Wide is the Gate

Here is a scenario I’m sure most people have thought about. I’m not saying it happens this way, but bear with me. You die & now you’re @ the pearly gates & there is someone to greet you. Whether it’s Saint Peter, Michael the Archangel, or Christ our Savior himself, that person asks you, “Why should I let you into heaven?”

If you presented this scenario to others you would probably get a slew of different answers depending on their beliefs.

An atheist would probably say there is no God or Heaven/Hell, so what does it matter.

A Jew that believe in an afterlife believe they’ll get to heaven by performing “mitzvahs” which is doing good works for others & by praying daily.

A Muslim basically believes (1) that Allah is their god, but is so distant he can’t be known or understood. (2) Each Muslim is graded by a set of scales with good deeds on one side & bad deeds on the other. When they die if the good deeds outweigh the bad they get to Paradise. In other word, it’s by works. (3) They believe Jesus was a great prophet & teacher, but was never the Son of God. Plus they don’t believe in the divine trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) as this is blasphemy since there is only one Allah.

A Buddhist basically believes in reincarnation & since death is a natural experience their spirit stays close to become a new body and new life. This happens over & over again until they reach their highest state called “nirvana”. Then they become an all knowing spirit in a perfect peaceful place like Heaven.

A Hindu believes there is Moksha, which is a state of enlightenment that can only be achieved through a series of good deeds from one life to the next. Once Moksha is reached, there is no more suffering and ultimate self-realization comes into focus during that life. From there, with the rebirth cycle broken, the final step is Ioka or Heaven.

Now if you ask many Christians if they’ll get to Heaven you’ll again get a number of responses. Many will say they’ve been a good person so they should get there. Others may say “I go to church every Sunday”, “I give to the poor”, “I teach Sunday school”, "I never spanked my children", “Hey, I should go since I never killed anybody”, and so on.

Plus, there are probably thousands of other religious sects with their own beliefs.

Now you see why Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”. - Matthew 7: 13-14.

As you can now see, there are literally thousands of ways to enter the wide gate which many profess to & seek. But narrow is the gate which is Christ or Savior. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me” - John 14:6.

Isn't it interesting that of all the religions in the world, the only one with a true Savior is Christianity. With all of the others you must some how work your way in by various means & if you're lucky enough you can then enter Heaven. But, as scripture shows there is no other way to Heaven except through Jesus. That's why He made the perfect sacrifice on the cross of Calvary for all of our sins! All we have to do is acknowledge this fact & ask Him to be our Lord & Savior.

This is the reason it’s so important to reach the lost as quickly as we can while there is still time. Thankfully it’s a childlike simple way for Christ to be our Savior. Yes, it's really as simple as A, B, C.