THE GOSPELS

MATTHEW 7:13-14; 7:15-23; 7:24-27

MATTHEW 8:12

MATTHEW 7:13-14

As we continue through Matthew, we arrive in chapter 7. We need to be mindful that Jesus is under His Old Covenant Law (Law of Moses) as He teaches throughout this chapter. He is continuing His sermon on the mount which we began analyzing previously. At this point, Jesus teaches, and He says to treat others as you would want them to treat you, (Matthew 7:12), and then in verse 13, Jesus says this,

"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. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

According to the typical NEST interpretation, this passage is seen as a warning to those who are already saved. It is asserted that this must be true because, as it is wrongly suggested, the recipients of this teaching are only the students of Christ (cf. Matthew 5:1). It is supposed that what Jesus means is that while one is saved, one needs to find the gate of salvation. Since the gate of salvation is such a small hole, and the walkway is so narrow, then the saved person could somehow miss the gate, (get lost) which is equated to either not being: a) able to maintain keeping salvation; b) to somehow losing salvation; c) not finding salvation, and thus being damned forever.

The NEST is wrong, so we will examine the biblical data to see why the NEST is wrong.

One of the primary things we must recognize about this directive from Jesus, is that this is an evangelistic call to Israelites who are under the Old Covenant Law of Moses. Those Israelites who heed Messiah's good news message, in faith, by accepting, and following, Him as the promised Messiah-king, will be saved. The teaching is for more than merely a few students who were elect to eternal spiritual salvation. To understand this, it is important to recognize the context. Jesus had been traveling throughout Galilee preaching this good news of the kingdom according to Messiah's appointed promise in the Davidic covenant. Large crowds followed Jesus from Galilee; from the province of the ten regional cities of the Roman Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan (4:25). When Jesus saw the large crowds, He went up on a mountain. His students came to Him, and He began to preach a sermon, (which goes on from chapter 5 to chapter 7). We anachronistically know it as His Sermon on the Mount. In Luke 6:13, concerning the same event, we see that there were many students there that he taught along with the multitudes, but that Jesus elected 12 of them on the mountain, which He also named as apostles. We read next in Luke,

"17 Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His students, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear Him ..." (Luke 6:17-18)

Immediatly we notice the large mix of people present and attentive to the sermon. It was at that point that we see that Jesus began to preach after,

"20 ... turning His gaze toward His students," (Luke 6:20)

Jesus was preaching directly to His students, and yet, as we see in Luke 7:1, He preached,

"His discourse in the hearing of the people," (Luke 7:1)

Though directed at the students in particular, the teaching was also directed at the gathered crowds, as we read in Matthew 7,

"28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them [them being the crowds plural] as one having authority, and not as their scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29)

Jesus made it perfectly clear that He is the exclusive source of salvation in coming to Jehovah. Jesus made these assertions to the Jews over and over again. We find Jesus making the same type of assertion to Israelite students in the good news chronicle of John,

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)

Believing in, and following, Jesus as Messiah, as the truth, as the life, and the "way," is the only "way" to be saved. Following Messiah is the narrow way for any Israelite, and it is the only way to eternal life, but even though it is heralded by being offered in a general call, and even though it is explained over and over again, there are only a few who actually find it. We have seen this demonstrated with the history of Israel, where most Israelites rejected their promised Messiah. We also see this among the 12 core group of students in which Judas was the prophesied son of perdition. Only a remnant would be saved.

Further, we notice that the gate is wide and the way is broad leading to destruction. This is something else that we find demonstrated in the historic record of Israel. Many more have rejected Messiah than have received Him. Those many more chose the wide way leading to destruction. Subsequently masses of rejecting Israelites not only died horrible physical deaths through God's prophesied, and sovereignly ordained wrath in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but they, along with multitudes of other Israelites, have gone to eternal destruction in eternal damnation, (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:8). Therefor Matthew 7:13-14 does not remotely teach that one who is eternally spiritually saved according to the New Covenant of the crucified and resurrected Messiah, can lose one's state of eternal spiritual salvation that one already has.

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MATTHEW 7:15-23, 7:24-27, 8:12, 10:22, 10:28, (Matthew 10:33 with Luke 9:26)

Following Jesus' sermon that he preached from the mountain, we find Jesus preaching to the various students, (including His 12 He picked out to be apostles), along with the multitudes who are at the base of the mount that He is preaching from. He warns the multitudes of Israelites about false prophets who will be coming to them. Jesus says,

"15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21 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. 22 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?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:15-23)

According to the typical NEST interpretation of this passage, Jesus is teaching that people, who are eternally spiritually saved according to His New Covenant as the crucified and resurrected Messiah, can decide to become false prophets who produce bad fruit, and, practice lawlessness. In practicing lawlessness, the supposed saved person, who is really a ravenous wolf, and a thorn bush, is a person who has not been sinless enough to please God. They have not done "the will of" Messiah's "Father in heaven" in sinless perfection. Therefor they end up losing their eternal spiritual salvation, and are damned forever.

The NEST, is wrong, and so we must explore the text in more depth to see why the NEST is wrong.

As a primary consideration, we must recognize that this Old Covenant teaching is, in fact, just that; an Old Covenant teaching. We will look at the Old Covenant orientation of this teaching in greater detail in a moment, but before we proceed, it is important to state the biblical truth that should be practiced by all Christians, and that truth is that all Christians should make it their goal to avoid sin. New Covenant exhortations to the fact that Christians should avoid sin abound throughout the scriptures. Along with that statement, though, we must ask a very pertinent question; "Is there anyone who lives a sinless life?" Certainly, to always live a sinless life, is the same as always doing the will of the Father. Anytime you sin, you are not doing the will of the Father in respect to His precepts. Even if you confess (as in acknowledge) your sin to God, there was that point where you sinned by failing to do the preceptive will of God. Even if, as an Israelite in the Old Covenant period that Jesus taught this particular lesson in, you not only acknowledge that you sin (confession) but you also had a sacrifice offered for your sin at the temple, the fact still remains that you sinned beforehand, which was an act of not doing the revealed will of Messiah's Father. You, as an Israelite, would have been just another tree (just like all other humans) who produced bad fruit in respect to not being able to be perfectly sinless according to the NEST interpretation of this passage. Further, if you are someone that believes that people who are eternally spiritually saved, are not really eternally spiritually saved, because you think that they can lose their state of being in salvation, then you are not believing something that is the will of the Father. Therefor, in your humanistic belief, you are not doing God's will. So, then, in such belief, you are a sinner, who, unless you repent and confess your sin, are continuing in your sin! These are important considerations, but we need to revisit the question that is so important; "Is there anyone who lives a sinless life?" The answer to that question is "Of course there is." He lived a perfectly sinless life under His Old Covenant, and He lives a perfectly sinless life in His New Covenant. He is the very One Who gave the sermon on the mount that we are analyzing. Unlike mere mortals, Christ always does the will of His Father. In John 8:29, Jesus made this perfectly clear,

"I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." (John 8:29)

In 2 Corinthians, we read of the great proclamation that Jesus,

"... knew no sin ..." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

These facts are important to know, because what is clearly being preached by the great sinless Jesus, is a warning to Old Covenant Israelites about fake prophets who will come to the Israelites in that age. As fakes, they are false prophet wolves who are not real sheep. By contrast, someone who is really eternally spiritually saved is really eternally spiritually saved. Really saved people are not fakely eternally spiritually saved people. Jesus is warning about people who act like servants of God but they really are not servants of God, and we see this clearly from the text. Let us take a look. Notice what Jesus says first,

"15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15)

These fakes have sheep's clothing. It is only a costume to disguise the sheep attacking predator that is hidden underneath. Jesus is using a strong metaphor for lost, clandestine, enemies of the followers of Him as the Messiah, and of course the actual human dimension of the metaphor is that these particular people that come to those Israelites are "inwardly" non-sheep. "Inwardly" there resides the dark wickedness of their Messiah rejecting hearts. Contextually, Jesus is immediately speaking of certain evil Israelites of that generation. Next Jesus says,

"16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:16-20)

In other words, in being bad trees, the false prophets will produce the fruit of being ravenous wolves. These agriculturally oriented Israelites, who are there listening to Jesus, will understand that it takes time to finally see the fruit revealed. First comes the bud, then the flower, then the tiny beginnings of the fruit, then the fruit takes full shape and finally ripens. The point is that when one discerns the false prophets by observing them long enough, it becomes evident to the eye, that such people are there to devour the true sheep. If in fact, good trees produce good fruits, then a true prophet loves Messiah, and, loves Messiah's followers. Loving Messiah and His followers, is what is being described here as good fruit. The good tree person produces this good fruit, and can not produce the fruit of being a ravenous wolf who seeks to victimize God's true children as the enemy of Christians. Next Jesus says,

"21 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. 22 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?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23)

The fake prophets will even try to lie to Jesus and convince Him, (through questioning Him), that they really loved Him and that they served Him. In other words, they are laying their fake sheep's skin before Him as proof that they were true prophets who are really His allies at the judgement. They will list a bunch of works in a last ditch sales pitch, but it will fail. Their true fruit, (which Jesus will not be confused about), will condemn them. Jesus will say to them that He never knew them because He knows what they are "inwardly" which produces the real fruit that matters outwardly. They were never really saved to begin with. Instead of being Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation, (OSIESS). These fakes will be exposed as Never Actually Saved At Any Time, (NASAAT). In our contemporary time, under the New Covenant program of God, we know of false prophets that claim the same kinds of things as prophesying, casting out demons, and doing miracles in Christ's name. We think of classics, such as the con man Joseph Smith. He is the founder of the Mormon cult; and Bringham Young, who was another Mormon leader. Both of them claimed prophetic insights, but they were con men. They were fakes, and liars of the worst kind. There are various other cults, who have had their false prophets, who claim supernatural proofs for their so called authenticity. Nevertheless, they are fakes who hate the true sheep, which is demonstrated in their writings and their relentless efforts to deny that anybody else (other than themselves, and their followers) belongs to the true church of Christ (Messiah).

All this is made more clear when we recognize that Jesus quotes the Messianic Psalm prophecy concerning His enemies who reject Him as the true Messiah. Notice the prophetic details,

"8 Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, ... 10 All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed ..." (Psalm 6:8-10)

Those who must depart, are those who have set themselves against God's Messiah as enemies in inner hatred, and rejection of Him in pure, dark, lostness.

We also need to recognize how important Messiah's response to the fakes is described as being "on that day." His response is very revealing because the NEST asserts that Jesus really did know these people at one time. According to the NEST, Jesus really did know them back when they were supposedly saved and had not yet lost their salvation. But, Jesus does not have a memory problem, and we recognize that He does not prophecy here that He is going to have a memory problem "on that day." No, in His full faculties, in His fullness of deity, He will say that He "never" (as in not ever) knew them, and logically, the way the He "never" knew them is as eternally spiritually saved children of God. What this means is that whoever does the will of the Father (in truly following Messiah by grace through faith as one who is not an enemy of God or God's children) is saved. We can take comfort in the fact that Messiah knows now, knew in the past, and will always know in the future, those who are His true sheep who are inwardly true sheep. Jesus said,

"11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. ... 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me," (John 10:11; 14)

Christ's sheep are not wolves. Therefor this prophetic warning from ancient prophecy that Jesus preached to Old Covenant Israelites does not remotely suggest that any one who is eternally spiritually saved according to the New Covenant of the crucified and resurrected Messiah, can lose eternal spiritual salvation, gain eternal spiritual salvation through meritorious effort, or keep eternal spiritual salvation secure through good deeds.

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MATTHEW 7:24-27

In this section, Jesus is continuing with His sermon on the mount. Jesus says,

"24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall." (Matthew 7:24-27)

There are two different NEST convolutions of Jesus' words here.

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One is that Jesus is preaching about being eternally spiritually saved, and that Jesus means that the New Covenant Christian (who fails to achieve sinless perfection by failing to "act" upon what Jesus says) loses salvation. To be without sinless perfection, then, is said to be building houses on sand (insecurity). To "fall" then is said to be the act of falling from grace and be damned forever. The other NEST assertion is that Messiah is preaching to the Old Covenant Israelite crowds, (cf. Matthew 4:25; 7:28-29, with Luke 6:17; Luke 7:1) as well as His broad group of students, (cf. Luke 6:13; 6:17 specifically, and also 6:20) along with His 12 separated students, (cf. Luke 6:13) as if every single one of them is, in fact, actually eternally spiritually saved. With that NEST assumption, the assertion is made that the wise man builds upon the rock of perseverance with deeds of self generated fortitude from a strong mental attitude. Because of his abilities, he will withstand various trials of life, and not fall away from His salvation that He supposedly possesses. On the other hand, if he lacks the fortitude that he must build up in his humanistic power, his fortification fails when the storms of life come, and so he somehow loses his spiritual salvation, (which is associated with the house he built), and He falls from grace to be damned forever.

Both NEST views are wrong, and it is easy to see why.

Clearly Jesus is making a general good news proclamation of "the kingdom of heaven," (cf. Matthew 5:3 and throughout) as His reign, and rule is called in the Matthew account of His sermon. The same good news announcement is called the "kingdom of God," in the Luke account, (Luke 6:20, 28). Jesus is making this good news proclamation to the Old Covenant Israelites, and He is prophetically speaking of the New Covenant kingdom to be established later on through the Spirit in His crucifixion and resurrection. Notice that Jesus says,

"24 Therefore everyone who hears ..." (Matthew 7:24)

This is everyone who was there that day listening to Jesus, (and those who would get this sermon later on, since it was to be remembered and recorded as Bible scripture). The immediate contextual audience that is there is comprised of the Old Covenant Israelite crowds along with His Israelite students. We must remember; Jesus said,

"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24 cf. 10:6)

Accordingly, Jesus is preaching to the lost sheep of the house of Israel at this time. The first part of what Jesus says in this section of His sermon point, about wise men building upon a rock, must be describing the lost sheep who actually get saved, in that they respond to the gospel in their effectual call. Anyone who acts upon the Messiah-kings words, is compared to a wise man who builds on the rock. Their house perseveres because they built upon the rock of their salvation. The question is not what is the rock, but rather who is the rock. Jesus is the rock, as we read in Romans 9:33,

"as it is written, 'Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." Romans 9:33 (cf. also 1 Peter 2:8)

Then there is this stark declaration which identifies the rock quite well;

" ... the Rock was Christ" in (1 Corinthians 10:)

Jesus is the true Messiah of the true kingdom of God. To seek to build upon any other foundation is the religious activity of lostness. This is why Messiah goes on to describe those who do not receive Him, and His kingdom reign, by His grace through faith. They do not act on His words, and so, great is their fall, because they are like a foolish man who builds his house on a sandy religious foundation. Such a person is not saved.

Therefor, we recognize that this passage does not remotely teach that one who is eternally spiritually saved according to the New Covenant of the crucified and resurrected Messiah, can lose one's state of eternal spiritual salvation that one already has.

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MATTHEW 8:12

The context of Matthew 8:12, is that it takes place after Jesus comes down off the mountain after preaching His famous sermon on the Mount. There are large Israelite crowds there. After Jesus comes off the mount, the crowds decide to follow Him around as Jesus travels. Jesus makes His way to Capernaum, and the crowds continue to follow Him there on His journey. Jesus gets to Capernaum and He is entering the city, and as He does, a Roman soldier, (a centurion), asks Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant. Here is the account of what happens next,

"Jesus said to him [the centurion], 'I will come and heal him [the servant].' 8 But the centurion said, 'Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, 'Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.' And the servant was healed that very moment." (Matthew 8:7-13)

This is a beautiful story of security in our Savior, but the NEST wants to make this into a declaration of insecurity concerning salvation. According to the typical NEST interpretation of this passage, people who are regenerated by God's Holy Spirit in the New Covenant, are "the sons of the kingdom" that Jesus says will be cast out into the outer darkness.

The NEST is wrong, and it is easy to see why.

As a first consideration, we must notice the context. Those Old Covenant Israelites who followed Jesus off the mountain are with Jesus at this time, (v. 10). So, along comes this Gentile who is not an Israelite son to whom the kingdom was promised in the Davidic covenant. Nevertheless, this Gentile has faith in the Messianic King of the Jews. Now notice the details, where we read that Jesus,

"... said to those who were following, ..." (Matthew 8:10)

["Those who are following" are the Israelite crowds. What Jesus says next is of vital importance; He says,]

"'Truly I say to you, ..." (Matthew 8:10)

[Again, these are the Israelite crowds, including His students, along with the 12 unique students. Jesus goes on,]

"I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you [Israelites] that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ..." (Matthew 8:10-11)

The amazing thing about this interaction, is that Jesus is saying that this Gentile soldier is shaming the descendants of Abraham, who are the sons of the kingdom according to the Davidic promise! Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are the biological forefathers of the Israelites; Abraham being the first one according to a covenant that predates the Old Covenant Law of Moses (Jacob being the one in which Israel got its name when Jacob's name was changed to Israel). The Israelites are the "sons" to whom the Messianic kingdom of heaven was promised to David through the Israelite bloodline. The context of this passage is that it is recording a pre-cross, pre-New Covenant event. Now let us look again as Jesus says,]

"I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness;" (Matthew 8:10-12)

Clearly this is a prophetic proclamation of Messiah's rejection by the pre-New Covenant sons of the promised Messianic kingdom of heaven according to their Abrahamic line as Israelites. In other words, Messiah was rejected by multitudes of Israelites who were biologically the sons to whom the kingdom of heaven was promised through David, and so, incidentally, history has demonstrated to us today, in retrospect, that Christ's prophecy came true--Many have come from the east and west, and have entered the kingdom of heaven through faith in Messiah, but the sons of Israel, who reject Messiah, and continue to reject Messiah, are cast into outer darkness in weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Therefor it has been established that this passage does not remotely teach that one who is eternally spiritually saved according to the New Covenant of the crucified and resurrected Messiah, can lose one's state of eternal spiritual salvation that one already has.