Featured Entering the Kingdom

Who 'prevented' them from going in?

 

Matthew 23:13, ". . . But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither allow ye them that are entering to go in. . . ."

 

Does this make the Pharisees greater than God?
Of course not. So how then do you understand this verse?

Note that Jesus prophetically expresses seven woes on the Pharisees in this passage.

*Matthew 23:2-4,13,15-16,23,25,27,29-30*

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

 

Two very very stupid questions.

 

You might consider that conclusive evidence, but I couldn't possibly comment without hearing from @Van.

 

Not stupid at all. However, it is clear you refuse to be honest with yourself and your contradictions in theology, otherwise you would answer the questions.

 

I had answered a question. It like you cannot understand?
You answered your first question, "Does this make the Pharisees greater than God?
Of course not." Which was a nonsesnse question for starters.
My answer I had given, and you read, was the answer to your second question. That Scripture ment what it said. Re: Matthew 23:13. All false teachers cause this, that is, to keep others out of God's kingdom.

 

You are reading that verse and saying Pharisees cause people not to be saved. That would therefore be an answer where you have humans on equal power with God. But, that is not what Jesus is saying. He is not saying Pharisees have the power to stop God from saving others.
Jesus is pronouncing a curse upon the Pharisees. A prophetic Woe. He is saying that their teaching leads people to hell.
37, all teaching whereby humans must do something before God can act is indeed a teaching of the Pharisees. As Christians we should evaluate our teaching on salvation to ensure we are not making salvation an action that man does to cause God to react. That teaching is legalism and graceless. It is Pharisaical.

 

So there are no false cults that can keep people from the truth. To deny the Trinity of Persons who are the one God. Etc.

 

So, the Pharisees didn't cause people to not be saved. Each person is in sin by their own rebellion and by nature is in rebellion against God. Is that correct?

Therefore, attempting to create a soteriology from Jesus "Woes" on the Pharisees is foolishness. Correct?

 

Jesus meant what He warned. So did the Apostle Paul.
Romans 2:1, ". . . Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. . . ."
Matthew 23:13, ". . .But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. . . ."

 

Do you know the context of these two passages? If so, please interpret them so we see how Paul and Jesus were applying the sentences you quoted.

Far too often, we pluck a sentence out of context to have it say something that is inaccurate.

Here's my example of verse without context:

"And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.'"

I suggest, therefore, that you are not handling the Word of God correctly in either Romans 2 or Matthew 23 unless you fully consider the context and argument being made in both books.
Tell me, what overarching subject is Paul addressing from Romans 1 to Romans 11? That will help you understand what Paul is doing in Romans 2.

No! Utterly worthless hogwash.
You wrote: "Thus a process, or sequence of steps, is utilized in order to gain entry."

Salvation has always been by grace alone. No sequence of steps necessary on the part of man to cause God to approve and admit entry.

You are providing a twisted version of the Judaizers in Galatians as your teaching, which Paul rightly called anathema. I know you don't see this. In fact you will complain and claim I am false. Such a claim by you would be the false claim.

Every Old Testament saint, from Adam to the cross, was saved by God's grace and given the gift of faith to believe in the Promised One who would redeem them.

*Hebrews 11:13-16*

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

*Hebrews 12:1-2*

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

*1 Peter 1:3-12*

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

 

You already forgot Matthew 23:13.

 

I did not forget. I recall it is a part of Jesus prophetic Woes on the Pharisees.

 

Austin it is clear you refuse to be honest with yourself and your contradictions in theology, otherwise you would answer the questions that have been posed to you, but why should we expect you to do what you expect others to do. Double standard there Austin.

 

I answered them. You don't like the answer so you whine.

 

All I see from you is the same tired response. I have come to expect the negative comments about anything not Calvinist. For you, it seems, scripture has to bow before Calvinism.

 

I hope everyone sees the sudden change from Van in his presentation. 'Prevented' has been altered to 'hinder.'
If the scribes and Pharisees could prevent people from entering the kingdom, then @AustinC is absolutely correct and they would be greater than God. However, if you want to see the Pharisees in hindering mode you need only turn to John 9 and the account of the man born blind. They certainly hindered the man and did all they could to prevent him from entering the Kingdom. Did they succeed? Not at all (John 9:35-38). Christ is 'He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens' (Revelation 3:7).