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Author
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Topic: strait is the gate...and few there be
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
We don't want our friends to die in their sins, unforgiven, and go to hell.
An important factor in reaching a decision to accept Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive you of your sins is reaching a point in your life when you come to understand you are completely incapable of standing in judgment before a perfect, holy, sinless God - something we're told in the Bible each and every one of us will someday have to do - and walking away blameless.
Because none of us can meet the standards of conduct acceptable to a holy God, the importance of having a relationship with Jesus Christ can not be overstated. Why? Because all who die without receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will someday be sentenced to an eternal hell from which there will be no hope of escape or rescue.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Eden
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posted
hey, and she may just be your friend and remain a pagan all her life. Some pagans can be nice people but they just don't believe in that Jesus died for them and they don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus. But for the rest they can be nice people.
love, Eden
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byfaith
Advanced Member
Member # 8061
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posted
Thank you for your input, I will pray about when to speak and what to speak for sure as I don't want to speak from flesh because that never works out.
She describes herself as "pagan".
Posts: 160 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2010
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Eden
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posted
byfaith, God will provide opportunities for you to say something, because you do have the sweetness of the Holy Spirit in you, and here and there it will shine through more than what is normal, and there always arise certain moments when "it's time to say something for the Lord".
love, Eden
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oneinchrist
Advanced Member
Member # 6532
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posted
Hi Byfaith,
I think a good start for you with your new friend would be for you to politely ask her why she "chooses" to be an atheist.
With love in Christ, Daniel
Posts: 1389 | From: Wind Lake, WI | Registered: May 2007
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
God bless you dear sister. I will pray for you and for your friend.
How To Accept Christ
Do You Know For Certain That You Have Eternal Life And That You Will Go to Heaven When You Die?
God wants you to be sure. The Bible says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn 5:13).
Suppose you were standing before God right now and He asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” What do you think you would say? You may not know what to reply. But you do know God loves us and has a purpose for our lives. The Bible states it this way, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
God’s Purpose Is That You Have Eternal Life.
You can receive eternal life as a free gift. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro 6:23b).
You can live a full and meaningful life right now. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10b).
You can spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven, for He promised, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn 14:3).
Our Need Is To Understand Our Problem.
God’s purpose is that we have meaning in life as we direct our lives and hearts toward Him. Then why is it that people seldom find true meaning in life? Our sinful nature keeps us from fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.
• We are all sinners by nature and by choice. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Ro 3:23).
• We cannot save ourselves. “Not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:9).
• We deserve death and hell. “For the wages of sin is death” (Ro 6:23a).
• We can receive what we do not deserve. God is holy and just and must punish sin, yet He loves us and has provided forgiveness for our sin. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6).
The Good News Is God’s Provision In Jesus Christ.
Becoming aware of our sinfulness, we may desire a remedy. God offers that remedy in His Son, Jesus Christ, who became like us to show us how we might become like Him.
• Jesus is God and became human. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn 1:1, 14a).
• Jesus died for us on the cross. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Pe 3:18a).
• Jesus was resurrected from the dead. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Ro 4:25).
The only way Jesus can affect our lives is for us to receive Him. The Bible says, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12).
How We Receive Jesus
Realizing that Jesus is the solution to our rebellion against God, we may desire to establish a relationship with Him. To do so the Bible says:
• We must repent of our sin. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Ac 3:19a).
Repentance is not just feeling sorry for our sin. “They should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds (Ac 26:20b). Repentance is turning away from our sin and turning to God through Jesus. It’s like making a U-turn.
• We must place our faith in Jesus. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
Faith is not just believing facts about Jesus. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder” (Jas 2:19). Faith is trusting in Jesus.
To Trust Totally in Jesus:
We must surrender to Jesus as Lord or Master “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For … it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Ro 10:9-10).
Surrendering to Jesus as Lord is not just words we repeat. Jesus warned, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7:21). Surrendering to Jesus as Lord is giving Jesus control of our lives.
To give Jesus control of our lives is like driving down the highway with another person. As long as you are driving, you are in control. If, at some point, you realize you do not know the way, but the other person does, and you say, “You take the wheel and drive,” then the other person is in control. The two of you will take the route that person chooses.
As evidence of giving Jesus control, you will want to identify with Him. The New Testament way is to Confess Jesus publicly (Mt 10:32-33) and to follow Him in baptism and Church membership (Ac 2:41).
Three Important Questions
• “Does what you have been reading make sense to you?”
• Is there any reason why you would not be willing to receive God’s gift of eternal life?”
• “Are you willing to turn from your sin and place your faith in Jesus right now?”
The Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Ro 10:13). Please read this prayer and see if you want to say something like this to God.
Dear Lord, I believe you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross and were raised from the dead. I know I have sinned and need forgiveness. I turn from my sins and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for saving me.
Call upon the Lord in repentance, faith, and total trust using these or similar words of your own. Jesus will become your Savior and Lord.
(Disciple’s Study Bible)
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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byfaith
Advanced Member
Member # 8061
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posted
That is a good description Carol, thank you. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Eden, yes, I feel very fortunate, and wonder how I (being so sinful) can possibly be thankful enough for His salvation.
I have a new friend, she is an atheist...she does not want any thing pushed on her or as she says verses thrown at her.
Please pray that I will act and say the right things that she will come to know Him.
![[Prayer]](graemlins/prayer.gif)
Posts: 160 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2010
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
The small gate is the entrance to the narrow way, the way which leads to eternal life. That gate is our Lord Jesus Himself. In the words of the Savior: “… Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep… I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture… I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:7, 9, 11).
In another place, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). God’s only provision for man’s salvation and entrance to the kingdom is through faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah and our Savior.
However, why is the gate small and the way narrow? It is not that the gate is poorly marked, for Jesus publicly pointed out that He was God’s provision for the forgiveness of sins and entrance into eternal life. The gate is narrow only because it is exclusive and restrictive. Men can approach God only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 9:11). Furthermore, men enter into the kingdom one at a time, as through a turn-style. This is because men must be saved by a personal act of faith. We are never saved in clusters, but individually. To be saved men cannot add to or take away from God’s one way of salvation.
While God’s way of salvation is exclusive and restrictive, the gate to hell is broad and inviting. You can go to hell as an atheist or an agnostic. You can go there under any denominational label. You can go as a preacher, priest, rabbi or layman.
If you want to enter God’s kingdom, do not follow the crowds, but trust in the Son of God who died for your sins and who offers to give you His righteousness. Do not attempt to add to or take away His means of salvation, for in this God is rigid and unbending. He will not tolerate or accept any other means of salvation, for He must receive all the glory and the praise. “Salvation is of the Lord,” the Scriptures tell us (Psalm 3:8).
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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Eden
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posted
I think that those of us who are saved on the earth are extremely blessed and privileged and "lucky" to have been chosen by the Lord.
All people are equal sinners and are all declared to have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Those of us therefore who did end up saved, considering that there are few, are EXTREMELY blessed and privileged to be allowed to participate in the Lord's salvation.
love, Eden
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byfaith
Advanced Member
Member # 8061
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posted
strait is the gate....and few there be.
Matthew 7:14 KJV
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Jesus taught that the majority of the multitudes would not follow Him on the road that leads to life.
(1) Comparatively speaking, those who enter the humble gate of true repentance and deny themselves to follow
Jesus, sincerely endeavor to obey His commands, earnestly seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, and
persevere until the end in true faith, purity and love are not the many but the few.
(2) Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount describes the great blessings that accompany discipleship in His kingdom
(5:3-12), but He also insists that His disciples will not escape persecution (5:10-12). Furthermore, contrary to
some evangelists who preach that "getting saved" is one of the easiest things in the world, Jesus taught that following Him involves heavy obligations concerning righteousness, acceptance of persecution, love for enemies and self denial.
I was in a discussion about the word few here, and we concluded that this is glossed over in sermons pretty often, just as the words endure unto the end in Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Isn't this a sobering thought?- few
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