Matthew 7:12 - Meaning and Application

Our Lord Jesus here urges on us the righteousness we owe to other people, which is a vital part of true religion, and also the devotion we owe to God, which belongs to all-round righteousness. We must make righteousness our rule and live by it, as Matthew 7:12 teaches. So we should set this as our guiding principle, to do to others as we would have them do to us. This helps explain the earlier commands about not judging and criticizing others, and it also helps us receive the promises that come before this verse. It fits well that the law of justice comes right after the call to prayer, because if we are not honest in our conduct, God will not hear our prayers (Isaiah 1:15-17; Isaiah 58:6, 9; Zechariah 7:9, 13). We cannot expect good things from God if we do not do what is fair, honest, lovely, and worthy of respect among people. We must not only be devout, but also honest, or our devotion is only hypocrisy.

Here we have the rule of justice clearly stated, “Whatever you want people to do to you, do also to them.” Christ came to teach us not only what to believe, but also what to do. He teaches us not only our duty toward God, but also our duty toward other people. And he does not limit this to fellow believers, people of our own group or agreement, but to people in general, everyone we deal with. The golden rule of fairness is to treat others as we would want them to treat us. Alexander Severus, a Roman emperor who was a pagan, admired this rule greatly, had it written on the walls of his study, and often used it when deciding cases. Whether stated negatively or positively, the meaning is the same: do not do to others the wrong you would not want done to yourself, and do to them the good you would want done to you. We must not repay people with the evil they have done to us, or the evil they would do if they had the power. We must not do anything that we would resent if it were done to us, but only what we would welcome if we were in their place. This rests on the great command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The meaning of this rule comes down to three things. First, we must do to our neighbor what we ourselves admit is proper and reasonable. The appeal is to our own judgment, and our own will and expectations when the case is ours. Second, we must put others on the same level as ourselves, and reckon that we owe them as much as they owe us. We are bound to justice just as much as they are, and they are just as entitled to it as we are. Third, in our dealings with people, we should picture ourselves in their exact situation and act accordingly. If I were making such a bargain, or dealing with such weakness or suffering, how would I want to be treated? This is a fair way to think, because we do not know how soon their situation may become ours. At the very least, we should fear that God may deal with us as we have dealt with others, if we do not do as we would be done by.

Christ gives a reason to strengthen this rule: “This is the law and the prophets.” It is the sum of the second great commandment, one of the two commands on which all the law and the prophets hang (Matthew 22:40). We do not find these exact words all through the Law or the Prophets, but the whole message agrees with it. Everything there said about our duty to our neighbor, and that is a great deal, can be brought under this rule. Christ has taken it up into his law, so the Old Testament and the New Testament both agree in teaching us to do as we would be done by. By this standard, Christ’s law is shown to be excellent, but the lives of Christians are judged and often found wanting when compared with it. Either this is not the gospel, or these are not Christians.

We must also make religion our business and keep close watch over our lives. We are told to enter through the narrow gate and walk the narrow road, as Matthew 7:13-14 says. There are only two ways, the right way and the wrong way, the way to heaven and the way to hell. We are all walking in one or the other. There is no middle place after death, and no middle way now. In the end, all people will be divided into saints and sinners, godly and ungodly.

We are told about the bad way of sin and sinners, both what is most attractive about it and what is worst about it. Many are drawn in because the gate is wide and the road is broad, and many travel it. There is great freedom in that way. The gate stands wide open and seems to welcome those going straight ahead. A person may enter with all his lusts and desires with him, because it checks neither appetite nor passion. He may walk in the way he wants and follow what he sees. It is a broad road because nothing fences in those who walk there, so they keep wandering. It is also broad because there are many paths in it, many different sinful choices, even when those choices conflict with one another.

There is also plenty of company on that road, because many go in by that gate and walk that way. If we follow the crowd, it will be to do evil. If we go with the multitude, it will likely be the wrong road. We are naturally inclined to follow the flow and do what most people do, but it is too much to risk being lost just for the sake of company, or to go to hell with others because they will not go to heaven with us. If many are perishing, that should make us more careful, not less.

What should drive us away from that road is this: it leads to destruction. Death, eternal death, is at the end of it, for the way of sin moves toward everlasting ruin away from the presence of the Lord. Whether it is the open road of bold wickedness or the hidden road of secret hypocrisy, if it is a sinful path, it will end in ruin unless we repent.

We are also told about the way of holiness. We should know the hardest part of it, so we can count the cost. Christ deals honestly with us. He tells us, first, that the gate is narrow. Conversion and new birth are the gate by which we enter this way, where we begin a life of faith and serious godliness. We must pass out of a state of sin into a state of grace by being born again (John 3:3, 5). It is a narrow gate, hard to find and hard to pass through, like a path between two rocks (1 Samuel 14:4).

There must be a new heart and a new spirit, and old things must pass away. The direction of the soul must change, and corrupt habits and customs must be broken off. What we have been doing all our days must be undone and replaced. We have to swim against the current. There will be strong resistance from outside and from within, and we must push through it.

It is easier to turn a man against the whole world than against himself, yet that is what conversion requires. This is a narrow gate, because we must stoop to enter it. We must become like little children, bring down our proud thoughts, strip off selfishness, deny ourselves, and put off the old self. We must be willing to give up all for our interest in Christ. The gate is narrow for everyone, though it is narrower for some than for others, such as the rich and those who have long been biased against religion. Still, blessed be God, it is not shut against us, not locked, and not guarded by a flaming sword, as it soon will be (Mat 25:10).

Second, the way is narrow. We are not in heaven as soon as we pass through the narrow gate, nor in Canaan, the land God promised Israel, as soon as we pass through the Red Sea. No, we must go through a wilderness and travel a narrow road. God’s law, which is very broad, hems that road in, and that makes the way narrow. Self must be denied, the body kept under control, and the corrupt desires that are like a right eye or a right hand must be put to death. Daily temptations must be resisted, and duties must be done even when they go against our natural bent.

We must endure hardship, wrestle in prayer and obedience, stay alert in all things, and walk carefully and wisely. We must go through much suffering. The road is, as the original phrase says, an afflicted way, a way hedged around with thorns, but blessed be God, it is not blocked up. Our bodies, and the sin that still remains in us, make duty hard. Yet as our understanding and will grow sounder, the way will open up more and more and become more pleasant.

Third, since the gate is so narrow and the way so tight, it is no wonder that only a few find it and choose it. Many pass it by because they are careless. They will not take the trouble to look for it, because they are content with the way they are and see no need to change. Others see it and avoid it, because they do not like to be so limited and restrained. Those who are going to heaven are few compared with those who are going to hell, a remnant, a little flock, like the few grapes left after the harvest, like the eight who were saved in the ark (Pe1 3:20).

People in vice urge one another on, and that makes the path of safety harder to find. How can anyone be brought back when the crowd is pushing him forward and no one is pulling him back? This discourages many, because they do not want to stand alone. But instead of stumbling over that, we should say, if so few are going to heaven, then there will be one more there for me.

Now let us see what is in this way that should still invite us all to it. It leads to life, to present comfort in God’s favor, which is the life of the soul, and to eternal joy. The hope of what waits at the end should make us willing to bear all the hardships and inconveniences of the road. Life and godliness belong together (Pe2 1:3). The gate is narrow and the way is hard and uphill, but one hour in heaven will make up for it all.

This is the great concern and duty of every one of us: Enter through the narrow gate. The matter is set before us plainly, life and death, good and evil, with both the ways and both the ends. Let the whole matter be weighed honestly, and then choose this day which way you will walk. In truth, the issue settles itself and leaves no room for debate. No sane man would choose the gallows because the road to it is smooth and pleasant, or refuse a palace and a throne because the road to them is rough and dirty. Yet people do such foolish things in the care of their souls.

Do not delay, then. Do not keep debating any longer, but enter through the narrow gate. Knock at it with sincere and steady prayer and effort, and it will be opened. More than that, a wide door will be opened, and one that really works. It is true that we cannot go in, or keep going, without God’s grace, his free help that makes salvation possible. But it is just as true that grace is freely offered, and it will not be lacking to those who seek it and yield to it. Conversion is hard work, but it is necessary, and blessed be God, it is not impossible if we strive (Luk 13:24).