Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
My Christian friend Eddie Boston reminded me of this passage of Scripture today, sharing his thoughts on it. This passage is one of the most frequently twisted Scripture passages today, and yet it is so very plain to understand. Here we have a sincere group of people being cast into Hell forever, who attempted to appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ in their own defense. Let us analyze what they said:
- They called Jesus, “Lord, Lord.” Apparently they thought lip service was going to please him.
- “Have we not prophesied in thy name?”
- “And in thy name have cast out devils?”
- “And in thy name done many wonderful works?”
These people boasted of all the wonderful things they did, all the good works they performed. But according to Jesus, they did NOT do the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father? Look at John 6:40...
John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The will of the Father to enter into the kingdom of heaven is to believe on Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son. Let us look again at the people mentioned in Matthew 7:21-23.
They said, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
They did NOT say, “Lord, Lord, did we not believe on you? did we not receive you as our Saviour? did we not rest in the gospel preached of you?” Their faith was in themselves, NOT the Lord Jesus Christ.
So why did he call them workers of iniquity, even though they did “many wonderful works”? Because they did not have Christ’s righteousness imputed to them by faith. All they had to offer was their own filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”Romans 4:5-8, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
According to Paul and David, a man who has faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior is forgiven of his iniquities. He is NOT considered a worker of iniquity anymore. The workers of iniquity in Matthew 7:21-23, were so, because they did NOT have their sins forgiven; Christ NEVER knew them. How sad! All they had to do was simply BELIEVE the Gospel (i.e., the death of Christ for our sins, His burial, and His bodily resurrection on the third day). That is the Good News, Glad Tidings or, the Gospel.
Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
The tiniest microscopic bit of faith in Jesus Christ secures eternal salvation. It only takes a little more faith than no faith at all, as long as you realize that Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried and bodily resurrected from the dead three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Faith is not something we do, but it is the channel by which we appropriate what God has done for us. Jesus paid it all, 100% with His precious blood. Anything that we try to add to it, in fact, takes away from it, and destroys it. It is faith alone in the Good news of Christ alone that saves us!
Simply come to God by faith, oh needy sinner, and BELIEVE the Good News of the virgin-born Son of God crucified, buried and risen and you will be immediately, irrevocably and eternally saved. You have God's promise of it! 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”
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