The Narrow Gate of Love

The Narrow Gate of Love...
Mary Ann Wray

Check out this awesome list of credentials which we often use to distinguish who a true disciple is or not! “I was water Baptized and speak in tongues!” “I’ve been a faithful member of the same church for years and have never left!” “When I pray for people they fall out in the Spirit!” “I cast out devils and prophesy!”  “I’ve led more people to Jesus than I can count on all fingers and toes!” “I am a leader in my Church and hold a regular Bible Study on my job and even in my home!” “People address me as, "Pastor, Prophetess, Prophet, Apostle, or Deacon "so and so!"  “I give generously to the work of the Lord!”  “Spiritual Leaders all around the nation call me "Father!” “I hold a Doctorate in Divinity. Before that I had a Masters in Biblical Theology!”“My Television Ministry is expanding! Now I have a flourishing World Wide Ministry and the biggest one in town too, Praise God!” “I was a missionary in a third world country for 15 years and sacrificed every comfort for me and my family!”

Pretty impressive list, isn’t it? There’s a lot more we do too! But what is it that truly qualifies us as His followers “small” (so to speak) and great alike? What are the ‘things’ He REALLY commands each one of us to “do” that as believers we MUST do and therefore, have in common? After all, not everyone can or does ‘perform’ all of these mighty deeds listed above and beyond in their lifetime, do they? So how do I know if I’m fulfilling His will?  How did Jesus fulfill the will of the Father?  “Truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5: 19

I believe everyone who loves Jesus wants to know God’s perfect will for their life. But let’s be honest…each one of us is created individually, with God’s unique fingerprint, not to mention the fact we are at different stages of growth spiritually, emotionally, and for the very young, physically. Therefore, does God really expect us to do the same things that someone else does in order to be a pleasing to Him? Does He require us to meet a “list of credentials”? How then can we discern His will for our lives? As odd as this may sound, I don’t believe we can measure how well we are doing by what we do! I am convinced it’s more of what I am and what I am becoming, more than what I ‘do’. You see, who I am is reflected in what I do! Just like the Father who said, “I am that I am” we too must realize who we are in Christ! Our works are reflected by our nature. If Jesus is going to judge us without partiality how will He judge us? What was and is HIS measuring rod given to all men under the New Covenant that puts us on an equal ‘playing field’ so to speak? What is it that I must ‘do’ to perform His will, and cause the world to take notice of me as His follower? May I humbly submit this simple statement to you that Jesus Himself made…"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13: 35

It sounds a bit simplistic doesn’t it? Simple maybe; but easy…not necessarily! It depends on something we tend to lose sight of. How can we operate in this unconditional love when we by our ‘soulish’ nature are selfish and prone to sin even after being born again? We know from the Greek Language that there are several different words which define love, depending on the context they were given. Without going into detail about each of the types of love, let’s just take a closer look at agape-The God kind of love. God’s love is completely supernatural because God Himself IS love and Supernatural (1 Jon 4: 16)! God loved us while we were dead in our sins (Col 2:13; Eph 2:5)! How can we then love those who are or were unkind, vindictive, critical, contrary and cruel to us whether they claim to be a Christian or not? Didn’t the Lord also tell us that if we only love those that love us what reward do we have? (Luke 6: 27-36) I believe this is the key my friends….Agape love is not behavior modification but a byproduct of a nature change. So how do we change to become more like Him? That too is not a result of behavior modification in and of itself. Step #1…You MUST be born again!

You see, once we believe upon Jesus and experience the New Birth, we love HIM and OTHERS because we know ‘ginosko’ Him (Matthew 7: 23). In other words, our love walk reflects the depth of our KNOWLEDGE of HIM and His unconditional love FOR US (1 John 2: 3 & 1 John 3: 2). So many people go up to an altar and repeat the sinners prayer but they’re behavior doesn’t reflect it afterward. When we truly know the Father’s love and have HIS DNA in our spirit, we can’t help but have His same nature (1 John 4:7)! His concern for all people regardless of any outward ‘thing’, inward issue or spiritual state will become our heart because it is HIS. Next step requires an honest question: Does my nature reflect His on an ongoing basis as one who is a redeemer, possessing moral soundness and righteous judgment in a non-condemning way? Do I know Him intimately as I know my spouse (if married) in the marriage bed?

If that sounds awkward or far-fetched to you, understand that the connotation of the Greek Word ginosko  for the English word ‘know’ in many passages of scripture suggests oneness and intimacy, that mirrors spiritually what is expressed between a husband and wife physically. Are we not called the Bride of Christ (2 Cor 11: 2)? Doesn’t Paul give Eph 5: 29 as a picture of the church i.e., the relationship between a husband and a wife is a picture of Christ and the Church as a great mystery? Therefore, how much intimacy and spiritual intercourse do I have on an ongoing basis with my Bride-Groom? (1 John 2: 3 & 1 John 3: 2) Jeremiah Johnson says, as sort of a play on words, that Intimacy means "Into Me You See!"  Friends, we can only know Him as He knows us through intimate communion! You and I become the reflection of the One we behold. What you see is what you will be! Because Jesus is a ‘lover’ we can’t help but become a lover too. His love and grace expands within us in greater measures just like everything else that is Godly inside of us does. As we change from glory to glory everything God breathed in us increases in an ever expanding measure. You see Jesus deals in measures more than numerical values  (Eph 4: 7). Numbers was Old Covenant; measures are his ‘units’ if you will in which He portions out His grace. As we mature spiritually, depending on our cooperation of course, His power is reflected in greater measure in and through us. (Luke 6: 38; Romans 12: 3; Romans 15: 29; 2 Cor 3: 18; 2 Cor 9: 12) 

The question remains then…How well do I reflect the image of my Father in whose image I was created when people ‘look’ at me? Do I possess and display His Character that has been impregnated within my spirit at my New Birth (1 Peter 1: 23)?  Does His agape flow out of me like oil when I am tempted, tested, corrected and tried? How will Jesus judge me at the Great White Throne Judgment Seat? If He, in fact fulfilled all the Law and Prophets, will He judge based on Old Covenant laws and statutes or will He judge based on something else He administered under the New Covenant? Every judge uses a ‘law’ to come to a verdict doesn’t he or she? Look at this passage with me….“Hearing Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 34-40

You see, it’s one thing to remove one’s self from another due to abuse, but it is another to stop loving and give up on them even if we are forced to love from a distance. Jesus taught the disciples that if a city wouldn’t receive their words, shake the dust off their feet and move on to the next one (Mark 6: 11). He wasn’t implying that they not care for their eternal souls. Rejection by man as Christ’s representative means they either have swine like thinking or need more plowing by the Holy Spirit because of their hardened hearts! Sometimes, they’ve made a choice to NOT believe in Christ. However, the Father suffers long (2 Peter 3: 9).  Do we realize the Apostle Paul was a mass murderer and horribly persecuted the Church before his conversion? Stephen, the first recorded martyr, was stoned by his command! It is true that all men won’t be saved, but perhaps more WILL be as the manifest sons of God display Christ-like character. Perhaps we should measure ourselves against agape as part of the self-examination Paul speaks of in 2 Cor 13: 50, rather than comparing ourselves with one another (2 Cor 10: 12). We know from scripture that faith works by love (Gal 5: 6). Therefore, in order to receive those long awaited rewards, how will we know if we get them or not? (1 Cor 3: 12) I believe with all my heart it comes down to two things: willing obedience to the Father and operating in agape love. This is the ideal that all of us should strive for if we are going to strive for anything at all. It is the spiritual “litmus test” if you will, for Christian discipleship! His Love empowers us to change and “do” everything He asks us to do with lasting results! (John 15: 1-17) 

How can we begin to describe the Father’s love since He blesses and releases graces upon us by measures? The Apostle Paul uses the geometrical dimensions of a cube to attempt to explain the ‘expanse’ of God’s love. We really can’t grasp it at once!  It can seem small or great depending on how much we seek to know Him! The Father’s love is limitless; without bounds! Therefore, His love is and should be ever increasing in and through us! (Romans 8: 23). Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 3: 18-19

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

If I told you that I have perfected the love walk, I would be lying through my teeth. How many times have I reached the ‘end of my rope’ with people and said “enough is enough! That’s why Holy Spirit convicts me regularly to dig deeper into the reality of Agape love. It’s true that as society becomes more dysfunctional, walking in love becomes a greater challenge! However, I would like to ask every brother and sister reading this article to prayerfully seek the Father for a Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge His Love (Eph 1: 17)! As I was pondering all of this, the Holy Spirit quickened the Narrow Gate to me. As I thought upon some verses on love, this passage seemed an odd fit to me at first. But the more I meditated upon it the more light He shined on my understanding….please allow me to share these verses and my thoughts about it with you.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7: 13-23

Could the Narrow Gate also represent self-less love, obedience and humility causing me to die daily and ‘narrow’ down my options to the desire to please my Father only? Could it also represent the way in which I regard others’ welfare and interests before my own? I read somewhere that in order to pass through the Narrow Gate into Jerusalem, a man had to ‘bow or crouch down’ to get through it. Some commentators suggest this was also called the “eye of a needle” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 19: 24. Humility is bi-directional just like Jesus’ love on the cross:  vertical and horizontal. It is Godward and man ward. Secondly, could the “Wide Gate” represent the path of selfishness and self-fulfillment demonstrated through strife; man doing what pleases self rather than pleasing God while not caring how it may hurt or abuse those He died for? Do I consider the effect my actions and words have on others including ALL my neighbors? Could it be it represents the pathway of those who reflect the nature of the god of this world rather than the God of All Creation? In closing let’s be reminded that knowledge puffs up, love builds up and there is no fear in Love! Be blessed because you ARE loved! 

 (1 Cor 8: 1; 1 Cor 13; 1 John 4: 18) “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4: 18