You asked, “What does he mean by FEW?”
February 23, 2010 by Ben Griffin
This is part two of a discussion started here.
Today’s question, “What does he mean by FEW?” comes from Matthew 7:13-14.
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”
To hit the question head on, what Jesus means when he says few find the road to salvation is that… (drumroll) few find the road to salvation.
Just because you are in a church does not mean you are saved. Just because you do good things or are a moral person does NOT mean you are saved. Our hope is in Jesus alone. Not by any merit of our own. In fact, we are saved by grace (not because we deserve it) through faith (because our hope is in Jesus alone.)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:6-8
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9
Our world is filled with false hopes that ultimately and always lead to death. Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century preacher called the “prince of preachers” put it this way…
I am told that years ago a boat was upset above the falls of Niagara, and two men were being carried down the current, when people on the shore managed to float a rope out to them, which was seized by them both.
One of them held fast to it and was safely drawn to the bank; but the other, seeing a great log come floating by, unwisely let go the rope and clung to the log, for it was the bigger thing of the two, and apparently better to cling to. The log with the man on it went right over the vast abyss, because there was no link between the log and the shore.
The size of the log was no benefit to him who grasped it; it needed a connection with the shore to produce safety. So when a man trusts to his works, or to sacraments, or to anything of that sort, he will not be saved, because there is no junction between him and Christ.
But faith, though it may seem to be like a slender cord, is in the hands of the great God on the shore side; infinite power pulls in the connecting line, and thus draws the man from destruction. Oh the blessedness of faith, because it unites us to God!
