TOZER DEVOTIONAL

Tue, March 28, 2017

That Narrow Gate

Positive beliefs are not popular these days. A mistaken desire to maintain a spirit of tolerance among all races and religions has produced a breed of Januslike Christians with built-in swivels, remarkable only for their ability to turn in any direction gracefully. The philosophy behind this whole thing is that religious beliefs are matters of personal choice and that the Lord adapts His saving truth to the individual, varying it according to the cultural background, educational level and social situation of each one. Whatever this is, it is not Christianity.


A number of popular religious books have appeared of late quite literally filled with swivel-words of uncertain meaning, and because these were written by persons ostensibly evangelical they have been accepted and promoted by the evangelicals. And they are having a real influence on Christian thinking; or more to the point, they are making sound Christian thinking impossible for those who read and admire them. We had better take a good hard look at these books. If the authors will not stand still to let their meanings be examined, there is probably a good reason. Great ideas have a habit of inhabiting the same great words generation after generation. To ignore or reject the word is to reject the idea.


The hope of the church yet lies in the purity of her theology, that is, her beliefs about God and man and their relation to each other. These beliefs have been revealed to her by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the sacred Scriptures. Everything there is clear-cut and accurate. We dare not be less than accurate in our treatment of anything so precious.

Verse
''Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.''
Matthew 7:13-14

Thought
Efforts are underway to widen the narrow gate and even tear it down altogether. It is the idea that all religious ways lead to God and life eternal. But Christ is The Way, the only way because He alone bore the sins of us all.

Prayer
Lord, give me compassion for those who are trying to approach You through the wide gate. Help me by word and life to point them to Christ the way.