📖 Biblical Definition
The narrow gate is Christ's metaphor for the exclusive and demanding entrance to eternal life. "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14). The narrow gate is Christ Himself — "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved" (John 10:9). The narrowness is not arbitrary restriction but the exclusivity of truth: there is one God, one Mediator, one way of salvation.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
NARROW: Of little breadth; not wide or broad; having little distance from side to side. GATE: A large door which gives entrance into a walled city, a castle, a temple, or other large edifice.
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NAR'ROW, a. [Sax. nearu.] Of little breadth; not wide or broad. Figuratively, limited; confined; contracted in views. GATE, n. A large door which gives entrance into a walled city, a castle, a temple, a palace or other large edifice. In Scripture, power or dominion.
📖 Key Scripture
• Matthew 7:13-14 — "The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
• John 10:9 — "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved."
• John 14:6 — "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
• Luke 13:24 — "Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The narrow gate has been widened into universal acceptance and many paths to God.
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Modern religion despises the narrow gate. The prevailing doctrine of the age is that all roads lead to God, all religions contain truth, and sincere belief in anything is sufficient for salvation. This is the wide gate disguised as tolerance. Pluralism, universalism, and interfaith dialogue all aim to widen the gate that Christ deliberately made narrow. Even within evangelicalism, the seeker-sensitive movement softens the demands of discipleship to make the entrance more appealing, stripping away repentance, lordship, and the cost of following Christ. Jesus said few find the narrow gate — and the modern church has made it its mission to prove Him wrong by abolishing the gate entirely.
Usage
• "The narrow gate is not narrow because God is exclusive — it is narrow because truth is singular and Christ is the only way."
• "A church that widens the gate to fill the pews has exchanged salvation for attendance."
• "The narrow gate requires leaving behind everything that will not fit through it — pride, self-righteousness, and false religion."