How to Walk the Narrow Path of Salvation | The Whole Counsel

We want this to dissuade us from two pitfalls. So maybe we could think of a right understanding of the whole picture of a Christian life. Not just justification, but what flows out of it, and where it ends.

The Narrow Path Between Easy Believism and Hyper-Calvinism

We could think of that as kind of a narrow mountain path that's beautiful, but if you're not careful, to the left and to the right, there's a very steep cliff. On one side is easy believism, where a person says, all you have to do is repeat after me, or ask Jesus into your heart, or just mentally accept, kind of nod your head to these Bible facts, and you think, easy as can be.

And then on the other side is hyper-Calvinism, that says it's so hard, I dare not even try, because that would almost be kind of putting myself in God's place. No, I'm just gonna wait until God does it.

So clearly, the whole picture ought to move us to a desperation, where we cry out to God and say, save me. Save me for your name's sake. But God, only you could save me. Look at, you know, I would take all 14 things to God and say, I just read a sermon that said this.

John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and the Picture of Persevering Faith

God, it's true. So, I have no hope in me, but I have great hope in you, and I will not leave you alone until this kind of salvation is mine. John Bunyan, in his book, The Pilgrim's Progress, one of my all-time favorite scenes in that allegory comes at the early part of the book.

Christian is setting out on his journey. He's just been converted. Pilgrim's just become a Christian. The burden is off his back, and he spends the night with a man named Interpreter, and Interpreter takes him through a number of rooms in his house, and then he takes him out of his house to another scene, where he's basically giving him lessons that he needs for the Christian life.

You've got to understand this, and because Bunyan gives it in a picturesque way, these are scenes. One of the scenes that he views is a great palace, and inside the palace, the people are walking along the top, and they're clothed in golden garments, and they're happy and clean and joyful, and they represent a Christian.

In front of the palace is a group of armed men who prevent anyone from getting in there. Out in front of them is a man sitting at a desk with basically an ink pen and a book, and anyone that wants, anyone can come up and sign the book, and then try to get through the men.

If they can get through the men, they can get into the palace, and so everyone is afraid of the armed men, and Christian is kind of shocked that no one will even try, and then he sees a man with courage come up, signs his name, straps on his armor, runs into the men, and they go at it, you know, and then he backs up, and he goes again, and again and again, he gives and receives many blows, and finally, through desperation, he breaks through, and the next scene, you see the man dressed in gold up top.

Salvation as Desperate Pursuit of Christ

Now, we're not talking about work salvation, that if I do well enough, Jesus lets me in. What Bunyan, the interpreter, says to Christian, do you understand this? He says, no, I understand this one. When a man has been made to see, when a woman, when a young person has been made to see how great their need is, and how great a Savior there is, it doesn't matter if there's a thousand hurdles, a thousand enemies in between me and Christ, I will rage against them until I have Him.