The Two Ways
Matthew 7 and the way of life, as the earliest church taught it
Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount with a fork in the road: "Enter ye in at the strait gate… broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction… narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life." It is the oldest picture in Scripture, set before Israel by Moses ("I have set before you life and death… choose life," Deuteronomy 30:19). And it is exactly where the earliest church began when it taught new converts. The Didache, the "Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (around AD 90-110, perhaps the oldest Christian writing outside the New Testament), opens with these words and lays out the way of life in plain, demanding terms. Its words below, with a plain restatement.
The source's words are verbatim and attributed (the Didache, in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, public domain; selected from the running text, footnote apparatus omitted). The box marked "In plain terms" is our own restatement, never the source's words.
Matthew 7:13-14 · KJVEnter ye in at the strait gate… Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
"There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, thou shalt love God who made thee; second, thy neighbour as thyself; and all things whatsoever thou wouldst should not occur to thee, thou also to another do not do."
The DidacheThe earliest manual of the church begins not with theory but with a road map: there are two ways, and the difference between them is everything. And the way of life is no secret code; it is the two great commandments Jesus named, love God, love your neighbor, with the Golden Rule attached. The narrow way is narrow not because it is obscure but because it is costly: it asks for your whole love, Godward and manward. That is where the apostolic church started every new believer.
Matthew 5:44 · KJVBut I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
"Bless them that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for them that persecute you. For what thank is there, if ye love them that love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same? But do ye love them that hate you; and ye shall not have an enemy… If one give thee a blow upon thy right cheek, turn to him the other also; and thou shalt be perfect."
The DidacheThe Didache fills in what the way of life actually requires, and it is the hardest part of the Sermon on the Mount, set as basic catechism for beginners: bless those who curse you, love those who hate you, turn the other cheek. The startling line is "love them that hate you; and ye shall not have an enemy", not because they stop opposing you, but because love refuses to treat anyone as an enemy. This is the cruciform shape of the narrow way, the same love returned for hatred that marked the martyrs.
Matthew 24:42 · with Matthew 25:13Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come… Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
"Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time."
The DidacheThe earliest church manual ends where the Lord's own teaching ends: watch. The way of life is not a single decision but a road walked to the end, "lamps" lit and "loins" girded, ready for the Lord's return. And it warns soberly of the last days, false prophets, love grown cold, a coming "world-deceiver." The Two Ways is not merely about how the journey starts but how it must finish: faithful to the last, for "the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time."
Where this stands among the traditions
The Didache is a quiet treasure: a window into how the very first generation of believers, while apostles or their hearers still lived, actually taught the faith to newcomers. And what it shows is reassuring to every tradition, because there is nothing strange or sectarian in it. It begins with the two great commandments, fills out the way of life with the Sermon on the Mount, gives simple directions for baptism (preferably in running water), prayer (it has new converts pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day), and the Lord's Supper, and ends with watchfulness for Christ's return. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant all recognize their own faith in it. If there is anything to notice for a study of drift, it is how ethical and demanding this earliest catechism is, how seriously it takes the narrow way, love of enemies, and perseverance to the end, compared with a modern teaching that can reduce discipleship to a single prayer and an assurance that nothing further is required. The first church set converts on a road and told them to walk it watchfully to the last. (See not everyone who says Lord, faith and works, and the Olivet discourse.)
Text from the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (chapters 1 and 16), in the Ante-Nicene Fathers (public domain), selected from the running text with footnote apparatus omitted; nothing added or paraphrased within the quotation marks. Scripture in the King James Version; the plain-language lines are our own restatement. This passage in the Study Bible; Matthew 7 at BibleHub.