The Apostles asked Jesus this very question (Luke 13:23-27). According to Jesus’ answer, many persons who expect to be saved will not be and will plea to be saved when it’s too late.
The referenced Scripture follows. For ease of reading, I’m providing the NKJV.
23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them,
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 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,’
26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’
In another place, Jesus explicitly said many would be lost— actually indicating most people— and few would be saved (Matthew 7:13-14).
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
These may not be the most comforting words but they’re honest and that makes them very helpful. They will ultimately provide real and lasting comfort for those who will be improved by them.
Would God let so many people be wrong?
Some people, unfamiliar with the proper basis for concluding theological truth, reason that God would not allow a large number of people to believe a wrong doctrine about salvation. For example, if many people believe that simple faith in Jesus is all that is necessary for salvation, then that belief must be true because God would not allow so many people to be wrong on such an important topic. I’ve met people that reason this way. In fact, it may be the biggest hurdle to overcome for a person coming to the truth that so many others, who believe differently, could be wrong. Likewise, it’s hard for people to accept that someone who is famous as a “Christian evangelist” could not be preaching the truth because it appears that his/her ministry is fruitful. Those who find this difficult to accept may never have read Jesus’ comment on the matter in Matthew 7:21-23, where He indicates that people with powerful ministries— perhaps even national or international ones— will be rejected by Him. And Christ said many will be in this category.
Here are His words in the NKJV:
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Reasoning that God would not allow so many people to live in error is totally groundless. Granted, God doesn’t want people to be wrong. He gave us His Word so that we could know the truth. But, to reason that a multitude of people cannot be wrong is ridiculous for several reasons.
1/ It defies the revelation of Scripture. As mentioned earlier, Jesus said many would be lost and few would be saved (Matthew 7:13-14).
2/ For a significant portion of Church history, there have been two very different belief systems, namely, Catholics and Protestants, who have each denied the other legitimacy. To reason that no large community of faith could be wrong assumes, then, that these two religions, which are contrary to each other and, therefore, mutually exclusive, are equally valid. Then, also, we must consider those of any faith system, which would include the large numbers of the Moslem faith. How could God allow all of them to be wrong? Or how could God allow all the atheists or agnostics to be wrong, whose numbers have increased in modern times?
3/ God has given everyone free will. Therefore, how could He not allow a person to believe a wrong thing, even countless numbers of persons? How could He possibly stop them, except by having the truth available to their understanding? Remember, God has accepted man’s free will from the dawn of the human race. He accepted Adam and Eve’s choice regarding the forbidden fruit even though it would disastrously affect every person coming after them. Never was a worse human choice allowed to happen. To use the reasoning that some persons want to apply to false doctrine, a person could more certainly reason that God would never let the human race fall prey to the devil’s deception in the Garden of Eden— a move which would plunge our world into physical, moral, and spiritual chaos. But God did allow it. He was obligated to allow it by investing our race with absolute free will.
These various doctrines have been around for a long time. How could such long-standing beliefs be wrong?
Duration of belief as a proof of orthodoxy is only valid in the case of the original. Jesus indicated that doctrinal error will exist throughout the Church age. He did so in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13). Therefore, it is no proof of correctness that a doctrine has existed for a long time. As mentioned, the only exception to this rule is the case of the original plan of salvation because it is what was solely authorized by Christ for Christian evangelism. This fact is also evident in the parable to which we just referred. The wheat in the parable was that which was sown first and represents what was preached by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Anything coming later is, therefore, tare, and is unauthorized. That simple fact of chronology proves Acts 2:38 is the Christian plan of salvation because it was the saving message announced on the Day of Pentecost at the beginning of Christian evangelism. There can only ever be one original (Jude 3). It is very easy to know the truth about Christian salvation doctrine if a person really desires to know it. Mere chronology proves it.
Wouldn’t God make the plan of salvation to include the most people?
1/ Actually, God has made the plan of salvation to include all people. Quite literally, every person can be saved by the tenets of the Gospel that were revealed on the Day of Pentecost. It was even so stated by Peter (Acts 2:38-39). Universal salvation is precisely why the Gospel is to be preached to every creature (Mark 16:15). Christ came to save all souls (1Timothy 2:4; 2Peter 3:9; Revelation 22:17). If the plan of salvation is specific, or even narrow, it still does not exclude a single soul who is willing to be saved.
2/ The plan of salvation is what it is out of necessity. Regeneration (new birth) is required for salvation. Jesus emphasized this point (John 3:5). The tenets that produce regeneration are fixed because they’re predicated on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
✦ Repentance, as a personal choice to turn from sin and embrace Christ, is vital to regeneration and to continued life in Christ even after a person is saved. The strength of will in repentance, which is induced by the grace of God (Acts 11:18; Romans 2:4), continues as strength of will to live for Christ in a sinful world after salvation. If this were not so, no one would backslide. The reason people backslide after being saved is because they loose their initial resolve to embrace Christ instead of this sinful world (e.g., Demos— 2Timothy 4:10).
✦ Baptism in Jesus’ name is necessary for the remission of sins. The New Testament plainly says that (Acts 2:38; 22:16). It is based on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, according to Romans 6:3-5. It involves the application of Christ’s blood because it plunges us into His death and burial. And it is authenticated by the saving power of the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12).
✦ The regenerating power of the Holy Ghost is necessary to produce new life in us just as original life was imparted to our race by the breath of God (Genesis 2:7). That’s why Jesus signified the Holy Ghost baptism as His Own breath (John 20:22), a certain allusion to Genesis 2:7 and indication of new animation of life from God— a life which nullifies our previous sentence of death.
(Many claim to receive the Holy Ghost when they believe in Jesus but receiving the Spirit of God today is evidenced by speak in tongues just as in biblical times. See the author’s lesson, Speaking In Tongues. It is Lesson 15 on the page, Salvation Bible Study, on this website.)
You can choose to be one of the few.
Though Jesus said few would be saved, He didn’t exclude anyone that wants to be. Everyone is granted free will. You and I can choose to be saved. The Gospel call has come to us and we can thank God for that because it’s a positive indication He wants us to be saved. Sure, there are plenty of false ideas to wade through but the Apostle Paul’s ascertain regarding false doctrine was that heresies exist so that those persons who are true can distinguish themselves (1Corinthians 11:19). Someone who truly wants to know the truth about salvation doctrine will easily come to know it because…
1/ God’s grace is working in him to desire it (Philippians 2:12) and
2/ God will help him see the truth. All the camouflage of the devil and reasonings of untrue people can’t hide it. It is radiantly presented in the pages of God’s Word (1Corinthians 4:3-4). It is dramatically showcased on the Day of Pentecost, which, chronologically, is its point of inauguration. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.