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Parable of the narrow door - Coggle Diagram
Parable of the narrow door
Part 1
There is only one door, and it is a narrow one
That door is now open, though it will one day close
Our duty is to enter it
Calling for Repentance
The door is open
Narrow is the gate → It won’t be easy (you have to lose a few pounds to get through) or from the crush of people trying to get in through this single door whatever the cause, getting in won’t be easy, but we are to make every effort, strain, struggle to get in.
We come to God only because God draws us. On the other hand, as the texts about the open door show, God does not show favoritism. Anyone, regardless of who he or she is or where he or she comes from, may be among that number.
The call of God is not restricted by anything you can imagine: race, education, social position, wealth, achievements, good deeds, the lack of them, or anything else.
Trust in Christ - Faith
Strive to enter
It means to “strive” or to “make every effort” (NIV). By this word Jesus tells us that there is something for us to do in the matter of salvation and that we must make it our supreme business to do it.
At the nativity, we are reminded that when God comes into the world, He doesn’t come for the high and important. He come for the outcast, the dirty, the broken
the judgement
Jesus does not delight in speaking of this judgement, it does not give him joy to think of those being eternally cast out, but what he is doing with all passion and tenderness is urging us to repent
Part 2
Narrow door or narrow gate connected to repentance
Threefold cord
The denial of ourselves
Mortification of our flesh (the death of our flesh)
Meditation on the heavenly life
Why we need to strive to get into the narrow door ?
Because we failed to keep the covenant in the garden
Two exercises to (get) enter the narrow door
The word of the Lord that comes to us with great clarity
We turn away from the word of the Lord that we do understand
We do not read it, we do not love it, we have become almost incapable of meditating upon it.
Be still and find the presence of God
Prayer has become the hardest thing in the world for us to do.
It is our own faith but it does not originate with us. It is given to us. The gift is not earned or deserved. It is a gift of sheer grace
Paul explain “For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God”
Ephesians 2:8
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, “made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:4-5
Part 3
Can We Lose Our Salvation ?
The ground for our confidence in perseverance is the power of God
God promises to finish what he starts
Our confidence does not rest in the will of man
If God can preserves us in heaven without destroying our free will, he can preserve us on earth without destroying our free will.
Salvation is not Vaccination
Once you get the flu shot, is automatic you get the immune system
Salvation, it is more like you entering the lifetime therapy
Jesus says like this “You are my patient, You will do what I say, and I will get you to the end, whole in the last day”
True Christians can fall seriously and radically They can fall Seriously and Radically But not Totally and Finally
An Analogy of God’s work of preservation
The image of father holding onto his small Child’s hand as they walk together.
The safety of the child rests in the strength of the father’s grip of the child. If the child’s grip fails, the father’s grip holds firm. The arm of the Lord does not wax short.
Case of King David
Who was guilty not only of adultery but of conspiracy in the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband
David used his power and authority to make sure Uriah was killed in battle.
David’s conscience was so seared, his heart so hardened, that it required nothing less than direct confrontation with a prophet of God to bring him to his senses
His subsequent repentance was as deep as his sin
David sinned radically but not totally and finally.
He was restored
Case of Judas and Peter
Both of them betrayed Jesus
After Judas betrayed Christ, he went out and committed suicide
After Peter betrayed Christ, he repented and was restored
Jesus predicted that both of them would betray him
Jesus said to Judas “What you have to do, do quickly”
Jesus spoke differently to Peter “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren“
Notice carefully what Jesus said to Simon Peter
He did not say if but when
Jesus was confident that Peter would return
His fall would be radical and serious but not total and final
Peter’s return was not based on Peter’s strength but by the power of God
It is the promise of Christ that he would be our Great High Priest, our advocate with the father, our righteous intercessor, that we believe that we will persevere.
Our confidence is in our savior and our Priest who prays for us