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.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
These stern warning verses found in Jesus’ sermon on the mount should grab the attention of even the most devout. There will be those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did mighty works in Jesus’ name who were never truly his – those who seemed the most religious. Belief alone is not enough either. We are told elsewhere that even the demons believe, and here that calling Jesus Lord is not a guarantee. If this is so, one might ask then, who will get in? Jesus says in these verses that it is “the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.”
How devastating it will be for those individuals on judgement day who believed that professing Christ, church attendance or membership, being a good person, even great works made them a Christian! It frightens me to the core and makes my heart ache to think that friends and loved ones, even those I consider “brothers and sisters in Christ”, would ever fall into that category – that I might fall into that category. I think that was Jesus’ point.
May God open our blinded eyes and soften our hardened hearts to help us humbly and accurately assess whether or not we are doing the will of the father in heaven, for that is the only way we will gain access into his kingdom. Let us not fool ourselves or allow others to fool us into thinking that we are in right standing with the God of the universe, only to discover otherwise too late.
Please consider with me today…
1. It is not enough to say that we love God. If we love him, we will keep his commandments and therefore his word will be precious to us. Are we trying to explain away certain passages of scripture when they don’t suit us? Are we even searching God’s word at all? Is it our standard for how we live, or do we more neatly align with the doctrines of the present world?
2. The things that we talk about reflect where our heart is. We are told in scripture that from the heart the mouth speaks. Are our conversations first of all pleasing to God, and do we talk about/recognize God and Jesus in the ordinary, every day experiences of our lives, other than Sunday mornings or bible studies? Are we sharing our lives and Jesus with the lost around us, or are we leaving it to the “professionals” or worse yet, are we ashamed?
3. A good indicator of spiritual life is whether or not we are repenting to God and others. If we always feel justified or correct in our own behavior we should be worried. As children of God, we should receive conviction of sin from the Holy Spirit that results in us repenting. First, are we convicted of sin in our lives on a regular basis? Are we repenting to God and others when convicted?
4. When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to be saved, Jesus did not say that he was okay because of the good, moral life he had lived. This man claimed to have kept all of God’s commandments from youth and Jesus does not disagree!!! If anyone should get in based on merit, this guys certainly would. But, like Jesus warns in the sermon on the mount and elsewhere, salvation is not based on great deeds or merit. He hits on it when he tells the man that he lacks one thing and he must sell all that he owns and give the money away.
For salvation to be real, Jesus must be our greatest treasure; nothing else can be in that place. Sadly, the rich young ruler found that was too much to ask, because for him that meant no longer treasuring his wealth. It is so simple and extremely complex. This is why we are told, just a few verses earlier, that “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Yet it is open to rich and poor, to the ignorant and intellectual, to slave and free, to man and woman, to adult and child – to all freely and to all alike. Jesus says that whoever drinks the water that he gives will never be thirsty again! For though salvation requires all, it provides all as well.
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