“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.
“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?’
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I
never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
This
passage has always been one to grab and hold my attention for the stark warning
it gives us all as true believers who have received the gift of salvation
offered in the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many have looked at these verses and asked
the question “how can I know for sure if I am saved”? That question may become even more relevant
when you consider what we have been studying the past few weeks and the
warnings Peter, Paul, and John gave us concerning false believers infiltrating
the Church in the last days.
But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even
denying the Lord who bought them, and
bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Peter 2:1
NKJV
But
evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being
deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13 NKJV
They
went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they
would have continued with us; but they
went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of
us. 1 John 2:19 NKJV
I
believe the answer to the question as to
who is really a true believer in the eyes of God can be found in the word
“practice” which in the Greek is ergazomai, and is translated; to work or labor at,
to do business.
Most of us have, or have had a job at which we work in order to make a
living and to provide for ourselves and our families. We also understand that working at a
full-time job requires an investment of the vast majority of our time. Looking
at this passage, and the definition of “practice”, it would seem we are being
told to ask of ourselves do we spend the majority of our time “working” at our
relationship with God?
In order to “practice lawlessness” one would obviously have to live in
such a way as to ignore the commandments that God has given us. These verses
make a clear distinction between people who “say” they are believers, and those
who choose to “do” what God commands. In other words, obedience is what our
Father is looking for when He examines our claims to be His follower. So it
would appear that the question really becomes just what is your lifestyle? Do you just “say” you are a believer or do
you “submit” to God and obey His commandments?
Notice too that these people say to God that He should consider all the
great and wonderful things they have done for Him during their lives as proof
that they are true believers. Yet notice
what God has to say in response to them and their claim of doing so much good
for Him; “I will declare
to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me,”. The point
God is making here is that no matter how much good you might do in this world
and regardless of all the seemingly “Christian” service you might perform, if
you are not a true believer everything you have ever done is worthless in His
eyes.
If
that seems harsh to you look closely at how Jesus explained it in these verses
which immediately precede the passage we are looking at.
“Beware
of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ravenous wolves.
“You will know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? “Even
so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. “A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can
a bad tree bear good fruit.
“Every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“Therefore by their fruits you will
know them. Matthew 7:15-20 NKJV
What
Jesus is telling us here is that although a person might give the outward
appearance of being a true believer, God knows the heart of a man. People like this can look like a “good tree”
and even do good things, but in God’s eyes the fruit of a bad tree is always bad
no matter how good it might look to us.
Only good trees can produce what God considers good fruit. God has made it perfectly clear what He
expects from us if we claim to be a follower of Christ and that is obedience to
His commandments to us. It falls on us
then to examine our own lives and ask the question “do I obey what God has told
me or do I “practice lawlessness” by living a sinful lifestyle?
Do
Christians sin? Of course we do, yet a true believer acknowledges his sin,
confesses his sin, and repents or turns away from his sin. A true believer knows what God has said,
listens to what God has said, and obeys what God has said. The unbeliever knows what God has said, but chooses to ignore it.
“But
why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Luke 6:46
NKJV
What
troubles me the most about this passage, and what I find to be the most
discouraging is the word “many”. Not a
few, not some, but on that day of final judgment “many” will say “Lord, Lord”. This is a terrible commentary on how
effective Satan’s deception can be in that many people choose to live a
lifestyle that not only practices but embraces sin yet still believe they are
true followers of Christ. You may know
that standing on the train track is a bad idea, but if you don’t make the
choice to get off and a train comes along what good was the knowledge? Knowing what God expects from us is not
enough; we must make the choice to do.
Anyone who says they are a believer, yet chooses to practice a sinful
lifestyle will, unfortunately, one day hear the words “depart from Me”.
“Therefore
whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise
man who built his house on the rock:
Matthew 7:24 NKJV
Keep
watching.