Page 64 - Gods Plan of the Ages

considered the whole counsel of the Scriptures. That which Christ has purchased for men
and given to them freely, must be "worked out" in each individual's life. This is what Paul
declared when he said "Work out YOUR salvation with fear and trembling."
Christ presents to men both a gate that they must enter by, and a way that they must
walk. A man must enter by the gate AND follow Christ down the afflicted path, or they will
fail to arrive at life.

Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to
destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way
is afflicted (Greek "thlibo") that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

Many of the popular English Bibles today translate the Greek word "thlibo" in this
passage as "narrow," but that obscures Christ's meaning. This is a different word altogether
from that used in the first part of this passage describing a "narrow" gate. The word used
there is "stenos." Christ is describing two different things. Christ is the gate, or doorway by
which all men must enter if they are to find resurrection life. There is no other name given
under heaven by which men must be saved. Neither Mohammed, nor Buddha, not Krishna,
nor the other thousands of gods named in this world will deliver men from sin and reconcile
them to the Father. The gate is very narrow. Christ alone is the doorway to life.

John 10:7-9
So Yahshua said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All
who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the
door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved..."

These words of Christ are true, but they do not constitute His entire counsel and
testimony. Christ declared that "the gate is small," but He also said, "the way is afflicted
that leads to life, and few there are who find it." The goal is life; resurrection life in Christ.
To obtain it all men must enter by the gate and walk the path appointed by God that leads
to life. That path is afflicted. It is a path of suffering leading to the termination of the soul's
rule over mankind. Man's soul has to be crushed. The cross must be embraced. Suffering
must be endured in order for the self-life to lose its grip over man.
The Bible reveals that there are two methods by which the salvation Christ has
provided might find its"outworking" in our lives. We can surrender to follow Christ by
taking up our cross now, or we will be cast into the lake of fire which will similarly
accomplish the work of bringing an end to the rule of the soul.

Matthew 10:28
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell."

The word translated here as "destroy" is not speaking of annihilation. It is not
suggesting that men's souls will cease to be. Rather, it is a word denoting the subjugation
of the soul in the same way that Christ intended when He said "He who would save his soul
must LOSE it."

Matthew 16:25
"For whoever wishes to save his soul will lose (apollumi) it; but whoever loses (apollumi)