Luke 13:24-27
Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' "
Revelation 22:16-17
" 'I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.' The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come'. And let the one who hears say, 'Come'. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. "
So the first scripture here says "many ... will try to enter and will not be able to". However, the second one says "let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost".
To me the first one seems to say many are going to try to get into heaven but won't be able to, and the second says anybody who wants to get into heaven can... So either there's a difference between "trying to enter the door" and "wishing to take the water of life", or there is a discrepancy here in how salvation works.
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6 comments:
I believe the Luke passage is dealing with a specific situation, at least primarily. Those being kept out say: "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." A very select group can actually make that statement, the Jews alive at the time of Christ. If you look later in the passage, it says: And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God Therefore, I argue, a contrast is being made between the Jews of the time who would reject Christ, and the gentiles coming from the four corners of the earth who would accept him.
If you look at most of the stories within the passage, they are all taking about "repent now or you will be judged." In particular, I think its calling the Jews to repentance.
So, I think anybody who repents now will be saved. However, the charge is against those who will only attempt to enter the gate once its already too late.
I concur =)
So when he says "because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to", he's referring to those who try to enter when it's too late? If that's the case, then I'd have to conclude that it's very annoying that you have to insert a future tense in there even though it's not written.
Either the tense is changing in the sentence or he's changing the meaning of "enter through the narrow door" in the exact same sentence. Is entering the narrow door meaning being saved or does it mean entering into heaven?
...If the reason people won't be able to enter the door is because the owner will close it... then why tell people to make every effort to enter it "because many will try but won't be able to" (implies it's hard to get it as opposed to it's too late)? If other people aren't able to, then why try yourself at all, because the door is obviously shut and there's no way you're going to get it.
Tamara agrees with me, why are you still arguing?
Make every effort to enter through the narrow door (Present Tense)
because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to (Future tense, will try)
Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door (Future event)
you will stand outside knocking and pleading, (Future Tense)
So the point it seems to me is: make every effort now to enter in, or you will be left out.
haha....
OK I'll concede to the tenses making sense. I'm still a bit peeved by how inefficiently the text tries to relay your interpretation though.
Instead of saying "make every effort now to enter in, or you will be left out", it seems to be saying "make every effort to get in, because others will be making efforts but fail. So try hard and hope you get in". The point in the scripture seems to emphasize more on effort than timing, and that brings confusion...
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