There Is Just One Way
We would like to take a moment to welcome you to Finding The Gate. As our Lord and Savior told his disciples in Matthew 7:14 "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." The purpose of this website is to serve as an aide to those who are earnestly looking for the gate, with a desire to walk the narrow way that leads to eternal life with God. The world of 'Christendom' is highly divided with many groups claiming they are the ones with the knowledge to get you to heaven. Pure simple New Testament Christianity has been overtaken by traditions of men and the inspired word of God has been replaced with the unbiblical ideas of men. They claim to know the way. They claim to be able to get you through the gate. Not so. Only God's word can get you there.
The denominations of the world teach a wide variety of contradictory doctrines, and yet all claim they teach what the bible teaches. More often than not if you quote a verse of scripture to them that clearly contradicts what they teach, their response will either be 'that's your interpretation,' or 'that's not what it means,' or 'you can't understand what the bible means without the Holy Spirit leading you." They will pull out cherry picked verses that on the surface seem to strongly support what they're telling you, but will refuse to listen to other verses that show they aren't interpreting their cherry picked passages correctly. Understanding the bible is a matter not just of reading a verse, but also considering it in context. The context is sometimes found strictly within the surrounding passage, but often times proper biblical interpretation relies on also considering the remote context, that is, what else the bible has to say elsewhere that applies to the topic under consideration.
'Pastors,' will tell you that you're wrong when you bring up a passage because they don't agree with it. Some believe that you can understand scripture, but only the verse they want to look at applies. Others go so far as to teach that only a special class of people blessed by God with a special ability for discernment can read and understand the scripture. Ask yourself, why would God give us his Word in written form if we cannot understand it? If men have to have some miraculous gift from God to understand his word then why give it to us at all? The apostles were told by Christ in Matthew 10:19, "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak." The apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, didn't need the written word. Why then do 'pastors' today need the written word? Because nobody today has inspiration from God. We have to read his word and understand it to have the knowledge God would have us to know.
We can know for certain that we can understand the scripture. Luke (inspired by God) wrote in Acts 17:11 about the Bereans, "These were more noble than those in Thesolonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Understand this, if we cannot understand the scripture, then the Bereans likewise could not have understood the scripture to verify the teachings they were receiving.
God inspired 40+ men across multiple continents, in multiple languages, over thousands of years to write down his word as he was ready to reveal it. They wrote primarily in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek, with the latter being the language of the New Testament writings. Koine Greek was the most widely spoken and written language throughout the world at the time the New Testament was penned. Not only was it the world's most commonly used language, it was not the scholarly dialect of Greek that highly educated people spoke. It was the everyday common man's language of the day. What does this show us? The New Testament was written for the common man. God inspired his writers to deliver his word in the most easily understood language the world had to offer at the time. Anyone who tells you that the scripture cannot be understood is telling you that God, as all powerful and all knowing as he is, is either incapable of communicating with man in a way we can understand, or is uncaring enough about his creation to make his word impossible to understand. Neither option corresponds with the all knowing and loving God of the bible. Yes, with diligent study you can understand it. It was written for you and me to understand.
Religion cannot be pleasing to God unless it it is on his terms, not ours. It doesn't matter what my opinion is, what your opinion is, or what some 'pastor' says. God is the one we should look to for authority in all matters of both doctrine and morality. As the creator of both the universe, and everything in it (including us), he is the only source of truth, and morality. Despite what many people will tell you there is no such thing as your truth, and my truth. There is only truth and error. The truth comes from God, and was written so you can understand it. Salvation is a matter of knowing the truth from the lies, and submitting ourselves to the truth God has revealed to us through his inspired Word.
Our greatest hope for this website, is that it can help you to weed out the lies, and find the truth God has given to us, whereby we may be saved. As the bible tells us of Satan, in John 8:44 he, "abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." Yes, Satan has been lying to and deceiving people since the garden of Eden. His tactics have not changed, but there are many in the world today that happily spread his lies, believing them to be God's truth. This site is dedicated to comparing the doctrines of the many manmade religions to what the bible really says. With careful study and consideration, the truth of God's word can be known. We can divide the truth from the lies, learn God's will and be set free from the shackles of sin that Satan would have bind us to him so that we will share in his fate. We see the fate of those who follow Satan in Matthew 25:41 when God will tell them, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
This does not have to be our fate. Jesus said in John 8:32, "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." How will we know the truth? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, "Study (give diligence) to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Yes we can know the truth, but we must do as God tells us in Philippians. We must give diligence, we must search the scriptures to see if the things we have been told are so.
Do you want to know the truth, and be free from slavery to sin? Do you want to understand the will of God, and know what he has told us about how to be saved and spend eternity in heaven with him? If so, then I would encourage you to spend as much time as you can not only reading the information we have prepared for you, but to dedicate time to reading, and studying the bible on your own because yes, you can understand it.