There Is No Crossroad

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

(Matthew 7:13-14)

Every person is born on the broad way. Sin placed us there.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

(Romans 3:23)

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

(Romans 5:12)

The broad way is the path of the natural man—self, sin, religion without Christ, good works, morality, church attendance, or any attempt to make oneself acceptable to God while still dead in trespasses and sins. It is wide, popular, and ends in destruction. No amount of turning, reforming, or gradual improvement on that road will ever make a sinner acceptable to a holy God.

Salvation is not a journey from the broad way to the narrow way.

It is a transaction. It is a transfer. It is a new birth.

Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). He paid the full penalty.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

(Romans 6:23)

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

(Titus 3:5)

The moment a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ—receiving Him by faith as Saviour—God justifies that person, regenerates him, and places him in Christ. Old things pass away; he becomes a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is taken off the broad way and set upon the narrow way. There is no intermediate path, no gradual migration, and no crossroad of personal effort.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

(John 14:6)

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

(Acts 4:12)

The narrow way is where God begins the work of change.

It is not the place where you earn acceptance; it is the place of those already accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). On the narrow way the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, convicts, teaches, and conforms him to the image of Christ. Growth, obedience, and fruit are the evidences of life already received—not the means of obtaining it.

You cannot become acceptable to God while remaining on the broad way. Religious effort, moral improvement, or “turning over a new leaf” while still unregenerate only keeps a person traveling the road that leads to destruction. Acceptance is found only in Christ, and only those who are in Christ are on the narrow way.

Have you believed? Have you trusted Christ alone? If not, the broad way is still your path.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

(John 3:36)

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

(Acts 16:31)

If you will receive Christ by faith today, God will save you, transfer you, and set you on the narrow way where He begins His good work in you. There is no other way. There is no crossroad. There is only the broad way that leads to destruction or the narrow way that leads to life—and only faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ moves a sinner from one to the other.