Contending for the faith | Making Disciples | Equipping the Saints for Ministry
Contending for the faith | Making Disciples | Equipping the Saints for Ministry
A: Those who strive to enter in the true gate of salvation are doing it according to their ideas of how to obtain salvation. Whether it is religious affiliation, doctrinal association, and good works to name a few ways in which man tries to enter into the kingdom of God, it all comes down to his terms and not God’s.
God provided the only acceptable entrance into His kingdom, and man will not accept that way because he wants to, in some way, take glory for his salvation. Such individuals who are trying to enter in another way are like the wedding guest in Matthew 22:9-13 who came to the wedding in his own garments instead of the wedding garments of truth, grace, mercy, and faith, provided. In the end, such individuals will be bound and taken away to be cast into outer darkness.
There are those who are also like the robber or thief that is trying to enter into the sheepfold. Many times these individuals are trying to enter to rob the owner of sheep, kill the sheep for their own self-serving benefit, and destroy the work of the true shepherd. They can also be like the hireling shepherds who will flee when the wolves come in to destroy the sheep. Jesus is the only true Shepherd who willingly gave His very life for the sheep (John 10:1-5, 10-18). He declared of Himself that He IS THE WAY in John 14:6. He alone opens the way to eternal life and heaven but man refuses to believe there is only one sure way to enter into the kingdom of God.
The way of salvation entails a new birth where man receives a new spirit and heart at which time he becomes a new creation. This way is referred to as a narrow way because at its entrance is the cross of Christ. There is only one true Jesus and He is the only way to redemption from sin and its claim on souls. He is the only way that one can be reconciled back to God. He is the only door for the sheep to enter into, and His body serves as the only veil that opens to true communion (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Matthew 7:13-14; John 3:3, 5; 1 Corinthians 5:17-19; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20-22; Hebrews 10:19-21).
The Goal of Gentle Shepherd Ministries is to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to make disciples in compliance with the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19).
