John 3:3. 'Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Not only will he not enter it (v.5), but he cannot even understand it. We need no better example of this that Nicodemus. He hasn't the faintest idea what the Lord Jesus is talking about. "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mother's womb and be born a second time?" A little later , he throws up his hands and asks, "How can these things be?" He hasn't got a clue. He desperately needs to be born again.
I did point you to v.25 a little while ago, but obviously to no avail. Let's look in a little bit of detail.
First of all, we have a problem with Romans 3:11. 'There is none who seek after God.' So does the Bible contradict itself? Not at all, but wait a minute! There's another text to be considered. Matt. 7:7-8. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
So how can Luke 13:24 say that there are many who seek when Romans 3:11 says that there is none who seek God and Matthew 7:7 says that if we seek we shall find? Again, does the Bible contradict itself? God forbid!
So let's look at Luke 13:24 again. 'Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and not be able.' The Greek word translated 'strive' is agonizomai, a very strong verb, from which we get the word 'agony.' We are to agonize to enter that narrow gate, to fight, contend, struggle, to 'endeavour with strenuous zeal.' It is the word used of contenders in the Olympic Games battling to win the prize.
Why are we to strive in such a strenuous way? Because many will seek to enter and not be able. When will that be? This is where Luke 13:25 is so helpful. 'When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, "Lord, Lord, open for us," and He will answer and say to you, "I do not know you, where you are from....."' Does this remind you of anything? How about the parable of the wise and foolish virgins? Matthew 25:11-12. 'Afterwards the other virgins came also, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But he answered and said, "Assuredly I say to you, I do not know you."'
Now think about Noah and the ark. Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). He was warning the people of his day that they needed to repent and come onto the ark. All the time the animals were coming onto the ark, the doors were open; anyone could have come in and been saved. But no one entered save Noah and his family. Then we read in Gen. 7:16, 'And the LORD shut [Noah] in.' It was too late. When the rain came down in torrents and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, I expect many people strove to enter; I expect they hammered on the door of the ark until their knuckles were bleeding, but it was no good. The Master of the house had risen up and shut the door.
So when the Lord Jesus says, "Many, I say to you, will seek to enter," He is speaking of the time of our Lord's return. When the Lord Jesus is seen coming with the clouds, 'all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.' They will mourn because it will be too late. That is when many will seek to enter and not be able. Before that time, we read that, '... The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands ........ and they did not repent of their murders of their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts' (Rev. 9:20-21; c.f. 16:21).
That is why Psalm 95 says, 'Today, if you will hear His voice: "Do not harden your hearts,' and why Paul says, 'Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation' (1 Cor. 6:2). But nonetheless, unless God the Holy Spirit opens hearts to believe, no one will turn to Christ. 'There is none who seeks after God.' 'No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them.' Praise God, there will be, on that Last day, a great crowd that no one can number, standing before the throne and crying out, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb."
