Page 6 - The Gate and the Way

What Is Christ’s Invitation to You?

Matthew 16:24
Then Yahshua said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

The church today has a decidedly un-Biblical view of what Christ’s invitation is to
mankind. This is revealed in the common question that one Christian asks of another,
“When were you saved?” The church teaches that a person receives salvation by believing
and confessing certain things about Jesus Christ/Yahshua the Messiah. A method of
witnessing called “The Roman Road” is frequently employed in which key verses from
Paul’s letter to the saints in Rome are quoted. For example:

Romans 10:9-10
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

These words appear to sum up the matter of salvation in Christ pretty handily. Believe,
and confess. Confession results in salvation! Case closed. The church is satisfied. Ministers
assure the members of their congregations that if they have said the sinner’s prayer,
confessed Christ (and been dunked in the church’s baptismal pool), they are saved and
nothing more is required.
There is a great deal within the heart of man that would make this cheap view of
salvation very appealing. Mankind does not like to suffer. The soul of man seeks out
teachings that assure it of salvation with a minimum of inconvenience, and personal cost.
The church, which has never been more sensual and fleshly than it is at this hour, has
focused entirely upon a few verses that speak nothing of a surrendered life and suffering,
while ignoring the myriad of passages that do.

Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also
to suffer for His sake...

I Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you
for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the
degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the
revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

There is a tendency of human nature to always seek out an easy path. God has
provided a path to life, but it is not an easy one. The path begins with a narrow gate. It is the
narrow gate that Paul has described in Romans 10:9-10. Christ is the entry point into
salvation. You can find The Way to life through no other entrance.