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not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Christ “suffered once for sins, the righteous for

the unrighteous [us!], that he might bring us to

God, being put to death in the flesh” (1 Peter 3:18).

Then he rose from the grave three days later to

prove he had accomplished what he came to do

(1 Corinthians 15:4–6)!

An Invitation for YouJesus’ invitation of the gospel is always for sin-

ners: “I have not come to call the righteous but

sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). And the bless-

ings of salvation speak of grace and mercy for sin-

ful men and women. “For by grace you have been

saved through faith. And this is not your own

doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so

that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

The grace and mercy of God are for sinners! If

we were not sinful and guilty, why would Christ

make the ultimate sacrifice and die for us? He

urges you to “enter by the narrow gate. For the gate

is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruc-

tion” (Matthew 7:13–14).

Will you respond in faith and throw yourself on the

mercy of God? You can pray in words like these:

“Lord, if I am ever to be saved, I have to be

saved by you. If I ever have hope for heaven,

my hope lies only in you. If there ever is to

be a blessing in my future and eternity in

heaven when my life is over, it lies in you. I

agree that there is one way to be saved—just

one—through your son, Jesus Christ. As an

undeserving sinner, I throw myself in com-

plete trust on your mercy because Christ has

died to take my punishment!”

Good News Tracts1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, IL 60187

For helpful Christian literature, please write to the address above or visit our web site at www.goodnewstracts.org. Bible references: ESV.

W. A . CR IS W EL L

have but two hundred dollars in your account.” He

says, “Why, that’s narrow-minded! I deposited one

hundred dollars, and I deposited another hundred

dollars, and in my math that’s five hundred dollars!”

And the teller says, “You’re a first-class nut case!”

Mathematical truth is narrow.

Scientific and Historic TruthImagine an athletic fellow who believes in all those

things to make you strong and muscled. On a cold

winter day, when the world up north is covered in

snow, he stands on a bridge in order to dive into

the river below. As he prepares to take that plunge,

somebody comes up to him and he says, “Man, don’t

you know that water freezes at 32 degrees? That river

is solid ice!” He says, “I don’t believe water freezes

at 32 degrees. I am broadminded in my acceptance

of scientific facts. I happen to believe water freezes

at 15 degrees.” And the fellow says, “Fifteen degrees?

You dive off that bridge and you’re going to splatter

your brains.” He responds, “I’m broadminded.”

And he dives off that bridge . . . and discovers that

scientific truth is narrow!

A broadminded historian might say, “I don’t neces-

sarily confine myself to this great character living in

any particular age. Being broadminded,” he says,

“I don’t believe Caesar lived in 44 BC, I believe Cae-

sar lives now, and that he’s in Texas.” You know

what? If you did that, they would be after you with

a net, and would examine you as to whether you

are a threat to society . . . because historical truth

is narrow.

God’s TruthGod’s truth is no less narrow. No broadminded-

ness will change the truth of the everlasting God.

He says in His book, the Bible, “Turn to me, and

be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God,

and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). His only Son,

Jesus, said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the

life. No one comes to the Father except through

me” (John 14:6). And that is the only way God says

we will ever be right with him and forgiven of our

sins. God’s truth is narrow!

The Bible says that “all have sinned, and fall short

of the glory of God. . . . There is no other name

under heaven given among men by which we must

be saved.” (Romans 3:23, Acts 4:12). But there’s

good news—Jesus Christ turns toward the sinner,

like the physician turns toward the sick. “For God

so loved the world that he gave his only Son [to die

for our sins], that whoever believes in him should

When considering truth, there are three as-pects in which people can either be broad or narrow. First, we ought to be broad in our sympathies.

Wherever we live, in whatever status or culture, we

ought to be sympathetic, seeking to be kind, gener-

ous, and understanding.

Second, we ought to be broad in our horizons. We

ought not to be biased and prejudiced toward others.

But third, we ought to be narrow in our accep-

tance and defense of the truth, especially the truth

about Almighty God. Truth is always narrow—

always. Not just some of it. All of it.

Mathematical TruthLet me illustrate it this way: “Two plus two equals

four.” Now, some fellow comes along and says, “I’m

not mathematically narrow-minded. I believe two

plus two can equal fifteen or twenty. I’m broadmin-

ded in my mathematics.”

Well, let him go down to the bank and see how far

he gets! He goes up to a teller and says, “I have a

check here. I want to withdraw five hundred dollars,”

and she looks at his account and says, “You don’t

All Truth is NarrowMath, science, and geography all have ab-

solute truths--so for the truth of the Bible and Jesus Christ to also have specific truths is not out of the ordinary. Dr. Criswell explains

that many aspects of life have specific, "narrow" truths.

Bible references: ESV. Package contains 25 tracts. GENERAL GOSPEL

Good News Tracts

Will you respond in faith and throw yourself on the

mercy of God? You can pray in words like these:

“Lord, if I am ever to be saved, I have to be

saved by you. If I ever have hope for heaven,

my hope lies only in you. If there ever is to

be a blessing in my future and eternity in

heaven when my life is over, it lies in you. I

agree that there is one way to be saved—just

one—through your son, Jesus Christ. As an

undeserving sinner, I throw myself in com-

plete trust on your mercy because Christ has

died to take my punishment!”