[29-5] Enter through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13–23)

What is the Faith Believed by Each Christian Denomination Worldwide?

         Christianity throughout the world stands under one name, yet each denomination differs in its focus regarding what it believes, its view of salvation, its understanding of the Church, and its interpretation of the sacraments.
These differences have arisen from the diversity of historical backgrounds and theological interpretations.
Below is a historical and theological description of the central faith content of the major Christian denominations.

         The Catholic Church believes in Jesus Christ as God and teaches that the grace of salvation is conveyed through the tradition and the Scriptures of the Church.
It sees salvation as being completed through faith and works, that is, through the sacraments and obedience.
It acknowledges the Pope as the vicar of Christ and teaches that the seven sacraments—baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, marriage, holy orders, and anointing of the sick—are channels of salvation.
Furthermore, it understands the Church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic community and believes that the work of redemption continues in the Holy Spirit.

         The Eastern Orthodox Church possesses a tradition similar to that of the Catholic Church but does not acknowledge the authority of the Pope.
It regards theosis (divinization), in which human beings partake in the divine nature of God through His grace, as the essence of salvation.
The sacraments are understood as the real presence of the Holy Spirit, and worship is considered a mystery in which heaven and earth are united as one.
In addition to the Bible, it also regards the traditions of the early Church Fathers as having the same authority as the foundation of faith.

         Protestantism holds to the principles of “Faith Alone (Sola Fide), Grace Alone (Sola Gratia), and Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)” as the basis of salvation.
It believes that salvation is received not through human deeds or merit but solely through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
The sacraments are understood as symbols and signs of faith, and Protestantism rejects the Catholic concept of sacramental efficacy.
However, the points of emphasis differ among denominations. Lutheranism emphasizes justification; the Reformed Church (Presbyterianism) centers on the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of predestination.
Methodism values sanctification and the fruits of a holy life, while the Baptist Church emphasizes “believer’s baptism” based on an individual’s confession of faith.
Pentecostal and Charismatic movements practice faith centered on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, healing, and spiritual gifts.

         The Anglican Church represents a synthesis of Catholic tradition and Protestant doctrine.
It adopts the ‘threefold principle’ of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason as the standard of faith, recognizing baptism and the Eucharist as important sacraments while rejecting papal authority.
It maintains a liturgical form of worship while also continuing the Protestant tradition of preaching.

         Evangelicalism emphasizes the absolute authority of the Bible, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, and being born again.
It places personal conversion and the preaching of the gospel at the center of faith, valuing worship centered on the Word and personal confession of faith more than the sacraments.
Although it is divided into various branches such as Pentecostal, Reformed, Baptist, and Methodist, the common core is “faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.”

         Liberal theology and modern theology understand the Bible not as absolute truth but as a historical record of faith.
They interpret miracles, the resurrection, and the work of the Holy Spirit as symbolic events, and seek to expand the gospel into a principle for humanity’s moral growth, social justice, and realization of peace.
Such theology tends to understand Jesus not as the Savior, but as a model figure for humanity.

How was the gospel symbolized?

         The history of the gospel becoming symbolized does not simply show a change in theology, but reveals the process by which God’s work of salvation gradually became philosophized and institutionalized within human understanding.
The baptism and the Cross of Jesus were originally one complete event of salvation, but as time passed, their meaning was transformed into symbols and institutions.

         The period of the Early Church was the time when the apostles and disciples directly preached the words of Jesus and believed in baptism and the Cross as one event of salvation.
They clearly proclaimed the gospel that Jesus received baptism from John, took the sins of the world upon His own body, and atoned for those sins on the Cross.
To them, the gospel was not merely a doctrine or ritual but an actual event of the remission of sins, and being “born again of water and the Spirit” was proclaimed as the core of salvation.

         However, after the apostles passed away and the Church Fathers’ era began, the gospel started to be influenced by philosophy and apologetics.
The early Church Fathers tried to explain the gospel through Greek philosophy and logic, and as a result, the experiential essence of the gospel was gradually shifted into theoretical interpretation.
Baptism was partially transformed from being the actual means of the remission of sins into a ceremony of entering the community of faith, and the gospel began to be understood in the form of a “mystical ritual.”
Beginning with the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, the gospel entered the path of doctrinal formalization.
The Council clearly distinguished the divinity and humanity of Jesus and established the doctrine of the Trinity, but the event in which Jesus was baptized by John and took upon Himself the sins of the world was excluded from the Creed.
From that time, baptism came to be regarded only as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and the focus of faith was reduced from the union of baptism and the Cross to a Cross-centered faith.
As the gospel was systematized around doctrines and creeds, it gradually changed from the actual event of salvation into a declaration of faith.

         When the papal authority was strengthened in the medieval Catholic era, the gospel became further institutionalized and was transformed into a sacrament-centered structure.
The Church established itself as the only channel of grace, teaching baptism as a rite for washing away original sin and the Eucharist as a ceremony in which the sacrifice of the Cross was repeatedly reenacted.
The essence of the gospel changed from “faith” to the “performance of rituals,” and salvation was regarded as something granted only through the Church. As a result, the gospel was gradually replaced by symbols and ceremonies, and the meaning of the actual event of redemption became obscure.

         In the era of the Reformation, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and others criticized the distorted doctrines of medieval Catholicism and cried out for “Scripture alone” and “faith alone.”
They initiated a reform movement to restore the gospel back to the Bible.
However, the vicarious meaning of baptism was not recovered. Baptism was limited merely to a sign of faith, and the shedding of blood on the Cross was emphasized as the sole basis of salvation.
Although the gospel returned once again to being “faith-centered,” the actual redemptive meaning of baptism remained reduced to a symbol.

         In the modern and contemporary church era, the center of the gospel gradually shifted toward personal emotions, experiences, and social ethics.
Theology became more specialized, and the gospel was interpreted in terms of psychological comfort and moral teaching.
Baptism came to be regarded merely as an initiation ceremony, and the Cross began to be understood only as a symbol of love and devotion.
As a result, the Gospel was replaced not by the actual event of the remission of sins, but by the ‘meaning’ and ‘symbols’ felt by humans.

         In this way, when we look at the historical flow of the gospel, we see that in the era of the Early Church, baptism and the Cross were one connected, actual event of salvation. However, as time passed, the gospel became philosophized and doctrinalized, and through the Middle Ages, it followed the path of ritualization and symbolization.
After the Reformation, the gospel returned to the Bible once again, but it still remained a partial gospel — that is, a faith centered only on the Cross — and by the modern era, it had been weakened even into psychological and cultural interpretations.
Ultimately, the gospel was transformed “from an event into a symbol.”
Human beings reduced God’s work of redemption to a matter of intellectual understanding, and as a result, the power of the gospel became buried within theological concepts.
Today, Christianity remains not in “the gospel of the water and the Spirit,” but in “the symbolic gospel of the Cross alone.”
The restoration of the true gospel lies in once again believing these two events — that Jesus was baptized by John and took upon Himself the sins of the world, and that He was judged for those sins on the Cross — as one complete event of salvation.

         When viewed along the timeline, in AD 30, during the era of the Early Church, the gospel was proclaimed as an actual event.
After the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, the gospel began to be doctrinalized.
From AD 500 to 1500, during the Middle Ages, the gospel became fixed as a ritual centered on the sacraments, and in the Reformation era of AD 1500, it was transformed into a symbolic gospel.
Then, entering the modern age of the 2000s, the gospel was transformed into psychological and cultural interpretations.

The Actual Gospel of the Early Church

         The actual gospel of the Early Church is a key theme in restoring the origin of faith, which in many denominations today is understood merely as a symbol.
The gospel that the Early Church preached was not a short statement such as “Jesus died on the Cross for our sins,” but a real and experiential gospel that believed in Jesus’ baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection as one continuous redemptive event.

         At that time, the apostles and disciples proclaimed the gospel centered on the Word of “being born again of water and the Spirit.”
In John 3:5, Jesus said, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
The Early Church accepted this word not as a mere metaphor or symbol but as the actual condition of salvation.
To them, “water” referred to the event of Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River, and “Spirit” referred to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that came through the death and resurrection of Jesus on the Cross.
That is, “water” meant the event of the transfer of sin, and “Spirit” meant the result of redemption, in which the sins transferred were judged on the Cross and completed through the resurrection.
Therefore, the gospel of the Early Church was one complete event of salvation in which the baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection of Jesus were inseparable.

         The baptism of Jesus was understood as the actual event in which the sins of humankind were transferred onto Jesus.
In Matthew 3:15, Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
The Early Church interpreted this verse not as a mere example of obedience, but as the event that completed the righteous procedure of God’s salvation.
It was believed that when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, all the sins of humankind were transferred onto His body.
John the Baptist, as the last priest belonging to the Aaronic lineage of the Old Testament, fulfilled the role of transferring the sins of humankind to Jesus, just as under the Law, sins were transferred to the sacrificial offering through the laying on of hands.
Leviticus 16:21 states, “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat,” which shows the original pattern of this event.
The Early Church regarded this event — that the sins of humankind were transferred through the baptism of Jesus — as the starting point of the gospel.

         The Cross of Jesus was the actual judgment of God upon the sins that had been transferred.
Because Jesus bore all the sins of humankind upon His body through baptism, the blood He shed on the Cross was the righteous judgment of God upon those sins and the act of perfect atonement.
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” foretelling that the sacrifice of Jesus would be the reality of atonement.
The Early Church testified to the blood of Jesus not as a mere symbol but as the actual evidence of atonement.
To them, the blood of the Cross was not simply a sign of death, but the actual result of the sins that had already been transferred through baptism being judged.
In other words, they understood that without baptism, the death of the Cross could not be directly connected to the sins of humankind.

         The resurrection of Jesus was the event that testified to the completion of the remission of sins and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 4:25 says, “who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”
The Early Church regarded the resurrection not merely as a miraculous event but as God’s confirmation that the remission of sins had been completely accomplished.
Furthermore, the resurrection was the point at which the indwelling of the Holy Spirit began, and the record in the Book of Acts that the disciples received the Holy Spirit was because they had believed in the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and the Cross in their hearts.

         The structure of the gospel in the Early Church was clear.
First, through the baptism of Jesus, the sins of the world were transferred to Him (Matthew 3:13–17);
second, through His death on the Cross, the sins that had been transferred were actually judged and atonement was accomplished (John 19:30; Isaiah 53:5–6);
third, through the resurrection, justification was confirmed and the presence of the Holy Spirit began (Romans 4:25; Acts 2:32–33);
and fourth, they testified that those who believed in this gospel were born again of water and the Spirit and received the remission of sins (John 3:5; Mark 16:16).

         The gospel of the Early Church shows a clear difference from today’s symbolic gospel.
The Early Church understood baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection as one inseparable event of salvation, but many denominations today have reduced baptism to a mere ritual of faith confession, centering only on the blood of the Cross.
In the Early Church, baptism was the actual transfer of sin and the starting point of salvation, but in the modern church it has degenerated into a symbolic act.
Also, the Cross in the Early Church was the judgment of the sins that had been transferred, but today it is understood merely as a symbol of the remission of sins.
Therefore, the gospel of the Early Church was a real and experiential gospel of complete remission of sins, whereas today’s gospel has become a partial and conceptual symbolic faith.

How Was the Actual Gospel of the Early Church Omitted from the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed?

         The actual gospel of the Early Church—that is, the perspective that regarded Jesus’ baptism, crucifixion, and resurrection as one continuous salvific event—gradually weakened or was omitted within the formal creedal confessions of the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed as time went on.
This change can be understood not merely as a theological regression but as a historical process that arose from differences in the literary purposes, polemical contexts, and liturgical structures of the Church at that time.

         First, the early writings after the period of the Early Church placed greater focus on the practice of baptism by the faithful rather than on the redemptive meaning of Jesus’ own baptism.
Didache 7 provides detailed instructions on the concrete manner of administering baptism—for example, the kind of water to be used or the threefold pouring—but does not interpret the redemptive significance of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River in a theological sense.
In Justin Martyr’s Apology, chapter 61, he also emphasized the necessity of repentance and fasting before baptism and the procedure of being “washed with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” yet he did not connect Jesus’ own baptism to the event of redemption.
Tertullian’s On Baptism likewise highly valued baptism as “the sacrament of water that washes away sins and leads to eternal life,” but the main concern remained centered on the theology of believers’ baptism and church regulations.
Within this trend, the weight of the early writings came to rest more on the believers’ baptism than on Jesus’ baptism, and as a result, the viewpoint that “the baptism of Jesus is the starting point of the transfer of sins” found little room to develop into a central clause in the public creeds.
While the meaning of baptism was discussed in sermons and commentaries through biblical passages like Matthew 3:15, the creed was a genre with an essentially different purpose.

         In the case of the Apostles’ Creed, its origin lay in the baptismal interrogations used during baptismal rites.
The Old Roman Creed, the primitive confession of faith of the early Roman Church, developed between the 6th and 8th centuries into a form close to the present one.
Because the purpose of this confession was to ask catechumens, prior to baptism, to affirm the main points of faith, it was not intended to describe the detailed processes or theological mechanisms of redemption.
Thus the text concisely summarizes the grand flow of salvation—“Incarnation – Passion – Cross – Resurrection – Second Coming”—and does not directly mention the event of Jesus’ baptism.
In the end, rather than referring to the baptism of Jesus itself, the Apostles’ Creed functioned as a framework of faith confessed through the act of baptism.

         In the case of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD), its purpose was much more clearly defined.
In the 4th century, the greatest issue facing the Church was the Arian controversy, whose core question was how to define the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.
The Council focused on establishing the Trinitarian doctrine, affirming that “the Son, as true God, possesses the same essence as the Father.”
Therefore, the text of the Creed confesses the central redemptive events—“the Son was incarnate of the Virgin Mary through the Holy Spirit, was crucified for us, and rose again”—but it does not mention the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan.
It merely includes the clause, “We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins,” which refers not to Jesus’ baptism but to the sacramental baptism of the Church.
In other words, this Creed, as the product of doctrinal controversy, concentrated on defining “the nature of the Son,” while the theological meaning of Jesus’ baptism as “the beginning of the transfer of sins” was not a topic of discussion.

         Ultimately, the reasons why the event of Jesus’ baptism was omitted from the Creeds can be summarized as several functional factors.
First, the difference in genre and purpose.
Since the Creeds were intended as concise statements of essential truths to address schisms or heresies within the Church, the detailed inner logic of the redemptive process—namely, that the transfer of sin occurred in baptism, that the sin was judged on the Cross, and that righteousness was completed through the resurrection—was left to the domains of exegesis, preaching, and catechetical instruction.
Second, the influence of liturgical structure.
The Apostles’ Creed was rooted in the threefold interrogative structure of the baptismal rite (“Do you believe in the Father? Do you believe in the Son? Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?”); therefore, the event of Jesus’ baptism did not naturally fit into this framework.
Third, the focus of theological debate.
The main battleground of the 4th-century councils was the question of Christ’s divinity and humanity, and thus the inner logic of sin-transfer through baptism was not among the central issues.

In Matthew 7:13, the words “Enter by the narrow gate” spoken by Jesus refer to what kind of faith?

         In Matthew 7:13, the exhortation of Jesus, “Enter by the narrow gate,” is not a mere moral warning or ethical teaching but an invitation to salvation that reveals the essence of true faith.
This saying points to the righteousness of God—which cannot be attained by human effort or religious deeds—the gate of salvation that can be entered only through Jesus Christ.
From the evangelical perspective of the Early Church, this “narrow gate” signifies the gate through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that is, the gate of God’s righteousness opened through the baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection of Jesus.

         This saying belongs to the concluding part of the Sermon on the Mount, and through this passage, Jesus warned against hypocritical faith and false belief.
Jesus said, “For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).
This emphasizes that the true way of salvation may seem narrow and difficult by human standards, but only those who accept the righteousness of God by faith can pass through that gate.

         The “narrow gate” that Jesus spoke of symbolizes the way that leads into the righteousness of God.
When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, He said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
That baptism was the very event in which all the sins of humankind were transferred onto the body of Jesus.
Therefore, the command “Enter by the narrow gate” means to believe in and enter into the righteousness of God, which Jesus accomplished by taking upon Himself the sins of humanity through His baptism and by atoning for those sins on the Cross.

         On the other hand, the “wide gate” symbolizes human righteousness and effort.
The way of trying to obtain salvation through one’s own deeds and religious rituals is the wide gate.
Many walk on this path, but it ultimately leads to destruction. 
Paul clearly stated in Romans 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” making it clear that humanity cannot approach God through human righteousness.

         The saints of the Early Church did not receive this word as a mere parable or warning.
They understood the command “Enter by the narrow gate” as a call to salvation — “Be born again of water and the Spirit.”
When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the sins of humankind were transferred to Him; on the Cross, those sins were judged by God; and through the resurrection, righteousness was accomplished.
Therefore, believing in this gospel was the faith that entered through the narrow gate.
The Early Church preached this gospel — that “Jesus Christ was baptized by John to bear our sins, shed His blood and died on the Cross, and through His resurrection made us righteous” — as the narrow gate, that is, the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

         However, today many people confess that they believe in Jesus, yet if that faith is not built upon the united gospel of the baptism and the Cross, they still remain in the faith that enters through the “wide gate.”
To enter through the narrow gate does not mean merely making a religious decision or having zealous faith, but it means the faith that truly believes the baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection of Jesus as the actual events of salvation.
Only those who accept the gospel that Jesus bore the sins of the world through His baptism, that those sins were judged on the Cross, and that through His resurrection the righteousness of God was accomplished, can enter through that narrow gate.

The Wide Gate and the Narrow Gate

         In today’s passage, Matthew 7:13, Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate.”
This statement is not merely a moral warning or a call for religious decision, but a declaration of salvation that reveals which of the two ways humanity must choose.
God has set before humankind two gates:
one is the wide gate — the way of the Law — and the other is the narrow gate — the way of the Gospel.
Outwardly, both speak of “faith,” but the content and direction of that faith are completely different.
Jesus commanded us to choose the narrow gate that leads to life.

         The wide gate is the way based on human deeds and efforts.
By nature, humans have the desire to become righteous by themselves.
The illusion that keeping the Law will make one righteous before God is precisely the wide gate.
However, by human effort, no one can reach the perfect righteousness of God.
This way may outwardly appear pious and religious, but in the end, it is the path of establishing one’s own righteousness, and its end is destruction.
This is why Jesus said, “for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”

         In contrast, the narrow gate is the way that leads into the righteousness of God.
When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, He said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
This was not a mere act of obedience but the event in which He was completing the righteousness of God for the salvation of humankind.
When Jesus was baptized, the sins of humankind were transferred onto His body, and He bore all the sins of the world.
Then, on the Cross, those sins were judged, and through His resurrection, the righteousness of God was fulfilled.

         Therefore, the narrow gate is the gate through which one enters by believing in the way of the gospel that was accomplished through the baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection of Jesus.
This gate cannot be opened by human deeds.
Through human goodness, religious devotion, or legalistic righteousness, no one can ever pass through that gate.
Only those who believe in the gospel that Jesus took upon Himself our sins when He was baptized in the Jordan River, that He bore the judgment for those sins on the Cross in our place, and that He accomplished righteousness through His resurrection can enter through that narrow gate.
The words of Jesus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), point precisely to this truth.

         The Early Church did not receive these words as a mere warning but as an invitation to the gospel.
They understood the command “Enter through the narrow gate” as a call to “Be born again of water and the Spirit.”
Believing in the gospel that through the baptism of Jesus sins were transferred, that on the Cross those sins were judged, and that through the resurrection righteousness was accomplished—this was the faith that entered through the narrow gate.
Those who had this faith lived with the assurance of the remission of sins, enjoyed the indwelling and peace of the Holy Spirit, and lived a humble life by abandoning their own righteousness and living by the righteousness of God.

         Even today, many people confess that they believe in Jesus, but if that faith is not built upon the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and the Cross, they still remain at the wide gate.
The wide gate is the path of religious faith, remaining in human righteousness and doctrinal zeal, but the narrow gate is the gospel of redemption, the gate of salvation opened by God.
To enter through the narrow gate does not mean merely making a religious decision, but approaching God with the faith that believes the baptism, the Cross, and the resurrection of Jesus as the actual events of salvation.

         Ultimately, the words “Enter through the narrow gate” are an invitation of the gospel to enter into the righteousness of God.
Through the baptism of Jesus, the sins of humankind were transferred to Him; on the Cross, those sins were judged; and through the resurrection, the righteousness of God was completed.
Only those who believe in this gospel enter through the gate that leads to life.
That gate is narrow and few find it, but at the end of that way are the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.

What Is the Gospel That Leads to Life?

         The “gospel that leads to life” spoken of in the Bible is not a mere religious belief or an emotional love for Jesus, but the faith that believes in the actual event of salvation that Jesus Christ Himself accomplished — namely, the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Only this gospel is the true gospel that delivers people from sin and death and leads them to eternal life, and within it, the righteousness of God is perfectly revealed.

         First, the center of the gospel of life lies in the righteousness of God. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.”
The gospel that leads to life is not based on human righteousness or good deeds.
It is the gospel established solely upon the fact that Jesus completely fulfilled the righteousness of God.
Human beings cannot obtain salvation through their own deeds; they are justified only within the righteousness of God that Jesus Himself accomplished.
Therefore, the gospel is not something completed by human effort, but the gospel of God’s righteousness, in which God Himself accomplished salvation and allows us to receive it by faith.

         This gospel of life is concretely revealed as “the gospel of the water, the blood, and the Spirit.”
1 John 5:6 records, “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ.”
The baptism of Jesus, the blood of the Cross, and the Holy Spirit who came through the resurrection are one inseparable redemptive event.
The baptism of Jesus was the event in which the sins of the world were transferred onto the body of Jesus, and the Cross was the event in which those transferred sins were completely atoned for under the judgment of God.
And the resurrection was the event that confirmed that the atonement had been perfectly accomplished, granting eternal life to believers through the coming of the Holy Spirit.
These three events never exist separately, but are united as one complete gospel.

         The moment Jesus was baptized by John, He bore all the sins of humanity.
The words of Matthew 3:15, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” show the very beginning of that redemption.
On the Cross, Jesus personally bore the sins that had been transferred through that baptism and shed His blood, dying under God’s righteous judgment.
That blood was not a mere symbol but the evidence of atonement in which God’s judgment upon the sins of humanity was actually completed.
And through the resurrection, Jesus overcame sin and death and accomplished righteousness.
This resurrection was not a mere miracle but the beginning of a new life in which, together with the fulfillment of salvation, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in those who believe.

         Therefore, the gospel that leads to life is the gospel of the water (baptism), the blood (Cross), and the Spirit (resurrection), and the faith that believes in these three events as one is the faith that leads to life.
Legalistic faith is based on human deeds and efforts, but the gospel of life is the faith founded upon the baptism and the work of the Cross of Jesus.
Legalistic faith seeks the remission of sins through human efforts such as repentance, fasting, and repeated prayers, but the gospel of life accepts the remission of sins by believing that the sins were already transferred through Jesus’ baptism and completely judged through the Cross.
Thus, legalistic faith remains in constant anxiety and repeated repentance, whereas the gospel of life enjoys the assured remission of sins and the peace of the Holy Spirit.
If the way of the Law is the zeal to establish one’s own righteousness, the way of the gospel is the way of life that bears the fruit of gratitude and a holy life.

         Jesus Himself demonstrated this gospel of life.
When He was baptized in the Jordan River, He bore all the sins of humanity upon His body.
And on the Cross, He received the judgment for those sins on our behalf and fulfilled the righteousness of God.
By His resurrection, He confirmed that the remission of sins had been completely accomplished, and by the power of that resurrection, He gave the Holy Spirit to those who believe, granting them eternal life.
This order of redemption — bearing sins through baptism, judging sins through the Cross, and giving life through the resurrection — is the gospel that leads to life.

         There is clear evidence in those who believe in this gospel.
First, the sense of guilt disappears from the heart, because there is the assurance that Jesus has already borne all sins.
Second, the Holy Spirit indwells within. By believing in the baptism and the blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit dwells in the one who has no sin and gives peace.
Third, one comes to desire to preach the gospel. The one who has received life gains a heart that wishes to share that life.
Fourth, life becomes filled with the Word and thanksgiving. One no longer lives under the fear of the Law, but lives in freedom and joy within the grace of God.

         Ultimately, the gospel that leads to life is “the gospel of the water and the Spirit.”
Those who believe in this gospel—that Jesus received baptism in the Jordan River, shed His blood and died on the Cross, and accomplished righteousness through His resurrection—are already those who have passed from death to life.
Just as Jesus said, “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life,” this way may appear narrow and hard in the eyes of the world, but only this way is the true way of salvation and the way that leads to eternal life.

What does it mean when He said, ‘The gate that leads to destruction is wide’?

         The words of Matthew 7:13, “For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” are not merely a moral warning that people of the world commit sins.
The purpose for which Jesus spoke these words was to warn of the outcome of those who leave the way of the gospel — the way of salvation that God has appointed — and go instead on the way of faith made by themselves, that is, the way that relies on the Law and on religious deeds.
The wide gate signifies all the ways by which people try to achieve salvation according to their own righteousness, and this saying of Jesus was His declaration that destroyed the law-centered faith and formal religious belief that oppose the gospel.

         Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate,” presenting the way that leads to life.
Yet at the same time, He said that there exists “a wide gate.” 
This wide gate is not the gate opened by God but the gate made by man.
Outwardly, it appears to be a gate of faith, but within it lie self-righteousness, deeds, and religious effort.
In Romans 10:3, Paul warned, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
This is precisely the essence of the faith of the wide gate. 
Within that gate are included all attempts to become righteous by keeping the Law or to gain salvation through one’s own piety and works.

         This path appears attractive to many people, because it is a faith they can practice by their own ability.
People pray, give offerings, serve, and fast to show their piety, but when all those acts are directed toward the satisfaction of their own righteousness, that way becomes a path that excludes the righteousness of God.
Jesus said that this way “leads to destruction.” 
The wide gate symbolizes human-centered faith, legalistic effort, and the religious form of faith, and at its end, there awaits not life but destruction.

         Theologically speaking, the wide gate represents the way of the Law.
Human beings, by nature, have a tendency to try to become righteous by themselves rather than depend on God.
Therefore, they seek salvation by keeping the Law, but that way can never lead to God.
In contrast, the narrow gate is the way of the gospel.
This way is established not by human works but by the righteousness of God — that is, through the baptism and the Cross of Jesus.
When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, He took upon Himself the sins of the world, and by receiving judgment for those sins on the Cross, He fulfilled the righteousness of God.
The one who believes in this gospel is the one who enters through the narrow gate.

         The “wide gate” that Jesus spoke of includes not only the pagans outside the world but also those within religion.
Those who claim to believe in God yet do not know the true way of the gospel belong to this group.
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Some prophesy in the name of Jesus, cast out demons, and perform mighty works, but because they do not believe in the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and the Cross, the Lord says to them, “I never knew you.”
This is the end of the religious faith that has entered through the wide gate.

         Therefore, the contrast between the “wide gate and the narrow gate” does not simply refer to the difference between good and evil.
It shows the difference between the Law and the gospel, between human righteousness and God’s righteousness, between religion and faith.
The wide gate is the way centered on man, while the narrow gate is the way centered on God.
The wide gate depends on works and effort, but the narrow gate is based on faith and grace.
The wide gate is a gate made by man, but the narrow gate is the gate that Jesus Himself opened.
The wide gate symbolizes the Law, self-righteousness, and religious formality, while the narrow gate symbolizes the righteousness of the gospel through the baptism and the Cross of Jesus.
Ultimately, the wide gate ends in the failure of the way that seeks to justify oneself, but the narrow gate leads to life through the remission of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

         From a gospel perspective, the wide gate signifies a faith that rejects the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
God accomplished His righteousness through the baptism and the Cross of Jesus.
However, many regard baptism as a mere symbol or seek to be acknowledged by God through their deeds and efforts.
Some say, “It is enough to believe only in the Cross,” but if one does not believe that Jesus, by receiving baptism, took upon Himself the sins of the world onto His body, then even the blood of the Cross cannot be connected to one’s own sins.
Ultimately, such faith remains in self-righteousness, and its end leads to destruction.

         In conclusion, the wide gate is the gate of religion, and the narrow gate is the gate of the gospel.
Jesus said, “I am the door. if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
Jesus Himself is the door that leads to life.
Yet that door is never wide.
Only those who believe in the gospel of Jesus’ baptism and the Cross can enter through it.
Human religious efforts, doctrinal rituals, and moral deeds may appear like the narrow gate, but in the end, they are the wide gate, and their end is not life but destruction.

         In summary, the wide gate is the gate of salvation made by man—the way that seeks to become righteous through self-righteousness and religious works.
But the narrow gate is the gate of salvation opened by God—the gate of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, in which Jesus received baptism in the Jordan River to bear our sins, was judged for those sins on the Cross, and through His resurrection accomplished righteousness.
Only those who enter this gate by faith are led to life.
This is the very reason Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate,” and it is the core of the gospel that reveals the true way of salvation.

         The gospel of the water and the Spirit was the Word of truth that saves us from all sin.
This is because Jesus Christ is the Savior who loves us and has delivered us from all our sins.
Jesus Christ is our Savior, our God, and our Bridegroom.
Because Jesus Christ was baptized by John to take away our sins and was crucified to save us, we must keep this gospel by faith.

What Is the Didache?

         The Didache is one of the most important documents of the Early Church, and its name in Greek means “The Teaching.”
Its full title is The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and it is a precious record showing how the teachings of the gospel delivered by the apostles were actually practiced in the life of the Church.
It is estimated to have been written around the end of the 1st century, approximately between AD 70 and 120, and is regarded as one of the oldest catechetical manuals of the Church that existed almost contemporaneously with the New Testament.
The Didache contains the Early Church’s patterns of worship, the regulations for baptism and the Lord’s Supper, ethical guidelines for the believer’s life, and the principles of church organization and mission—practical contents for living the life of faith.
In other words, the Didache can be called the Early Church’s practical guidebook and life manual that shows how the apostolic teaching of the gospel was carried out in the actual life of the Church.

         The content of the Didache is largely composed of four parts.
First, The Teaching of the Two Ways contrasts the way of life and the way of death, teaching how a Christian ought to live.
It includes moral exhortations such as “Love your enemy” and “Keep away from greed and fornication.”
Second, The Regulations for Church Rites present concrete instructions regarding baptism, prayer, and fasting.
Baptism is to be administered “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and, if possible, to be conducted in running water—that is, in living water.
It also teaches the faithful to recite and pray the Lord’s Prayer three times a day.
Third, The Regulations on the Eucharist contain in detail the thanksgiving prayers of the Early Church for the Eucharist; unlike today’s Eucharistic service, it emphasizes gratitude and the meaning of communal fellowship rather than the shedding of Jesus’ blood.
Fourth, The Instructions Concerning Apostles, Prophets, and Church Leaders provide practical counsel on the criteria for distinguishing true apostles from false prophets, the principles of Sunday worship and offering, and the manner of appointing bishops and deacons in the Church.

         From a theological perspective, the Didache is a transitional document bridging the Apostolic Age and the Patristic Age, showing the simple and practical form of faith of the Early Church.
This period was before complex doctrinal controversies such as the Trinity or the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ arose; therefore, the Didache focused more on life and practice rather than on theological debates.
In particular, its detailed records concerning baptism and the Eucharist are regarded as highly valuable historical sources for understanding how the worship and sacraments of the Church developed after the New Testament period.

         When the Didache is compared with the Nicene Creed, the difference in the character of the two documents becomes clearly visible.
The Didache, a document from the late 1st century, dealt with practical Christian living and the regulations of the Church, whereas the Nicene Creed, established in AD 325, is a doctrinal confession of faith emphasizing the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Trinity.
The Didache’s understanding of baptism was a simple practical instruction centered on repentance and transformation, while in the Nicene Creed, baptism took the form of a formal confession rather than a theological definition.
Furthermore, the Didache emphasized ethics, thanksgiving, and communal worship, but after the Nicene Creed, the Church gradually developed into an institutional and doctrine-centered form of worship.

         The Didache had been forgotten for a long time.
However, in 1873, a monk of Constantinople named Philotheos Bryennios discovered this document among ancient manuscripts, bringing it back to light.
Afterwards, the Didache was included in the Apostolic Fathers and is now recognized as a very important early Christian document in theological studies.

How are the baptism and the Eucharist in the Didache connected to or different from the Gospel of the Bible (especially Jesus’ baptism and the cross)?

         The understanding of baptism and the Eucharist presented in the Didache is a valuable record showing the actual faith life of the Early Church, but it has a clear difference from the depth of the redemptive gospel testified in the Bible.
The Didache is a document that emphasizes the practice of faith, ethical life, and the order of the community, containing the ‘application of the gospel in life,’ but its theological focus differs from the gospel centered on ‘the righteousness of God and the redemptive event’ testified in the Bible.

         First, when we look at the understanding of baptism, the Didache regarded baptism as a symbol of the remission of sins and a sign of repentance.
It teaches that baptism should be administered “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” and that, if possible, it should be done with running water, but if there is not enough water, it may be poured on the head.
Baptism is presented as meaning that the one who has repented begins a new life before God, and it was understood as an act of confession of faith and ethical conversion.
In contrast, in the gospel of the Bible, baptism appears not as a mere symbol but as an actual event of redemption.
Jesus’ receiving baptism from John was not simply to set an example, but it was a historical event in which He took upon Himself the sins of the world onto His body.
In Matthew 3:15, Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” and at that very moment, the Bible testifies that the sins of mankind were transferred to Jesus.
Therefore, the essence of biblical baptism is not a symbol of repentance but the transference of sin and the starting point of salvation, the redemptive event in which the righteousness of God is fulfilled.
While the Didache focused on human repentance and piety, the gospel of the Bible emphasizes God’s redemptive plan and the work of atonement.

         The understanding of the Eucharist also shows differences between the two traditions.
The Eucharist in the Didache is described as a communal meal centered on thanksgiving (εὐχαριστία, eucharistia).
Within it appear expressions such as “We give thanks for the fruit of the vine” and “We give thanks for the bread of life,” yet there is almost no mention of the blood of Jesus on the Cross.
The Eucharist was understood primarily as a communal meal symbolizing thanksgiving to God and the unity of the Church.

         In contrast, the Eucharist in the Bible is not a simple meal of thanksgiving, but a rite of faith commemorating the redemptive event accomplished through the flesh and blood of Jesus.
Jesus said, “And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’” (Luke 22:19–20), thus placing the center of the Eucharist on the blood of atonement.
The Eucharist in the Bible is the confirmation of the remission of sins, the table of grace where believers remember and participate in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by faith.
Therefore, while the Didache understood the Eucharist as an expression of communal thanksgiving and unity, the Eucharist of the Bible is established as an actual commemoration of redemption and atonement.

         To summarize the theological differences between the two traditions: the Didache focused on ethics, repentance, and the practices of the community, whereas the gospel of the Bible centers on redemption, the remission of sins, and salvation through faith.
The Didache’s understanding of the gospel emphasized the teachings and exemplary life of Jesus, but the gospel of the Bible emphasizes the redemptive work completed through the baptism and the Cross of Jesus.
The Didache tended to view good deeds and a devout life as the basis of salvation, but the Bible declares that “a person is justified by faith,” placing the ground of salvation solely on the work of Jesus Christ and the faith that believes in Him.

         Theologically speaking, the Didache preserved the practical form of the gospel, yet it did not clearly contain the fundamental events of the gospel — namely, the redemptive meaning of Jesus’ baptism and the Cross.
Therefore, although it is a valuable guide for the faith life of the Early Church, it is insufficient to reveal the complete gospel of redemption.
Conversely, the gospel of the Bible stands at the center as the actual redemptive event in which the righteousness of God was fulfilled through the baptism and the Cross of Jesus.
Salvation is not achieved by human repentance and effort, but is given through faith in the work of Jesus Christ.

         In conclusion, while the Didache was a document that emphasized the external practice of the gospel — that is, human deeds and attitudes of life — the gospel of the Bible centers on the internal truth of the gospel, namely faith and the essence of redemption.
The Didache taught “how one ought to live,” whereas the Bible proclaims “what one must believe.”
Therefore, the source of salvation lies not in human works, but in the righteousness of God completed in the baptism and the Cross of Jesus Christ.

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