13-16, it could just be me b/c right after v14, Jesus tells us to beware of false teachers. I think these are those teachers who also tried to enter in at the strait gate and failed; so they've began to leading people to the broad gate where they are because it's just plain easier.

Human beings are basically lazy, Jesus was saying that not many will make the effort to overcome the sin in their lives. I know this to be true in my life; it is a constant effort & fight to not lay down and say, "Ok, I'm good right where I'm at." No, we've got to get up and start again.

Luke 17.24, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

According to Abbott's Illustrated New Testament:
[i]"'Strait;' narrow, difficult to be entered. It requires watchfulness and a constant struggle to resist temptation, and to live in obedience to the precepts of Christ. And there are comparatively very few who do thus live, and they are consequently here represented as travelling in an unfrequented path. The great multitude give themselves up to sin. They are therefore represented as travelling the broad highway."[/i]

This is from Adam Clarke's commentary:
[i]"Nothing renders this way either narrow or difficult to any person, but sin. Let all the world leave their sins, and all the world may walk abreast in this good way."[/i]

But anyway... God is always the winner!


God bless,
Lysa

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Lisa