Here are a few for you to consider.
Mat 7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Mat 13:41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,
In regards to Matthew 7:21-23, I'll never forget, prior to my conversion several years ago, while still attending the Roman Catholic church, I read Matthew 7:22 and thought to myself, wow! These many people accomplished all of that, "prophesied in His name, cast out demons, and did many wonderful works" but that still was not "good enough?" Then I thought to myself at that time, how am I going to "top that" and be "good enough?" Such is the mindset of someone who believes that salvation is by works.
Matthew 7:21 - Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
John 6:40 - For
my Father’s will is that everyone who
looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
These many people (unbelievers) in Matthew 7:22 had the wrong foundation. They were trusting in their works to save them and NOT IN CHRIST ALONE. Jesus
never knew them which means they were
never saved. Their hearts were not right with God, so their attempted external obedience was stained with sin. *Seeking salvation by works is not the will of the Father.
John 17:3 - And
this is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. The term "know" implies intimate, experiential knowledge, through a relationship with Him, not merely theoretical knowledge. *These many people were not true converts.
Without faith it's impossible to please God no matter how many alleged wonderful works that these many people set out to conjure up through the flesh in a vain attempt to receive eternal life based on the merit of their works. Jesus referred to these unbelievers as WORKERS OF INIQUITY/LAWLESSNESS! That is descriptive of goats, not sheep.
Mat 19:17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is onlyOne who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Mark 10:17-21 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Luke 10:26-28 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
How do you define "keep the commandments?" Sinless, perfect obedience 100% of the time to ALL of Christ's commandments? Do you qualify for heaven under those terms? BTY the word "keep" in the Greek is "tereo" which means:
Short Definition: I keep, guard, observe
Definition: I keep, guard, observe, watch over.
5083 tēréō (from
tēros, "a guard") – properly, maintain (preserve); (figuratively)
spiritually guard (watch),
keep intact.
In regards to the rich young man, Jesus wanted to impress on him both the high standard required by God and the absolute futility of seeking salvation based on his own merit. This should have resulted in a response about his failure, but instead he confidently (and self righteously) declared that he qualified for heaven under those terms (vs. 20). Jesus showed the rich young man how short he falls of keeping even the first commandment (Exodus 20:3) which is the first of the two great commandments (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37).
The rich young man confidently and (self righteously) declared that he has kept the commandments from his youth up and qualified for heaven under those terms. Yet Jesus knew the man's wealth had become his idolatrous god, which kept him from following Jesus. The rich young ruler missed the point that Jesus was making, failed to place his faith in Jesus for salvation, and continued instead to trust in his riches (vs. 21-23). The rich young man went away sad because he could not part from his wealth, not even in exchange for eternal life.
Jesus knows the hearts of all men and He may respond to each individual a little differently because He knows where their need is. Jesus did not respond to the woman at the well, or to Nicodemus or to the rich young man in the exact same way, yet the consistent pattern in scripture is that salvation is by grace through faith, not works (Ephesians 2:8,9).