“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matt. 7:21-23).
It must never be forgotten that it was Church people, religious people who put Jesus to death. He came to His and His own did not receive Him. On the one hand, we have very good reason for rejoicing in God’s kindness to us and in the clear fruit of the Spirit in our midst. Many of us have witnessed lives changed, true sorrow over sin, sweet forgiveness and reconciliation, and radical repentance. These are the signs of regeneration, the signs that someone has been born again, and now Jesus lives inside us, and He is subduing the power of sin and giving us more strength to love and obey God and to delight in obeying Him.
But there is always the danger in any gathering of Christians for people to go through the motions, to say the right words, to conform to the externals, to smile and nod, and say Lord, Lord, and yet not actually know the Lord. And there will be many on the last day who stand before God pointing to their perfect church attendance record, not singing off pitch, wearing a tie, being nice and polite after church, and Jesus will say He never knew them, He never met them. And the reason will be that they never really changed. Sin was never really conquered because Jesus was never really their Lord.
I remember talking to Jim Wilson one time about an individual we were both meeting with, and he said, “When Jesus saves someone, he does a better job than that.” And this points to at least two things: First, the Bible says that the works of the flesh are manifest. It’s pretty obvious when someone is still in the dark. And this is because of the second thing: Jesus saves sinners. Jesus changes lives. True Christians still battle sin, but little by little Jesus wins the victory.
Royce Van Blaricome says
I’d like to add one thing to Toby’s excellent blog, because I believe it is of the utmost importance, and that is to highlight the very first thing the Holy Spirit tells us that those in the Matt. 7:21-23 point to as things they did for Jesus.
Note it says “did we not prophesy in your name”. Many people think of “foretelling” when they think of prophesying but in reality a prophet is anyone who speaks for God. The question is are they true or false prophets.
How many times have you heard someone say “God says…” or “The Bible says…” only to be followed by an absolute falsehood? Think “God says don’t judge”, for example. Or use the “he who’s without sin cast the first stone”.
And what is the response Jesus gives to those who prophesied in his name falsely? “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” So let me tie this all together.
Psalms 111:10 & Proverbs 1:7 both tell us that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Today the vast majority water that down to redefine “fear” & as a result there is very little of it today. Listen to these two passages about God’s Holy Word & the use of it:
“But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.” (Deu. 18:20)
“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” (Pro 30:5-6)
Now let’s look at just two verses where Jesus mentions Liars:
“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)
“Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” (Rev. 22:15)
And, finally, let’s look at what God says about those who practice their sin:
“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1Jn 3:8-9)
To practice sin is to practice lawlessness. To practice lawlessness is to NOT inherit the Kingdom. To not inherit the Kingdom is to not be saved.
So what does that say about a person who routinely & regularly speaks falsely for God?