Two Types of Striving

Luke 13:24 says "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." This implies that a struggle must take place in order to enter through that door, and I think the verse is actually talking about professing Christians. Look at the parallel passage in Matthew 7:22-23 that says "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness." It seems that Jesus was talking about those who would profess to be Christians and even do some superficial good works in the name of Christ, but in reality their hearts were not in the right place. They were trying to enter the kingdom of heaven through the wide gate so that they could hang onto their lawlessness, idols, and worldly practices (much like the rich young ruler who would not tear down his own idol, which was his riches). This dispels the theory of "Carnal Christianity" not only because the two terms completely contradict each other, but also because of the context of this passage. The narrow door with its eternal life, or the wide gate with its destruction; try as you might, it is impossible to have both.

In Hebrews 12:4 it says "You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin." This is a reprimand to those who are not waging war on sin within their lives as they should be. A true Christian must take radical measures to rid themselves of anything that would prove to be a hindrance in entering the kingdom of God, whether it be sin, the bad influences of certain friends, or even his own thought life. This made me think of an account in Pilgrim's Progress that I believe illustrates a Christian who is dealing violently with what is hindering him. The account begins with Pilgrim standing in front of the Palace Beautiful. A scribe is sitting outside the door to take down the name of anyone who would dare go in, but Pilgrim is afraid because of the armed men that stand guard at the gate. Then a braver man approaches and the following takes place...

"Now was Christian somewhat in amaze: at last, when every man started back for fear of the armed men, Christian saw a man of a very stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, Set down my name, sir; the which when he had done, he saw the man draw his sword, and put a helmet upon his head, and rush towards the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadly force; but the man, not at all discouraged, fell to cutting and hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given many wounds to those who attempted to keep him out, he cut his way through them all, and pressed forward into the palace."

Then there is the matter of not only striving against sin, but also striving for righteousness. Paul speaks in 2nd Corinthians 6:7 of how the Christian ought to carry "the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left." No matter what realm of the Christian life we are talking about, it is clear that a violent struggle will be involved.

Matthew 11:12, in reference to the kingdom of God says that "violent men take it by force." This means that there is a mighty battle involved in entering the kingdom of God. But what does the non-Christian have to strive against? According to John Piper, "Our own sin is the greatest threat to entering the kingdom of God (In Our Joy, pg 48)." For any who are interested, I've got a link posted to a sermon entitled "Violent Men" that has been preached a number of times by my uncle, Charles Leiter. The sermon is about 51 minutes long and definitely worth the time. http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=22308115198