Luke 13:22-27

Luke 13:22-27 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

When the day of rest, salvation, and long suffering has ended, Jesus will get up and close the door; then the lost will be lost forever. Then it will not matter how much people were acquainted with Jesus; it will only matter if they have already entered into his presence through faith in him, for faith in Jesus is the door. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) Salvation faith means you have made Jesus Lord of your life, doing what Peter said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38) Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit means God inhabits your soul.

You have been made a citizen of God's kingdom; the presence of the Holy Spirit in you is the earnest, the prepayment of that eventual state of bliss. Because of this "earnest" in us, we who have put our whole trust in Jesus Christ will go to heaven. John states the plan of salvation very simply, And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that HATH THE SON hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:11-12) In John 1 he writes, 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. Paul writes, For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)

One question remains for all mankind: have you entered into the kingdom of God by faith in Jesus Christ? Without faith in his lordship and divinity, we are captive to sin, still outside of the kingdom of God. We have failed to come to God through the narrow way. What is the broad way, the natural way of thinking, the way that most people try to come to God? Most often, people try to please God through their own efforts, evaluating themselves among themselves. They tell God He must accept them because they are fairly good people. The drunk on skid row tells God he is a pretty good person, for he is not as bad as the drunk down the street. The woman or man practicing infidelity will say, I am not as bad as the person next door because I have not had as many partners as he/she has. The self-righteous will say, I don't know anyone as good as I am, who has performed as many good deeds as I have.

But God does not evaluate us in that way. Any sin, anything that is not God-like is considered sin. Imperfection will not inherit the kingdom of God; only the PERFECT WILL INHERIT THE KINGDOM. And who is perfect? The Bible says, all have sinned and have fallen short of God's perfection. All of us have gone our own way, and our sinful lifestyles, our human perspective of life, will never be acceptable in his perfect kingdom. No, we need a Savior, a perfect one. We need the Lord. God gave us a way to be perfect in his presence, by taking on his son's righteousness as our own. Jesus willingly provided us with his righteousness by dying for us, taking on the wrath of God, and then giving us his cloak of personhood as an acceptable son/daughter in the beloved family of God. Such an inheritance should make us shout praises to God.

What might keep us from entering in? A major deception is believing our lives are acceptable to God as they are. Another error is thinking God has to come around to our perspective, rather than we accepting his perspective. That is basically the failure of the Pharisee who entered the temple, gloating about his own goodness and righteousness. Jesus said, his self-righteous presence was not acceptable to God. At the same time, a tax collector in the temple felt himself so sinful he could not even look up to heaven. All he could do was beg God for mercy. Jesus said, who do you think God heard; whose words do you think were pleasing to God's ears? God heard the one who knew he was sinful, who knew he was not like God. This man did not present his life to God as something that was worthy of acceptance; nevertheless, he gained God's forgiveness. Peter said, repent of your life and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. If we make Jesus Lord of our lives, taking on Jesus Christ's righteousness as our righteousness, we will be saved, and the kingdom of God will be ours. No door to life will close in your face, for you have entered in through THE DOOR.