In this twenty-first century, with all the knowledge and collective understanding of mankind, preaching simply, “Repent and be baptized,” will only be effective for the few who are ready to do so. Preachers who give this message often accompany it with something like, “The road is narrow that leads to life, and the road is wide that leads to death” (adapted from Matthew 7:13-14).

Here are the Matthew 7 verses:

13Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Jesus was not giving this message to people who did not believe in God. He was speaking to Jews who had followed him into the countryside. It was in his famous Sermon on the Mount. In the context of this major event, he tells believers to enter through the narrow gate to the narrow way, the way that leads to life, or ζωήν (zōēn). But he does not say they must enter the narrow gate.

The Greek text of Matthew has the word ἀπώλειαν (apōleian) for destruction. On BibleHub.com, of the first 24 Bible versions listed, only 3 translations mention either hell or eternal loss, but the other 21 versions have the word translated as destruction. The word for hell is γέενναν (geennan), which Jesus used earlier in the same sermon when he said in Matthew 5:29, “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” And just before the gate line in verse 12, Jesus said, “do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.”

So, while it is true that Jesus said some really difficult things, he also said them to certain people, and he said them in the midst of many encouraging words.

Preaching messages of heaven vs hell to people who do not believe is ineffective.

Peter, on the other hand, addressed all the people in Jerusalem regardless of belief and quoted Joel saying:

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:21

Peter quoted verses from Joel, which says to call upon Jehovah, appropriately for the nation of Israel before Jesus was born on Earth. In the book of Acts, the word is Κύριε (Kyrie), or Lord.

If it is true that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved, then what’s the point of Christianity? Think about who would not call upon the name of the Lord. They include those who have seen hypocrisy in the Church and felt judged by so-called Christians. And then there are those who have never heard of Jesus.

But Jesus’ use of language is different when he speaks to everyone, not just believers. John 12 (NASB) says:

44Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. 45And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. 47If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day.

To everyone, Jesus said that his purpose for coming into the world was to be a light so that no one who believes in him will be remaining in darkness (in an aorist verb tense). And Jesus makes clear in verse 47 that he does not judge the one who does not keep his teachings. Paul, on the other hand, wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 that saints will judge the world, including angels. But while we are still on this earth, Jesus commanded in Luke 6:37, “Do not judge… Do not condemn… Forgive.”

Though, Jesus did say there is a judge: the word which he spoke, which is λόγος (logos). Incidentally, this is the same word that appears in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God.” The same logos that spoke the earth into existence is the judge.

It is not up to a human being to decide who is damned and who is saved.

Jesus did not make disciples so that some of us can say, “I’m saved.” Truthfully, disciples can fall away. Paul and Timothy warned disciples in Philippian 2:12, when he wrote, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Just before the warning, they wrote:

5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

6Who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
7but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross.

9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name above all names,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Our job is to love. Period. Yet we worry with thoughts about concepts that are far beyond human comprehension. Because of this, Jesus made his commands simple: Love God and love one another. All believers are called to love one another whether or not we are disciples. And those who are disciples are to teach the nations, baptizing the believers who choose to be baptized, and teaching them the narrow way of Jesus. And God wants those who believe to persuade people who don’t believe to change their minds. But to worry about whether or not a person is saved is not for us to do, because God already loves that person much more than any human does. Plus, Jesus said, “Do not worry.” A human sees a person’s outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

In the New Testament, Jesus and the disciples spoke to three different kinds of people: believers, disciples, and all people. The way the Lord’s message was conveyed was different for each group. On an individual level, how Jesus spoke to different people was not the same. He spoke to individuals according to their individual needs or purposes, i.e., to some people Jesus said to follow him, and to others Jesus said to go home.

In Acts 2:21, Peter said that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord (τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου) will be saved. And that name is Jesus. He said this only days after Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples, or apprentices, (μαθητεύσατε or “mathēteusate”) of all the nations teaching them his way and baptizing them. For some, this is the narrow gate and way that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:14. And in the same sermon, just a few lines later in verse 21, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” The will of the Father is for all to believe in Him. This means for believers that we must do our best, asking for wisdom and discernment, to help unbelieving people to come to belief in Him by living a life of the love that Jesus taught. As John 3 says:

16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

We need each other to learn how to love. We must connect to one another, being in unity for the single purpose to learn to love like Jesus. Then the Church will grow up, letting go of the apostate behaviors that cause hypocrisy. And then the people of the world will know to call upon His name. And then Jesus will return.

And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.

1 John 3:23

Verses are from the Berean Standard Bible unless otherwise noted, copied and pasted from BibleHub.com.