14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
My teacher used to ask: how do we reconcile this passage with our LDS beliefs about the vast number of people who will be exalted, and the vaster number who will be saved?
I answered: Few find the narrow gate on their own, but countless multitudes can follow those few who do. I don't need to find all the principles leading to eternity on my own, because I have the prophets. Having found the wide gate all too quickly on my own, I can still turn to a narrow path which I may never have found, but which has been shown to me.
My teacher used to ask: how do we reconcile this passage with our LDS beliefs about the vast number of people who will be exalted, and the vaster number who will be saved?
I answered: Few find the narrow gate on their own, but countless multitudes can follow those few who do. I don't need to find all the principles leading to eternity on my own, because I have the prophets. Having found the wide gate all too quickly on my own, I can still turn to a narrow path which I may never have found, but which has been shown to me.
Huh-- I have another explanation as well:
ReplyDeleteHow many of us spend all of our lives on the path to eternal life? The answer-- one, the Christ.
The rest of us spend quite a while on the path to destruction, which is why Christ's Atonement was necessary.
However much we try and live a perfect life, we're going to mess up, and follow the path of destruction, and we'll need Christ to come and bring us back. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to follow the path to eternal life, just that we can't say we got there on our own.