Luke 13:23-24: Then one said to Him [Jesus], "Lord, are there few who are saved?" And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
Jesus' answer creates the picture of being "saved" as like entering a walled city through a gate. There is only one way in, and it is a narrow gate.
There are 2 stages to entering through this "narrow gate" in the story because Jesus said that one is to "strive" to "enter" and then he said "many... will seek to enter and will not be able."
There are 2 stages of being "saved" here. One begins in this life, and the other is the final destination.
The way is the "narrow gate," but one must enter through it while still alive, so that after death, he/ she may enter into that final state of being "saved."
Being "saved" is also receiving "life" in the sense of "eternal life.". This is "life" in the sense of a quality of life where one is right with God and will exist with Him forever.
We see this in a similar illustration by Jesus:
Jesus said, “narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Death is the opposite of being "saved" and this "life." Death is not just a physical thing, but it is not having that "life" one can now have and will have after physical death.
Solomon said, “There is a way [that] [seems] right to a man, But its end [is] the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12
Why is the way and entrance to being "saved" and "life" so difficult?
Because it involves knowing the truth and believing it, and there are so many distractions and deceptions.
One must seek and know the truth and be persuaded by it.
A person must make every effort to know the truth.
That many will seek to enter but not be able reveals that they were not saved and the opportunity had ended.
"When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, `Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, `I do not know you, where you are from,' “Luke 13:25
Will people really be standing outside and knocking?
I doubt it.
It is just setting forth that the way in is a specific way in and has an end of opportunity.
Why can’t people be saved after death?
It must be due to the way of salvation as being a result of believing what God has revealed in the Bible.
The Rich Man who died pleaded with Abraham that he would send Lazarus from the dead to warn his living brothers:
“`I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, `for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham said to him, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
"And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
"But he said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " Luke 16:19-31
Scripture reveals that after death comes the end of opportunity: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27
Enter through the narrow gate while you still have a chance.
Jesus' answer creates the picture of being "saved" as like entering a walled city through a gate. There is only one way in, and it is a narrow gate.
There are 2 stages to entering through this "narrow gate" in the story because Jesus said that one is to "strive" to "enter" and then he said "many... will seek to enter and will not be able."
There are 2 stages of being "saved" here. One begins in this life, and the other is the final destination.
The way is the "narrow gate," but one must enter through it while still alive, so that after death, he/ she may enter into that final state of being "saved."
Being "saved" is also receiving "life" in the sense of "eternal life.". This is "life" in the sense of a quality of life where one is right with God and will exist with Him forever.
We see this in a similar illustration by Jesus:
Jesus said, “narrow [is] the gate and difficult [is] the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Death is the opposite of being "saved" and this "life." Death is not just a physical thing, but it is not having that "life" one can now have and will have after physical death.
Solomon said, “There is a way [that] [seems] right to a man, But its end [is] the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12
Why is the way and entrance to being "saved" and "life" so difficult?
Because it involves knowing the truth and believing it, and there are so many distractions and deceptions.
One must seek and know the truth and be persuaded by it.
A person must make every effort to know the truth.
That many will seek to enter but not be able reveals that they were not saved and the opportunity had ended.
"When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, `Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, `I do not know you, where you are from,' “Luke 13:25
Will people really be standing outside and knocking?
I doubt it.
It is just setting forth that the way in is a specific way in and has an end of opportunity.
Why can’t people be saved after death?
It must be due to the way of salvation as being a result of believing what God has revealed in the Bible.
The Rich Man who died pleaded with Abraham that he would send Lazarus from the dead to warn his living brothers:
“`I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, `for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham said to him, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
"And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
"But he said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " Luke 16:19-31
Scripture reveals that after death comes the end of opportunity: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27
Enter through the narrow gate while you still have a chance.
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