3. John R. W. Stott, Christian Counter-Culture (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1978), 193.
Jesus Explains His Gospel
John Stott says, "Jesus cuts across our easy-going syncretism."3 There are not many good religions; there is only one. And so the options are only two — the true and the false, the right and the wrong, God's way and humankind's way.
All this world's religions are based on human achievement. Biblical Christian ity alone recognizes divine accomplishment — the work of Christ on humankind's behalf — as the sole basis of salvation. Christ's death on the cross paid the price of our sin (1 Cor. 15:3), and His resurrection revealed that He had conquered death (v. 20). Salvation is not a merit system in which people can earn favor with God. No one could ever do enough good works to gain acceptance by God (Rom. 3:10 – 18). Even the law of Moses did not make people righ teous; it was given to show how sinful and disobedient we really are (v. 20). As we noted in chapter 19, God through His grace imputes to believers the righ teous ness of Christ (vv. 21 – 24). On that basis alone they can stand before Him.
And so the only choice is between the plethora of religions based on human achievement and the one religion of divine accomplishment. Scripture says, "Now to the one who works [whoever chooses a religion of human achievement], his wage is not reckoned as a favor but as what is due.4 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly [whoever submits to the religion of divine accomplishment], his faith is reckoned as righteous ness" (Rom. 4:4 – 5).
The narrow way and the broad way do not contrast religion with paganism. Jesus is not setting the higher religions against the lower ones, or even Christian ity against open immorality. The choice is between divine accomplishment and human achievement. Both systems claim to be the way to God. The wide gate is not marked "This Way to Hell"; it is labeled "Heaven," the same as the narrow gate. It just doesn't go there.
Satan is a master at religious deception. He disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). He paints his gate so that it looks like the door to heaven, and "many are those who enter by it" (Matt. 7:13, emphasis added). But our Lord describes the right gate as narrow. In fact, many commentators say that the best contemporary expression of the narrow gate is a turnstile.5 Only one person can pass through at a time. No one comes into the kingdom of Christ as part of a group. Many Jews in Jesus' day based their hope of heaven on their national lineage. And many contemporary churchgoers base their hope on their denominational affiliation or their church membership. Here Jesus
3. John R. W. Stott, Chris tian Counter-Culture (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1978), 193. 4. Th e wage that is due is death (Rom. 6:23). 5. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 2:221.