LIFE OR DEATH: The Choice Is Yours
Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “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.” The King James Version of 14 says, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The Amplified Version says, “But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.”
The Greek word for difficult or narrow here is thlibo and is defined in the Blue Letter Bible Outline of Biblical Use: “to press (as grapes), press hard upon a compressed way, narrow straitened, contracted,metaph. to trouble, afflict, distress.” Strong’s defines it: “akin to the base of G5147 (tribos a worn way, a path); to crowd (literally or figuratively):—afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble.” (1)
It’s the same word we see in Mark 3:9, “So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.” (Emphasis mine.) We also see it in 2 Corinthians 1:6, “Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer,” and 2 Corinthians 4:8, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair.” (Emphasis mine.)
We will come back to this word thlibo in a moment. Another word to look at in the Matthew 7:13-14 passage is life. The Greek word is zoe and is defined in the Blue Letter Bible Outline of Biblical Use: life, the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate, every living soul, of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic "logos" and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human nature. Life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.
There are two words used for life in the New Testament. The other life word is found in the following passage. Matthew 16:24-26: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
The word for life here is psyche: breath, the breath of life, the vital force which animates the body and shows itself in breathing, that in which there is life, a living being, a living soul, the soul, the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.), the (human) soul in so far as it is constituted that by the right use of the aids offered it by God it can attain its highest end and secure eternal blessedness, the soul regarded as a moral being designed for everlasting life, the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body).
This word for life or soul ties into the concept of dying to ourselves. The way to find true life is to die to ourselves. Dying to ourselves is not self denial. We can deny ourselves certain things, such as a dessert, but that is not dying to ourselves. Dying to ourselves is a surrender. A complete surrender of how we tried to make our world work for us by our own efforts. It’s a laying down of our lives, a ceasing of operating out of our flesh, our striving and struggling, and picking up our cross to follow Him. It’s an exchange, if you will, an exchange of our life for His. That is where true life is found.
Now back to Matthew 7:14: “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” That word thlibo “to press hard upon in a compressed way.” It reminds me of another word that means “oil press,” the word Gethsemane. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” The Hebrew word for bruised here is daka and means “to be crushed, to be shattered, to be broken.”
Gethsemane was where the weight of Jesus’ impending sacrifice and His full submission to the will of the Father were revealed. Jesus was crushed, broken, shattered to pay the price for our sins that we could never pay. He was crushed, broken and shattered, so that we might have life, His life. He was crushed, broken and shattered and died to pay for our sins so that we don’t have to die. Salvation is free because Jesus paid the price for our sin. But, to be His disciple will cost us. To be His disciple, we must take the narrow way, the way of life, our own way being crushed, the way of dying to ourselves, of exchanging our own fleshy life for the life He offers us. The choice is ours. Life or death. If we are His child and still try to hold onto our own soulish ways, we will experience death of a sort. This is not death that leads to eternal death, but it is a death to what could have been—a life of intimacy knowing the Savior is living His life in and through us. A life of being fruitful in every good work that Ephesians tell us the Father prepared for us from before the foundation of the world. A life of eating from the Bread of Life and drinking from the Living Water. A life that leads to eternal rewards for the life to come in the Kingdom.
An interesting thing about the passage in Matthew 7 referenced above about entering through the narrow gate is that right after those two verses is the warning about false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus said we will know them by their fruits. This is how the Amplified version puts it: “Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus].”
Dying to self can involve many things. Maybe we need to die to our own interpretation of what our world should look like…or maybe the life we present to others. Do we need to look successful? Blessed? Prosperous? Of good reputation? Humble? Flesh that might look good to others is still flesh. When we do good things to try to measure up or look good to others, that is flesh. Flesh has to be crucified. When we are dead to ourselves and surrendered to Jesus, our eyes will be on Him and not always looking within, being too introspective. We also need to be able to speak the truth of God’s Word to this lost and dying world and leave the outcome to Him. We may, and most likely will face backlash. We should expect persecution…even a crushing, if you will. But our job is to speak the truth of life to a lost and dying world, leaving the results to our good God.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to place all your trust and rest in our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s enter into the narrow gate and difficult way that leads to life even though it’s crushing. He is worth it.
Check out the TGBS Bookstore, where you can find TGBS books, Bibles, reference materials and other books that helped me in my spiritual development.
.jpg)
1. "G5147 - tribos - Strong's Greek Lexicon (KJV)." Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 Jan, 2026.' <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5147/kjv/tr/0-1/>.
Comments
Post a Comment