"Where can one find a statement of the gospel in the sermon? . . . A plain statement of the gospel [cannot
The Way of Salvation
o passage in all of Scripture attacks modern-day easy-believism with more force than Matthew 7:13 – 14. It is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, and it amounts to the Savior's own presentation of the way of salvation. How different it is from the trend of modern evangelism! There is no encouragement in these words for those who think they can be saved by a casual acceptance of the facts about Jesus Christ: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it." Here our Lord brings the Sermon on the Mount to its evangelistic climax.
This passage crushes the claim of those who say the Sermon on the Mount is not gospel but law.1 In fact, these closing verses are pure gospel,2 with as pointed an invitation as has ever been issued. This closing lesson also debunks the opinion that the Sermon on the Mount is merely a discourse on ethics for us to stand back and admire. Jesus is clearly not interested in bouquets for His moral teachings. And His challenge here erases any possibility that the Sermon on the Mount is truth for some prophetic tomorrow; Jesus is preaching to people in the here and now, and His message is urgent.
Each person inevitably must make a choice. Scripture presents that choice in several ways. Through Moses, God confronted the Israelites, saying, "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live" (Deut. 30:19). Joshua challenged the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land, "Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my
1. E.g., Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today (Chicago: Moody, 1965), 108. Ryrie writes, "Where can one fi nd a statement of the gospel in the sermon? . . . A plain statement of the gospel [cannot be found] in the Sermon.
2. Cf. R. C. H. Lenski, Th e Interpretation of Matthew's Gospel (Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg, 1943), 180.