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{Sermons on Ephesians 5:15
The Doctrine Explained
Precisians Are the Sort Who Walk in the Right Way
The Right Way Described
The Difficult and Narrow Way}
The third guidepost is the difficult and narrow way. “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:14 ESV).54 Christians must go by a route; there is no elbow room for lust to wander. Every step on this hand or on the other is deviation. It is a way that is hedged in. The Commandments are the hedge that limits us within a very narrow path. Christians must live by rule. They must not eat or drink, except by rule. They must not buy or sell, except by rule. They must not work or sit still, except by rule. They must not speak or keep silence, except by rule (Matthew 5:48; 1 Peter 1:15–16; Romans 14:23; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 3:17). “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be upon them” (Galatians 6:16). It is also a narrow way; the word for “narrow” comes from a verb55 that might well have been translated “troublesome” or “painful” way; it means “to oppress.” There are many pressures and afflictions to be met with in this way. The Cross is a Christian’s guidepost. Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. On the contrary, the way of sin is a plain; there is neither hedge nor ditch to limit them; there is neither brush nor marsh to discourage them.56
54The popular expression “straight and narrow” is a corruption of “strait and narrow.” In Matthew 7:13–14, in the KJV, the gate is called “strait,” meaning “narrow.” But it can also mean “difficult” or “strict.” The underlying Greek is steno~ [stenos], which also can connote “strict” or “exacting” as well as narrow. It is typically translated “narrow” in more modern translations. On the other hand, the word describing the way in verse 14 is teqlimmenh [tethlimmenay], a form of qlibw [thlib½], literally meaning “compress,” “restrict,” or “rub together.” It is used in a figurative sense of “afflict,” “cause hardship,” or “oppress.” Referring to the way (as opposed to the gate) the KJV and NASB translate it as “narrow,” the NKJV translates it as “difficult,” and the ESV translates it as “hard.” However Matthew 7:13–14 is translated, the gate and way are clearly no easy path and Alleine’s discussion is true to the Scripture text.
55qlibw [thlib½], see footnote above.
56This refers to how many ways there are to sin and how easy it is to sin. It does not negate the fact that sin has many and dire consequences in this life and the next.
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