"Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know where you are from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets'; and He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.' In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." Luke 13:24-30
The question was asked, "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" (13:23). Jesus begins His answer with, "Strive to enter through the narrow door" (v.24)—the door that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). The Greek word translated as "strive" here is agonizesthe, from where we derive our word "agonize," and it implies "intense exertion," like an athlete in training. In other words, you need to be intentional about eternal life. Until you have received the assurance of eternal life, you need to keep striving to understand the Gospel. Many people will miss the kingdom simply because they have never given any serious attention to the destiny of their souls.
You will miss the kingdom if you try to enter at the wrong door!
Jesus is very intentional about this truth: "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved" (John 10:9); "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6). Even the book of Acts makes it plainly clear: "There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). All roads do not lead to salvation, Heaven, or Jesus. If Jesus is the Way, then all other ways are wrong. If Jesus is the Truth, then anything and everything else is a lie. If Jesus is the Life, then anything and everything else leads to death. You cannot negotiate your entrance. You either enter by Jesus, according to the conditions He set in place, or you do not enter at all.
You will miss the kingdom if you arrive too late!
"For many, I tell you, will seek to
enter and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts
the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying,
'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not
know where you are from.'" (vv.24-25). When God shuts the door, the time for salvation will be over and it will be too late. The door will not be opened again. The question was asked, "How many," but Jesus wanted them to consider, "How soon." From this passage, these people clearly want access to the kingdom, yet they are denied access. We see the same truth concerning the wise and foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). Notice here, also, that "the door was shut" (v.10). Scripture says "Behold, today is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2) for a reason. Because you may not have tomorrow.
You will miss the kingdom if you do not really know Jesus!
It is not so much about whether you know Jesus (with more than mere mental-assent head knowledge—i.e., knowing of Jesus), but whether He knows you. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on 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.'" (Matt. 7:12-23). Your profession of faith amounts to very little. These people clearly thought they knew Jesus, that they were in tight with Him. Yet, like in our passage, He tells them He never knew them. It is about having an actual relationship with Jesus—not merely about being religious. With these two passages, the people experienced Jesus firsthand, they knew Him socially, they listened to Him preach, they saw Him perform miracles (and even did some themselves), but they failed to enter into a relationship of loving trust with Him. They never asked Him to forgive their sins, to be their Saviour, or worshipped Him as their God. You have to be committed to Jesus from the first to the last. Hence why Jesus says that if you do not count the cost of what it means to follow Him, you can never be one of His own. Following Jesus could cost you everything! And for many people that is simply unacceptable.
No one gets saved merely by their proximity to Christianity! In other words, just because your parents are or may be Christians, does not make you a Christian; just because you go to church every Sunday, read your Bible and pray every day, does not make you a Christian; just because you spent four years in a Bible college or seminary, does not make you a Christian. Faith cannot be borrowed, and it is not a hand-me-down. Salvation comes through personal faith in Christ Jesus. You may "identify" in some way with Christianity without ever truly entering the kingdom of God. Hence why the Bible commands us to, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Cor. 13:5), and to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12), and to "be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you" (2 Pet. 1:10).