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NASB | Matthew 7:13 ¶ "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 7:13 ¶ "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. |
Subject: Who then is on this broad way? |
Bible Note: Dear RakPak, Yes, that tradition thing is a difficult one. I find that most Judaizers know a few minor things about Judaism. Curiously, almost always of the Ashkenazi variety -- a tradition that didn't really come into existence until some five centuries or more after Christ. Although there will be an avowed, high view of Scripture, this malady causes them to study the Word in a skewed fashion. Consequently, they neglect God's own remedy: the books of Galatians and Hebrews. Either they fail to read them, or they fail to associate the message with themselves. Of course, care must be taken when we fault Judaizers in this latter respect, lest we imply that we are not all afflicted with similar maladies. We are new creatures through faith alone, by grace alone, through Christ alone, to God's glory alone. Therefore, we study the Scriptures, confident in the sufficiency of the Word, as the Holy Spirit illumines, to address our every need of faith, obedience, and knowledge. God invades history at specific moments (Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:10). Those moments have a specific cultural and historical context (Hebrews 1:1-2). A high view of Scripture (this is called sola Scriptura), means that even our traditions come under the scrutiny of that Light (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If they pass muster there, then are to be valued (Titus 1:9). If they fail, they are to be rejected (1 John 2:15). When they are simply cultural anomalies, then we examine them with the light of reason, in the context of Jesus Christ, the Lord of us all (2 Corinthians 10:23; Revelation 5:11-13). We should keep in mind that the eternal purpose of God is trans-cultural. One day, all of the ethnoi will be gathered together in a new earth, built into a temple not made with hands. In Him, Doc |