The narrow and broad roads, what are they in light of UR?
In light of the context of that passage, I believe that Jesus is speaking of the convergence of right attitudes, right doctrine, and right actions.
Mat. 7: 13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Note that this passage comes at the close of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Mat. 5-7. In the sermon on the mount Jesus speaks of right attitudes, challenges some of the evil doctrines of the Pharisees, and rebukes the hypocritical religious actions of the Pharisees (the majority religious leaders of that day). Aionian Life, the life and blessings of God for us today is only attained through the convergence of these three - a razor’s edge. One can have right actions (prayer, fasting, giving, etc.), but is one does is for selfish motives, one misses out on the blessing of such. One can have right “doctrine”, but if one’s attitudes are wrong or one does not put flesh on those doctrines, they are useless. One can have right attitudes, but if one’s doctrine is screwed up, it can cause all manner of twisted, even evil, actions!
The narrow way is the convergence of right attitudes, right beliefs, and right actions! Such is truly a razor’s edge. The further we are of that narrow way, the more destruction and death reigns in our lives instead of the kingdom of God - life, peace, joy, love, righteousness, wholeness, etc.!
I wouldn’t say this is “in light of UR”, but “in light of the context”, what Jesus was speaking about in the Sermon on the Mount!
The way is so narrow only one has entered in. Christ found the door that leads from death and opened it. Rising from the dead, the entire cosmos rose in him. “For from him and through him and to him are all things.”
Enter through the narrow gate.
For broad is the gate and spacious the road that leads away into destruction, and many there are who enter through it.
For narrow is the gate and compressed the road that leads away into life, and few there are who find it. (Mathhew 7:13,14)
I see this teaching of our Lord entirely consistent with the eventual reconciliation of all people to God. But first, it is important to consider the word “destroy”. It is important to recognize that some scriptures use “destroy” in a different way from that which the modern person thinks of it. We think of destruction as annihilation, or we think of it as smashing something in such a way that it is rendered useless. It’s original form has been altered. Sometimes “destroy” is used in the New Testament in the sense of refining something, so that the original form is altered to a purified form. Consider the following passage from I Peter 1:3-6 ESV and verse 7, DGC translation:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be begotten again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials…
Verse 7
… in order that the proving of your faith, much more valuable than gold that is being destroyed through fire and being proved, may be found for praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Notice it is the proving of your faith which is much more valuable than the proving of gold. Peter speaks of “gold that is being destroyed through fire”. Now we know that when gold is refined by fire, it is not annihilated or even destroyed in the sense of being rendered useless (such as a toy that is destroyed by smashing it). Rather the original form of the gold, the ore, is destroyed and the impurities removed so that after the refining process is complete, only the pure gold remains.
So it is with the proving of our faith through various trials. We are refined, impurities removed until we come forth as “pure gold”.
I will now offer two possible explanations of the teaching of Christ concerning the broad and narrow roads:
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There are few people who become disciples of Christ. Millions have never even heard of Christ. Millions who have heard of him have been taught that He is a mere prophet. Many have been taught non-Christian religion and/or philosophy from a very young age. Probably fewer than one in a thousand o have become His disciples, submitting to Jesus’ authority. They are on the broad road to destruction — destruction of all that is evil, of all the personality traits which characterize their rebellion against Christ. Those who have never heard of Him, have not rebelled against Him, of course. But they still need correction — purification. So after judgment, God will send them to hell, that great “purgatory” which will purify them so that they will become ready to live eternally with the Lord.
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This second explanation is similar to the first in many respects. The major difference is that it is recognized that there are some disciples which need purification also. We read in Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
There are many references in Revelation, to the overcomers and the great privileges they will be granted. These are the same people as “the manifest sons of God” the revealing of which the creation is groaning. These are the ones on the narrow path (a much narrow path than the one is explanation #1). These overcomers will not need correction, and will be privileged to reign with Christ, eat from the tree of life, receive a white stone with a new name written on it, be clothed in white garments, and will inherit all things. Each of them will also be a pillar in God’s temple, and never go out of it. Each one will also be granted the privilege of sitting with Christ on His throne.
Some of the people who are raised in the second resurrection, are also God’s people, but they will need purification. We read that John saw in his vision that , “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.” (Revelation 20:5). The “rest of the dead” are those who are not raised in the first resurrection when Jesus comes. So the rest of the dead will be judged in that Great White Throne judgment described in verses 11-13. then we read in verse 15:
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
This seems to imply that the names of some of the people who will be judged at that time WILL be found written in the book of life. They will not have been overcomers, but they will not receive as severe a correction as those who have rebelled against Christ. In other words, there may be some sort of “purgatory” for some people who belong to God in some sense, and yet are not overcomers or were not on the narrow path.
Thanks gentlemen. It passage was preached on Sunday and I walked away so discouraged because I felt like it left a big crowd questioning their salvation. My wife didn’t see it the way I did, but did say that we were all messed up and wondered how anyone could have the right answers. I will ponder all that you have posted and get back. I did read through the first 13 or so chapters of Matthew at one time today and saw a sequencing that I had never seen before. Much of what Sherman shared. I highlighted everything Jesus said we needed to do. I tend to believe that he was saying that if we did what He said it would bring life, the abundant life that He talked about. If we didn’t it would bring destruction. I don’t see this passage talking about heaven and hell, the kingdom life now. Whitney Houston comes to mind for some reason. A wasted life, but not eternal burning.
It’s easy to take passages out of context and interpret them to say something different than intended by the author. A famous saying - “A Text without a Context is a Pretext.” And a Pretext is an assumed meaning that is not likely what the author intended. Context is very important.
When reading Matthew it is especially important to recall who Jesus and Matthew are addressing - the Jews, those under the covenants of Abraham and Moses, a peculiar people chosen by God from amoung all the nations. And the Jews did not have a solid theology based on the Mosaic covenant concerning the afterlife. Instead, the Mosaic covenant was about this life, what would happen in this life if one obeyed the teachings of Moses and what would happen to them if they disobeyed. The blessings and cursings of the Mosaic covenant were both individual and community wide, local and national.
In short, I believe that “destruction” in this passage does not speak of punishment in the afterlife, but of the negative ramifications of sin that come in this life, negative ramifications to us personally, to our loved ones, and to our communities. The wages of sin is death, destruction, perishing, winding up in Hinnom Valley (a trashed life, death and destruction of all whom and all that we love)!
And this warning is for everyone, whether they are believers or not. If a believer (ex. Witney Houston) gives herself over to sin (drugs, alcohol, etc.) it will lead to destruction, though she “believes”, though she’s filled with the Spirit at times, though she’s born of the Spirit, though she’s saved.
Thus in context, the immediate and extended literary context and the cultural context, I believe that in this passage destruction speaks of the negative ramifications of sin in this life to us and our loved ones. And “life” speaks of a life blessed by God as spoken of in Deut. 28.
Life - Blessed shall you be in the city, in the country, your children, your work, your finances, your savings, your relationships, etc. etc. etc. Even your enemies shall be at peace with you.
Destruction - Cursed shall you be in the city, in the country, your children, your work, your finances, your savings, your relationships, etc. etc. etc. An your enemies shall walk all over you.
Jesus preached, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Repent, change your attitudes, beliefs, and actions to what is right because the rule and reign of a loving God is within reach; you can participate in the kingdom of God it even now! You can be filled with His Spirit, empowered for life, and delivered from evil from within and without.
Of course, the Jews were also looking for the coming Messiah, the One who would deliver them from the oppression of the Romans and bring them into the Messianic Age. There was a great longing for freedom from oppression and the longing for the full realizaion of the kingdom of God, the reign of the Messiah, the Christ, a longing for a cataclismic change of venue, complete righteousness on earth!
Blessings in this life, participation in the Age of the Messiah to come, and possibly more was wrapped up in the concept of “Life”, Aionian Life.
One must read Hell “INTO” this passage in order to see it there. ECT/Hell certainly was NOT a warning of the Mosaic Covenant. And Jesus specifically and repeatedly affirmed the Mosaic Covenant, even in the Sermon on the Mount.
Sherman, agreed with everything you’ve said. It’s interesting, thought, that it would appear many of the early Christian theologians, notably even “our” own Origen and Nyssa, considered Gehenna a description of an afterlife place. I think this may come from “He can destroy the body and soul in Gehenna”.
I’m not certain that we can count on temporal blessings (as we count blessings) when we follow Jesus, though. Yes, the Jews were promised this, but we were promised persecution in this life.
It seems to me that while the broad/narrow road can be seen as referring to this eon (and accurately so), the next age angle can’t be tossed out or diminished, either. Jesus is not only talking about life in this age. I think He’s also talking about what happens in the next. Paul, toward the end of Col 1, says,
Why? Why work so hard? Why strive in this way? Paul paid big time for the kingdom work he did, and here he is again, working hard to save yet another church from heresy of one type or another. But if he knows that the moment they see Jesus, they will be as He is, why bother? It didn’t make the people’s lives better here and now, but rather, on the surface, worse. Traveling that narrow road increased – did not decrease persecution.
Paul also talks about running the race for the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ (1 Cor), etc. Again, why? Is he worried about his salvation? So he has to run this race and win or he’s going to hell? That’s what it looks like, but I think maybe the “prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ” is perhaps something other or beyond salvation. Maybe it is to become one of those covenant sons (not just children) of God he mentions in Ro 8 as being anticipated with great longing by the whole of creation. Could that be the prize? Being counted among the first fruits? Could the high calling be to sonship and leadership and servanthood in the next age? Are these sons the predestined ones – not predestined only to receive salvation, but rather to rule and reign with Him in the next age; to be His ambassadors and the servants of the still wandering – to lead them home according to His plan?
So if this is right (big IF, I realize), the narrow road is the road of the covenant adopted sons; the representatives of the family YHWH, fully grown and entrusted with responsibility by the Father in the age to come. Few there be that find it, though all will eventually be FOUND by Him (and by His brethren?) A high calling indeed; to work alongside our magnificent elder brother to continue the plan of redemption in the next age.
I happen to have been thinking on these things on my way home tonight (which is a long way, and late since the kiln hadn’t finished firing) so hence the long rambling post. Thanks for helping me to draw my thoughts together. Perhaps I’ll put them in better order tomorrow for my blog. 
Love and blessings, Cindy
Yeah, I always struggled with the narrow/wide road passage… that was actually the passage that John MacArthur was discussing in his sermon on the radio, the one that ended up being the final straw that pushed me away from God for about four or five years… 
But since then I’ve always wondered if people were interpreting it wrong, and that the context was the key, and I wondered if what Jesus was saying, the context and general thrust of the sermon, was mostly about the here and now… basically the way that I interpreted it, setting aside what people like MacArthur had said about it, was that Jesus was saying ‘it’s easy to get things wrong in life, but it’s hard to get things right in life’.
Or like Philip Yancey pointed out in one of his books when discussing the Sermon on the Mount, that maybe Jesus was just stating how things really are, how the Kingdom of God works, or reality, basically…
So I appreciate what you have to say here, Sherman. 
It confirms some of my thoughts about this.
But then again, Cindy, I appreciate what you have to say too (as I always do), and you may be right.
Maybe you’re both right, to some extent.
I’m just glad that I don’t have to see things the way MacArthur does. 
Thank you all for sharing
I kinda wondered if Paul just loved God so much he wanted to do as much as possible in his name.
Hey, one can dream, right?
Yes Cindy I’m in agreement with you. The higher calling is to be part of the better resurrection, the barley company, the manifested fully mature sons of God, those who have been beheaded, so the true head leads (mind of Christ).
There is a significant difference between Systematic Theology and Biblical Theology. Systematic Theology tends to homogenize everything, interpreting what Paul said through the lens of what Jesus said through the lense of what Moses said through the lens of what John said through the lense of what Daniel said etc. I tend towards interpreting scripture more from a Biblical Theology perspective, interpreting what Matthew records Jesus saying by looking at the context of Matthew, its literary, cultural, historical, and authorial context, and not even considering what Paul wrote later.
Thus when trying to understand the Mat. 7 passage about the Narrow and Broad Roads, I note the surrounding literary context, who was Matthew writing to, what was Matthew’s primary messages, etc. Matthew wrote to the Jews and thus the Mosaic Covenant would have been a huge influence as well as the then present Jewish culture. And Jesus was speaking to Jews who grew up under the teachings of Moses, as well as the influence of the Pharisees, Saduccees, etc.
So what did Jesus mean when speaking of Life, the Narrow Road? I believe He was referencing the very present reality of having a life blessed by God. Does this preclude hard times or persecution? Of course not for Jesus had just said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.” In fact, of all the beattitudes, the blessing for being persecuted for righteousness was stated twice! And yet those who are willing to enter the fight for righteousness and be persecuted are empowered with the faith that they shall prevail and that theirs IS the kingdom of heaven, the rule and reign of God - tremendous hope and faith for the present reality and the age to come!
The beattitudes are the foundation for the whole sermon on the mount. Hunger, poverty of soul, broken-heartedness, war (peace makers), persecution, submission (meekness), all of these speak of struggle and trials that are common to the life blessed by God. We are blessed with overcoming, but in order to overcome we must face struggles and trials! And our hope and prayer is not only for the sweet by-and-by, but for the now, the very present reality that we now live in. So yes, Jesus was speaking of trials and sorrows that are common to life, but promising blessing in the middle of these trials and sorrows, comfort in the middle of our broken-heartedness, bringing wholeness where there is brokeness, peace where there is war, propering even though the whole world is set against you! Seeking not only prosperity for ourselves, but prosperity for all our loved ones, for our towns and cities! And I’m not only speaking of financial prosperity, but prospering in our relationships, in our families, in our communities, in our bodies with health, in our governments with righteous laws and rulers, all manner of prosperity - wholeness, shalohm!
The road that leads to such a life is truly narrow, and few there be who really get on that narrow road and lead a life that brings healing and wholeness to all that they touch, all whom they know! Few, very few really live that way!