Is the Way to Eternal Life Narrower Than You Think?

The instructions which the Apostles of Christ gave to the members of their very own churches in the first century prove that the way to life in Christ is much narrower and much more difficult to continue on than what is typically communicated. Here are a few of many proofs of this.

2 Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

“Among you”= Among Apostolic Christian assemblies. These teachers turned these assemblies away from their faithfulness when they were given heed to. Revelation chapters 2 and 3 provide several samples of the damage which these did. Since those assemblies were not immune to damnable heresies from false teachers, no one is.

The epistle of 2 Peter strikes at those who blatantly deny Lordship salvation and say that sinning can’t affect a Christian’s salvation.

2 Peter 2:2-6: “And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly…”

You can know a false teacher for sure when they say that how we live doesn’t impact our salvation. Peter rebukes that lie as clear as day here.

2 Peter 2:17-18: “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”

They allure Christians who have previously escaped the corruption that is in the world through the allowance for sin in their doctrine and/or through their subtle sensuality in their preaching and conduct. Those who give into this allurement return to the moral pollutions of the world. They thereby return to a state of condemnation.

2 Peter 2:19-22: “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Peter is talking about true Christians being led astray into a worse spiritual state than those who never knew Christ at all are in. The unconditional eternal security teachers are being exposed for what they are. If those just described were still in God’s grace and heirs of salvation anyways, what Peter said here could not be true. These have fallen from the grace of God.

2 Peter 3:1-2: “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:”

We see here that we must give heed to both the Old and the New Testaments. Those who say they only need one practically reject both.

2 Peter 3:3-4: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

We can be sure that those who say such things don’t want to live in the light of God’s coming judgment themselves because they are walking after their own lusts and seeking to justify that. It is possible that Peter is shifting now to opposition to Christianity from without after he had been speaking about subtle opposition from within. Yet those within who preach an alleged salvation which allows people to walk after their own lusts and still be safe when the Lord returns are no better and much more dangerous than those without.

2 Peter 3:15-16: “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (i.e. twist or torture), as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”

If you’re interpreting anything the Apostle Paul wrote, or anything else in the Bible contrary to these things which Peter is writing, you are in error.

2 Peter 3:17: “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.”

You = Authentically born-again Christians. Peter is emphasizing this so that there is no mistake that it is possible for these to be led away from Christ to ultimately be condemned with the wicked. For these to not be led away with the error of the wicked they must acknowledge this a real danger.

2 Peter 3:18: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

This is put in contrast to being led away with the error of the wicked. Many wrongly think that they can do what verse eighteen prescribes while holding onto wickedness and refusing to submit to the Lord.

Unconditional eternal security teachers often don’t just blatantly say that the Christian has a license to sin. They rather typically just imply that in stating that the Christian could never possibly end up lost. One of the routes which they take to make that claim is abuse of Bible verses about born-again Christians being sealed with the Holy Spirit. They add to the Word of God by reading “sealed unconditionally” into such verses. However, the Bible does not use the term “sealed unconditionally.”

Only those who forsake their sins in repentance and submit to Christ to be His disciple under the authority of His Word are sealed with His Spirit in the first place (Acts 5:30-32). These are sealed in a conditional way which does not involve a license to live unholy going forward. There is also no such thing as irresistible compelling force from the Holy Spirit to ensure that they never turn away. It is altogether possible for one to turn away from the Lord after they have entered the narrow way to life and begun to be led by the Holy Spirit. The following warning is given to born-again Christians who had been sealed by the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

There are many who think that you can never be unsealed through grieving the Spirit of God. Though the same people add “unconditionally” to the Bible in the verses about people being sealed with the Holy Spirit, they also subtract from the Bible by ignoring the vast multitude of proofs which it gives that those who have been sealed can really end up lost. There is one such proof given less than ten verses after the warning about grieving the Spirit in Ephesians 4:30.

Ephesians 5:5-6: “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”

Judgment Day will not be a day of redemption for those who work lawlessness in God’s eyes- whether they were ever sealed with His Spirit before or not.

Let’s look at another passage which the unconditional eternal security teachers latch onto. It doesn’t teach what they claim it teaches.

John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”

Hearing Jesus’ voice and following Him can’t rightfully be separated from living by faith in Him. Exercising faith for a time will not keep one who is not continuing to do so in the present. The seal on a believer in Christ can be broken. No one is being kept in Christ who is not continuing in a living faith in Him by hearing His voice (i.e. His Word) and following Him. The seal is kept intact through the believer continuing in obedient faith.

Like the similarly abused Romans 8:35-39 and 1 Peter 1:5, John 10:27-30 is not teaching unconditional security. However, what all of these passages do teach, along with the verses about Christians being sealed with the Holy Spirit, is that no external force can separate one who is faithfully following the real Jesus of the Bible from the love of God which is in Him.

The Apostle Paul understood that he had a race to run on the narrow way to life in order to actually attain the redemption which he was sealed for.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

The word that the Bible uses to describe setting a seal in the Greek text has to do with attesting or confirming something. And the word in the Greek text for “castaway” in 1 Corinthians 9:27 is “adokimos”- a word related to being rejected/not approved/being unfit for/not standing the test.

The Apostle Paul then, though he had already been sealed by the Spirit of God, ran and fought in order to endure on the narrow way to life in Christ so that he would be fit to enter the kingdom of God at the end. He instructed others who had been sealed to do the same.

2 Timothy 4:1 says: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick (the living) and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;”

Christ will return to reign. The Book of Daniel makes it clear that the Messiah will reign over all forever- yet it also speaks of the Messiah being killed for the sake of others (see Daniel chapter 9:25-26). Psalm 110 is another clear example from the Hebrew Scriptures that the Messiah’s enemies will be crushed under His feet and He will reign over all. Yet it can also be inferred from what is said there that He would take on flesh and blood, and be put in humiliating circumstances, before that happens.

2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

“Instant” here= Be ready; stand by; be at hand.

The right goal in preaching the Word is to direct the hearers on how to be in line with Christ’s coming kingdom.

2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

“Sound” here= “Hygiano” (hoog-ee-ah’-ee-no) in the Greek text. This is the source of the English word “hygiene.” This word is used frequently to describe Biblical doctrine in the New Testament.

“Heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears”= Accumulate teachers to themselves in piles according to their itching ears. Many Christians will seek relief from the way of the cross; an escape from the crucifixion to their carnality that the right ways of Christ’s kingdom insists upon.

“Fables” in 2 Timothy 4:4= “Mythos” in the Greek text. That is, vain words; concepts opposed to the truth of God’s Word. Unconditional security is a myth. Much deception even comes through fictional books (which preach real lies).

The temptation now to turn away from sound doctrine is especially great since lawlessness is abounding and there is much tumult in the world.

2 Timothy 4:5-8 (the Apostle Paul is continuing to exhort Timothy): “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Those who will love Christ’s appearance will be those who have submitted to Him and continued to be governed by the doctrine of His Word.

“Fought” in the preceding verses= “Agonozomai” in the Greek text. This word speaks of contending with an adversary in a struggle. It is where we get the English word “agonize” from. And yet, back to the myths which people’s itching ears draw them to, many teachers actually teach that Christianity isn’t supposed to be a struggle. Many also teach that our salvation isn’t dependent upon our victory in the struggle.

“Fight” in the preceding verses= “Agon” in the Greek text. This is the source of the English word “agony.”

In saying that he has fought a good fight, Paul is literally saying that he has agonized well in the agony that is authentic Christianity. Paul had fought by faith to stay true to Christ the King, in cooperation with His true grace, with the goal of being in line with His kingdom. It is extremely likely though that your church denies the need to do so or badly twists and misrepresents what it means to do so.

Jude verses 3-4 says: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Apostles of Christ contended with subtle ungodly false teachers creeping into the Christian assemblies which they had founded upon the sound principles of Biblical truth. Jude understood that you cannot write about authentic salvation in Christ without dealing with this. These ungodly people were ordained or appointed in the Old Testament to condemnation because of their own choices (Jude is about to elaborate on this). Jude is not saying that God appointed them to be evil deceivers. These people were subtly creeping into Christian assemblies, twisting the faith once delivered to the saints, and misrepresenting the common salvation in Jesus Christ which God has offered to mankind. They were somehow teaching that God’s grace is compatible with lasciviousness or licentiousness. They were thereby denying God’s authority and Jesus Christ’s Lordship. Those who teach that the grace of Christ is compatible with transgressing God’s law and transgressing God-ordained authority (that is, practicing sin) are in this category of ungodly deceivers. Jude makes this obvious as he continues.

Jude verse 5: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”

This is echoing what was already seen in 2 Peter. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and many other passages Christians are also warned that they can, and will, fall from God’s grace like the disobedient Israelites if they provoke Him like they did. The Israelites in the Old Testament did not have unconditional security. Adam and Eve didn’t have it in the garden either. No one has ever had it.

Jude verse 6: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

God did not spare disobedient angels who rebelled against Him. They will be punished in the fire of hell. He does not spare transgressors who commit fornication and those who practice sin in any way.

Jude verse 7: “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

This rebukes the progressive (who are really regressive) compromisers who say that swinging from the other side of the plate is not abominable to God and who justify same sex couples. This also rebukes the multitudes of teachers who say that people can come to Jesus Christ and obtain His grace while continuing to practice sin. And considering who Jude wrote his epistle directly to, this also rebukes those who say that a born-again Christian could never possibly go back to sin and end up lost.

Jude is warning born-again Christians with reminders from these examples that those who transgress against God’s righteous authority are going to face the vengeance of eternal fire- without exception. There is no hesitancy about this nor backtracking to take the weight off of what he is communicating.

The norm in churches is for preachers to be hesitant and/or backtrack when they talk about these things- if they even bring them up at all.