“13 Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Religion will claim it’s on the narrow path while walking the wide path. The religious do not enter in through the “strait gate” but climbs up some other way.
“1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters in by the door is the Shepherd of the Sheep.
3 To Him the porter opens; and the sheep hear His Voice: and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4 And when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His Voice.” John 10:1-4
Jesus is the door by which we enter into the straight gate. At Calvary Jesus Christ paid the price for our entrance if we so choose to enter God’s great Salvation plan. Jesus, Who He is and what HE did, afforded the believing sinner Salvation and the believing Saint Sanctification. He paid the penalty of sin and broke the power of sin.
The finished work of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is a two fold work. He Saves us and wants to Sanctify us. The problem is too many Believers get swept to and fro in religious rites after their Salvation and no longer enter in through the strait gate, the Cross of Christ, for their Sanctification but through the religious gate filled with sanctimonious ceremonies and vain philosophies to live a victorious Christian life.
To be clear, when the Believer accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, we are Justified in the eyes of God. That is our position. However, our condition this side of Glory is what the Holy Spirit is commissioned to superintend AS LONG as we continue entering in through the strait gate, the Door…the Cross of Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit lusts to envy (James 4:5), He is jealous over those things we take to the religious rites to overcome because He is not commissioned to give the victory to religious rites but to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Such is why the Holy Spirit will always and without fail point you to the Cross of Christ. It is there that He (the Holy Spirit) is commissioned to do the work of God in our hearts and lives. It is there, the Cross of Christ, that we will receive all that we need.
The Cross of Christ Jesus IS the narrow path. It IS the strait gate; the door of which we enter into life and life more abundantly. HE IS the Way, the Truth and the Life because of what HE did for whosoever will believe.
Today is the day of Salvation for the believing sinner and it is the day of Sanctification for the believing Saint. Sin shall not have dominion over the Believer if we purposefully place our faith in the Cross of Christ and not our own abilities. Denying our self we are able to walk to narrow path and follow Jesus. Only then will we be able hear His Voice. Be Still and hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to the churches in this hour. Be determined to know nothing else among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Walk the narrow path.
-Donna Clark Warren
Living in The Spirit 