J
joclucsylv
Guest
Scripture says the road to heaven is narrow. Looking at myself I know I am not good enough for heaven and am hoping for purgatory but maybe looking at hell. I am a sinner.
- Status
S
Simpleton
Guest
I believe there are a lot of souls in Hell; however, I don’t see how this should cause anyone to go into despair. Jesus will forgive any sin provided you’re truly sorry and work hard to ammend your life, and even better is He will personally assist you with this life change via His Church and the Sacraments.
To be honest Christians have the best God of them all.
G
grandfather
Guest
Jesus tells of the men who went into the synagogue to pray. One told God he was a sinner and begged for mercy. The other thanked God for making Him so wonderful and decent.
Jesus says the man who told God he was a sinner and begged for mercy went away justified.
From what you wrote above, which one are you?
All the saints in heaven, but one, are sinners. That is why they are called the redeemed, and Jesus is the Redeemer.
If you ask God for mercy you will receive it. If you think you have not received it yet keep asking.
P
PrayHarder
Guest
Jesus did say it was a narrow road. But He didn’t specify how narrow. Maybe Jesus was making a point in a way that the people could understand that not everyone goes to Heaven. Just because something is narrow doesn’t imply that “most” people won’t be able to stay on that road. It just means that not everyone will stay on the road. Jesus didn’t say the narrow road was impossible, just that no everyone will stay on it. But I wouldn’t read that as “most” people, only that some people do not end up in Heaven.
To think of it another way, the road might be narrow and difficult, but by the grace of God and the mercy of Jesus Christ we all have the strength to travel it.
To think of it another way, the road might be narrow and difficult, but by the grace of God and the mercy of Jesus Christ we all have the strength to travel it.
N
Nec5
Guest
Yes.
T
thewanderer
Guest
To answer this question would be to Presume to know the interior state of most people at the momen of their death. There is no human who can possibly know this answer unless it were divinely revealed by God.
A
Ancient1
Guest
Go to the Sacrament of Penance. Problem solved.
L
lauraabarlow
Guest
Amen! And be truly sincere.
K
King_Lazy
Guest
If you go to confession and repent sincerely every time you fall into sin, problem solved. Of course, that’s not that easy, but if you really want to follow God’s will and go to heaven, there’s no chance in hell you’ll end up in hell.
As for other people, Scripture does indeed imply that perhaps the majority will go to hell, but all that means is that those people want actively to rebel against God’s will and they don’t care where they end up, as long as they get to have things their way. They choose hell for themselves, and God warns us that it’s not a good choice.
It is not certain how many will go to hell and whether it’s the majority or the minority, as indeed God wills that all be saved, but heaven requires one to die to his own will and follow that of his Creator, which is certainly a narrow path to follow. We have no way of knowing how many people reach that narrow path at the moment of death.
We can be confident, however, that God’s mercy is endless and He will never let a humble, sincere and repentant soul perish, no matter how grave its sins.
D
Dorothy
Guest
When I ponde that about the narrow road I see that the more humble we become in God’s sight, the littler we become, and the narrow road is easier to travel.
We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, acknowledging that everything good comes from Him, and die to ourselves while carrying our cross after Him.
May all of us grow in His love on our spiritual journeys!
Blessed Mother, Help of Christians, pray for us!
C
Crumpy
Guest
**People will be judged, Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, by the natural law, by the law of Moses, or by the law of Christ. Theoretically, these should all converge, I guess, if I understand correctly. Christians are in the best position to know the truth which will set them free.
If you really know the natural law or the law of Moses, you should recognize Christ and follow him.**
J
JRKH
Guest
Short and totally objective answer is, Yes most people go to hell.
Jesus states this clearly Mt 7:
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
We can only conclude from this that most people (many) go there. However. Do not despair - for in the very recognition of our sinfulness lies the seed of our redemption.
The verse just before this one just as clearly states:
So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. (Mt 7:12)
And later in Matthew, Jesus reaffirms this:
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, "
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, Your shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 22:36-40)So - the key to salvation is simple…simple - yet hard…and summed up in the single word, “Love”.
Based on this, we can easily see that there are reasons for confidence and reasons to be concerned. Each in proper proportion keeps us moving toward God.
Since we know that the key is Love, we can seek each day to grow in love; to “do unto others”. We can seek to forgive others and to try to live out Christ to the best of our ability in the hundred of small opportunities we have each day.
The Gospels tell us that we will not be judged on anything large. We will not be judged on whether we can move mountains, or heal the sick, or preach with the tongues of angels. No - We will be judged on the little things. Read Mt 25:31-46 - I was hungry… I was thirsty… etc. Those who are saved ask “When did we do these things…”, see love was so engrained in them that they did not even recognize or remember that they were living “Love”.
On the other hand, those condemned, those who did NOT act out of love in all the little ways, try to justify themselves by pointing to their great and haughty acts - but Like St Paul says in 1 Cor 13:1-13, Even if one has all sorts of abilities and gifts, if one does not have Love…they gain nothing.
So -
In all of this rambling - what is the bottom line?
Do not despair. Come to Christ in humility. Ask him to show you how to grow in Love every day. When you fall, get up, ask forgiveness and move on. Do not focus on your sins for such focus is like trying to walk the narrow path backwards. Turn instead and face forward so that, not only can you walk the “straight and narrow”, you can move faster and faster until you are almost running toward the goal.
Focus on the gate, focus on Christ, focus on Love.
Peace
James
J
JRKH
Guest
Indeed they do all converge. They converge in one word - Love…Agape…and this is what we will be judged on.
Peace
James
S
someperson555
Guest
about that first verse. i like to interpret it a different way. i was reading about hell on peter kreeft’s website and he brought up that verse. he said that “even one could be too many”. and this has some truth to it. for a father of thirteen kids, losing even one is too many.
as for my personal feelings. they are very ambivalent since i read about cases in the extremes. i read hopeful stories about sinners who said they were sorry at the last minute and were saved. but then ive also heard of visions where kids were sent to hell for merely breaking their curfews. so the bottom line is, we dont know. i like to imagine the majority of souls will be saved, but i just dont know, no one does. we just have to repent repent repent.
J
JRKH
Guest
I agree that most of us would “like to interpret it a different way”, but I feel it is better, and safer to go with what it actually says and not what we would like it to say.
The thing to remember is that what is important is not where the “many” wind up for we cannot have any control over what the “many” do. Our control is VERY limited. First and foremost, we can only control ourselves. Secondly, we can have some effect on those near us - especially children. Third, we can influence others by our lives and our actions.
But - the only control we have is over ourselves…
So - In reading these verses, we need to pull out what they mean to us who are on the journey toward God. We need to recognize that such verses are not intended to cause us to despair, but rather to cause us to recommit. To strengthen our resolve. To shake us out of any complacency in our own lives and journeys.
Look at ALL of the teachings in Mt ch 5-7…Jesus repeatedly pushes the disciples to new efforts, to get them out of their self-righteousness and their comfort zone.
He does the same thing with the “rich young man”. He doesn’t dismiss the young man’s efforts so far, but at the same time, He challenges the young man to do more.
This is what the passage about the narrow way - seeks to do. To keep us awake and focused.
Peace
James
J
Jerry-Jet
Guest
When speaking of the road to eternal live Jesus said “FEW there are that find it.”
Therefore it MUST be true that MOST people really do go to Hell!
Therefore it MUST be true that MOST people really do go to Hell!
M
mercytruth
Guest
Maybe we could explain this scripture this way:
Few ever find the narrow road that is our Lord Jesus Christ, and who leads us to eternal life. It is our Lord Jesus Christ who finds us.
And our Lord Jesus Christ will not find us, unless the Father draws him to us. (John 6:54).
And the Father in heaven will not draw Jesus Christ to us, unless
" we turn, and become as little children."
Few ever find the narrow road that is our Lord Jesus Christ, and who leads us to eternal life. It is our Lord Jesus Christ who finds us.
And our Lord Jesus Christ will not find us, unless the Father draws him to us. (John 6:54).
And the Father in heaven will not draw Jesus Christ to us, unless
" we turn, and become as little children."
5
57Bill
Guest
In the context of the chapter and his audience, I think it was similar to His Sermon on the Mount.
Most of the people Jesus spoke to felt their salvation was by being a descendant from Abraham and keeping the law. Those are what I think are the “many”
Jesus’ teachings are revolutionary to what was thought to be right and wrong at the time.
The law of right and wrong at the time was outward actions and reactions and easier to follow (wide gate) than to include what thoughts one has in their heart (narrow gate).
–Easier to never have physically killed than to have wished it in your heart–
Through Jesus we can go through the “narrow” gate
Most of the people Jesus spoke to felt their salvation was by being a descendant from Abraham and keeping the law. Those are what I think are the “many”
Jesus’ teachings are revolutionary to what was thought to be right and wrong at the time.
The law of right and wrong at the time was outward actions and reactions and easier to follow (wide gate) than to include what thoughts one has in their heart (narrow gate).
–Easier to never have physically killed than to have wished it in your heart–
Code:
one is the wide path the other the narrow.
N
Nicea325
Guest
What I think and what actually happens might be a very drastic difference.
F
fhansen
Guest
If God sends the average Joe to eternal torment I think l He has some real issues: He’d be an awfully petty God for one thing. But He doesn’t; God is love. And He’ll bring most of His universe into the order and integrity He always planned it to have-except for those who adamantly reject being subjugated to whatever goodness and Love demands. Just my opinion but it’s consistent with what I believe I’ve come to know about our God.
- Status