Strive to Enter the Narrow Door
This is Jesus’ charge. Strive to enter through the narrow door. The narrow door into the kingdom of God. This is the demand. That what is at stake is an ultimate destination; that is heaven or hell. So the demand of Jesus is to strenuously make the effort to enter the kingdom of God. To agonize over it by fighting sin (Luke 13:25-27) and remaining vigilant (Matt. 24:38-39,42) against anything that can block entry.
“And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” – Luke 13:23-24
The Greatest Threat to Our Entry Into the Kingdom
The greatest threat is our daily sin. So we make war on sin. Especially our own sin. It isn’t anyone else’s sin that can keep us from the kingdom of God, but our own sin. So it stands to reason that Jesus implores us to remain vigilant against temptation (Mark 14:38). That is, watch and be alert that we do not enter into temptation.
Pain and Pleasure Can Block Our Entry
The parable of the sower illustrates the conditions by which people come to faith in Christ, but fall away when hard times come or when there is persecution (Matt. 13:21) or as the cares of wealth and pleasures in life choke out a meaningful desire for God or His kingdom (Luke 8:14).
Praise and Physical Indulgence Can Block Our Entry
A desire for self-glory, recognition, or status is a barrier to entry into the kingdom of God (Luke 6:26). Not that accolades, rewards, or praises of people are harmful in themselves, but that when these are sought and reveled in for one’s own sense of gain or self-worth there simply becomes less room for the LORD and His kingdom. There is the lure of the praise of people for status, reputation, or acceptance above the strenuous effort necessary to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:1, Luke 6:26). The same goes for physical pleasure or comfort. Indulgences in drinking or eating to diminish or extinguish a desire for God as a substitute is a real threat that can block entry. Illicit drugs and pharmaceutical abuse follow this same principle (Luke 21:34).
Money is a Mortal Threat that Can Block Our Entry
With the pressures of economic stability and security, this is a big one. This is the one that Jesus warns us about most. He presses us by what He has said in Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Striving for wealth is not striving to enter the narrow door into the kingdom of God.
Jesus specifically says we can not serve both God and money (Matt. 6:24). We are not to lay up treasures for us on earth (Matt. 6:19). He tells us to not be concerned about what we will eat, drink or wear (Matt. 6:31). “The deceitfulness of riches enter in and choke out the word” (Mark 4:19). “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy” (Luke 12:33). “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has can not be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:24). “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20). “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).
The Healthy or Good Eye Helps to Gain Entry
That is, our perception or view of money in comparison to God as a matter of preference tells us if we are walking in the light. It is a comparative judgment in value. Do we love money, or love God? We can not serve both.
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” – Matthew 6:22-24
So whether you are walking in the light, or walking in darkness is predicated upon how you view money with respect to God. How we view money or wealth as a comparison to the value of God determines if our access through the narrow door is open or blocked. Moreover, if our eye is good (our perception of God having supreme value), then light resides within us. If our eye is bad, (our perception of money having supreme value), then darkness dwells within.
Entry by the New Covenant
The new covenant is the purchased possession of Jesus our LORD and King. It is new as compared to the old covenant when the fulfillment of the law was required by God’s people to walk blameless before Him. That their conduct and devotion were unblemished and right before God continually. Where atonement was required for sin through ritual sacrifices.
Christ fulfills the new covenant. More specifically, the LORD declared “I will put My law within them and on their heart, I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer. 31:33). To further reinforce the LORD’s work on this, He declared “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances” (Ezek.36:26-27).
Therefore, while Christ demands that we be vigilant and watchful of false christs, or false teachers, His promised Holy Spirit that indwells us will help us to do what He requires. That is to strive to enter by the narrow door. As we trust and rely on Jesus, it is the striving of God that we experience by His Holy Spirit to walk in his ordinances. So that with joy and peace we are able to strive to enter through the narrow door.
So what is the narrow door, specifically? It is the LORD Christ. We enter through Christ into the kingdom of God. We trust in Him and follow Him by grace as He is our LORD and King. As we know Him, we walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-26) and endure to the end.
“And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” – Luke 13:23-24 | Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” – Mark 10:15
In further careful reading of John Piper’s book, “What Jesus Demands from the World” he continues to detail what it is to enter the narrow door. In this third post about Jesus’ demand to enter the narrow door, there is an existing condition and status of those to belong to Christ. That is, for those who belong to Jesus, they shall strive to enter through the narrow door because they have already entered. A paradox that we strive to enter through a narrow door into the kingdom from inside the kingdom. Where there is this “secret of the kingdom” in Mark 4:11 (ESV) that the kingdom of God had already arrived. Such that Jesus, therefore, told His followers to experience the power of God now.
Whereas entry now through the narrow door is possible by the power of God to deliver from sin and eternal captivity. As it is written, by the power of faith as a child, we receive the kingdom of God and enter into it (Mark 10:15) prior to its consummation in the future. The following outline is a point-by-point walk-through of what it is to have eternal life now and as an inheritance (Matt. 19:29, Matt 25:46). What it further is to enter through the narrow door.
The Fight is to Cherish What We Have, Not Earn What We Don’t
As Piper writes, “The demands of Jesus are only as hard to obey as his promises are hard to cherish and his presence is hard to treasure.” The pursuit of Christ is the outcome of finding a treasure in a field. So the daily struggle is not to do what we don’t want, but to want what is “infinitely worthy of wanting.”
Jesus Promises to Help Us Do the Impossible
Those who are His are made certain of His help by John 15:5. In that without Him we unable to do anything. It is by abiding in Him that we are able to bear fruit. He affirms that His demands are impossible to meet on our own. Yet He has said that all things are possible with God (Mark 10:27).
Forgiveness and Justification are at the Bottom of Our Striving
The goal of our striving is not to obtain right standing and forgiveness before God, but it is the grounding of it. The cause of it. No joyful striving equals no secure relationship with God.
Perfection Awaits the Age to Come
As given by an earlier demand of Jesus, He requires perfection. A perfection that is unachievable among His followers. While Jesus knows we are unable to attain perfection, He “fulfills all righteousness” (Matt 3:15) within us. Highlighted by the fact Jesus called His most committed Apostles “evil” (Matt. 7:11). So the true follower is in an ongoing fight against sin and does not fall away.
Jesus Prays for Us that We Not Fail
He has given us His Holy Spirit. He also prays for us. That we remain in Him and do not fall away (John 17:11). Jesus is our advocate before the Father.
We are Striving to Enter Our Father’s House
“If God is our father, we love Jesus,” writes Piper as it is supported by scripture. So a sign that we are a child of God is our love for Christ. Since this is our new nature the LORD will see to our entry into His kingdom. “He is actively helping us to get home” rather than watching from a distance to see if we will strive to enter His kingdom and produce an effort to become His children.
Your Name is Written in Heaven
As you strive to enter through the narrow door into heaven, you must know that your name is already written there (Luke 10:20). For those who are His, your name written in heaven means that He will deliver you from evil and bring you into His kingdom.
You Were Chosen by God and Given to Jesus
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). In that those who are His, belonged first to the Father and they were given to Jesus (John 17:9). So those who come, Jesus reveals the Father to them and the Father keeps them from falling away. As it is written in Jesus’ prayer before the Father, “I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word” (John 17:6). You are given to Jesus by the Father and no one is able to snatch you out of the Father’s hand (John 10:29).
Jesus Sustains Our Striving by His Joy
So the way our striving is maintained is by the joy He has given to us. That in our joy we abide in Him. We are thereby able to successfully strive to enter through the narrow door by the imparting of His joy to us (John 15:11). “No one will take your joy from you,” Jesus says (John 16:22). Through Him and by Him and the joy He gives us, we have a lifelong striving to enter through the narrow door into the Kingdom of God. In summary, on this topic of entering the narrow door, the following excerpt appears in Piper’s book “What Jesus Demands From The World.”
OUR STRIVING WILL NOT BE IN VAIN
“Vigilance is the mark of the followers of Jesus. They know that “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction” (Matt. 7:13). They are serious about life. Heaven and hell are at stake. Therefore, they are seriously joyful. The Son of God has rescued them from the guilt and power of sin. They are children of God. Their names are written in heaven. They have received the Helper, the Spirit of truth. They have the promise of Jesus to be with them to the end of the age. They know that he is praying for them. They rejoice that they stand righteous before God because of Jesus. They have received the kingdom. They have eternal life as a present possession. And they marvel that no one can snatch them out of God’s hand. In this joy they are energized to strive to enter by the narrow door. And they are confident their striving will not be in vain.”
Matt. 6:1, Matt. 6:21-24, Matt. 6:31, Matt. 7:13, Matt 13:21, Matt. 13:50, Matt. 20:15, Matt. 24:38-39,42, Mark 4:19, Mark 10:25, Mark 14:38, Luke 6:20, Luke 6:24, Luke 6:26-27, Luke 8:14, Luke 11:35, Luke 12:15, Luke 12:33, Luke 13:24-27, Luke 13:28-29, Luke 20:46, Luke 21:34, John 18:36
