The Narrow Door
"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
LUKE 13:24
+
The Narrow Door
Well, why not? Because they do not know what the narrow door is. It is faith, which makes a person small, even nothing, so that he must despair of all his works and only cling to God's grace, abandoning everything for that. But the Cain-saints think that good works are the narrow door. For that reason they do not become small, they do not despair of their [works], but rather gather them together in big bags, hang them around [their necks], and want to go through [that door]. And they will go through, just like a camel with its large hump can go through the eye of a needle [see Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25].
From the Church Postil, sermon for the Sunday after Christmas on Galatians 4:1-7 (Luther's Works 75:367)
LUKE 13:24
+
The Narrow Door
Well, why not? Because they do not know what the narrow door is. It is faith, which makes a person small, even nothing, so that he must despair of all his works and only cling to God's grace, abandoning everything for that. But the Cain-saints think that good works are the narrow door. For that reason they do not become small, they do not despair of their [works], but rather gather them together in big bags, hang them around [their necks], and want to go through [that door]. And they will go through, just like a camel with its large hump can go through the eye of a needle [see Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25].
From the Church Postil, sermon for the Sunday after Christmas on Galatians 4:1-7 (Luther's Works 75:367)
Posted in Daily Devotions
Recent
Archive
2026
January
In The GardenBy Your Own LawA Kingdom Not From HereThe King Who Bears Witness to the TruthWhich Jesus Will You Have?Behold the King We MockedBehold the Man, Lifted for YouAuthority from Above, Glory from the CrossBehold Your King, Lifted Up to JudgeThe Place of the SkullIt Is WrittenEvery Promise KeptStabat MaterIt Is FinishedThese Three TestifyA True TestimonyA Quiet Courage at the CrossThe Empty Tomb and the Wounded SaviorSeeing, Believing, and the Linen Left BehindCalled by Name in the GardenDo Not Cling, Go and TellPeace in Wounded HandsThe Wounds That Speak PeaceYou May Have LifeMy Lord and My GodFishingIt Is the LordThey KnewFeed My LambsFollow HimFollowing Jesus, Not Comparing Paths
February
The Testimony That Is EnoughBefore Kings, Before the CrossBefore You Were Born, the Word Was GivenSet Like FlintRemembering First LoveForsaking the FountainBroken Cisterns and the Living CrossAshamed of Our False RescuesForgottenWe Have SinnedLift Up Your EyesLike SisterReturn to the LordThe Gift of ShepherdsOur Only HopeShame That Leads to SalvationCircumcised HeartsBlow the Trumpet in the LandWhen Wisdom FailsThe Storm We Have SummonedThe Sound of the TrumpetWhen Wisdom Becomes FollyThe Earth Shall MournCan You Find One?There Is No DifferenceThe Lord Must InterveneSpeak TruthEnduring Nation
2025
January
Not AshamedIn Every RespectWe Are In His HouseHear His VoiceTodayBut You BelieveRest in ChristRest in FaithRest in Christ’s WordConfidence in Our Great High PriestOur Eternal High PriestCalled by GracePerfect Through SufferingA Little MilkFoundationGod Comes to UsFaith in ChristObtaining the PromiseThe King of PeaceBlessed by the SuperiorA Priest Forever in ChristThe Forever PriestA Better HopeOur Eternal IntercessorOur Perfect High PriestOur Eternal High PriestThe Better Covenant in ChristA New CovenantPromises KeptOnly The High PriestNot the Blood of Goats