The Fullness of The Finished
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
John 1:16
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:14
We understand that it is by God’s grace that we are saved. It is not our own efforts, but is His efforts. It is only by coming with no merit of our own, but as sinners who sin, with no excuse or righteousness of our own merit, and by coming to the bloody cross with our own souls, that we enter into Christ’s life within. It is only in the fullness of that finished work that we have any life whatsoever. Paul called any efforts besides simple faith in the cross to be “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).
On the other side of this is Jesus’ Words, saying, that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, we will in no way ever enter the Kingdom. He said that the gate was small, and the the road to life was hard and narrow. Only a few find it.
Between these two places on either side, which we could call ditches, we find the road. Narrow as it is, it is still the road, and it must be traveled.
When we learn to preach the fullness of His Grace hand in hand with the narrowness of the road, we will have begun to understand the finished works of the cross.
