Confused about Matthew 7:21

[nifty girl]

Hi, all! I just came back to the Lord about a year ago, and since then I've been trying to study the Word. But I'm confused about the meaning of the verse Matthew 7:21 - "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

This verse has bothered/confused me because I'm not sure what the difference is between a true Christian and one who says "Lord, Lord". Could someone please explain the difference to me? Thanks a bunch in advance!

Blessings,
Buffy

 

[Sketcher]

It's the difference between someone who goes to church and who is actually a Christian. It's not just an understanding of the facts (Jesus dying on the cross and rising, your own sin, etc). It's surrendering your heart to them. You can acknowledge without really believing, and that is what separates the sheep from the goats who thought they were sheep. If you believe, you will have the Spirit in your life, and He will be producing fruit.

"Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" - John 6:29

 

[Endure2]

well i think lots of people have a very distant understanding that he does exist and maybe those people have even tried to speak to him before, but that isnt the same as giving your life to him and living for him and asking him to be your Lord and savior.

Jesus requires us to follow him, we may not be perfect but we must be following him, and i think lots of people know of God, maybe even sometimes speak of or to him, but they arent following him. so they arent his.

 

[NJA]

Luke 6:46: And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Your "Lord" is who or what you serve, maybe your own desires or someone else's.

You know you love God when you do what *he* says.

He says to repent (stop doubting God and start really believing Him), get baptised and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then let God lead you into all truth.
(Acts 2v4, 33-42; 8v5-18, 10v44-48...)

 

[StAnselm]

Professing to be a Christian is not enough. Going to church is not enough. Being persecuted for being a Christian is not enough. Reading the Bible is not enough. Praying is not enough.

You must be born again.

Indeed, it's the next verse that's even more shocking:

Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?"

Healing people is not enough. Speaking in tongues is not enough. Being able to cast out demons is not enough.

You must be born again.

So how dow we know who is born again? Well, it's impossible to know for sure. But the Bible tells us to look at the fruit that people bear - love, joy, peace and so on.

James 1:27 says that pure religion involves visiting widows and orpans, and keeping oneself unspotted from the world. People who are truly born again will do these things...

 

[NJA]

StAnselm - do you say that all christians must visit widows and orphans or they won't be saved ?

Of do you have an alternative understanding of what "widows" and "orphans" are i.e. those without a husband / father in the spiritual sense ?

 

[StAnselm]

StAnselm - do you say that all christians must visit widows and orphans or they won't be saved ?

Well, I didn't say that, but it seems to logically follow, doesn't it? I'm sure that James wouldn't have been very happy with interpreting it as spiritual orphans - at least, not if it would mean neglecting 'orphan' orphans. "Honour those widows who really are widows."

But what I think this passage is giving us - and this should allay your fears - are examples of what true religion looks like. That's what James has in mind. Genuine, red-blooded, get-your-hands-dirty type religion. Religion that makes you go out of your way to take an old lady grocery shopping; religion that gives you the courage to refuse dope at a party.

Naturally, there are many other examples of what true religion looks like. These are just a couple. And if you're not practising at least some of them, then you're not really saved.

 

[NJA]

Interestingly, in the parable, the goats did all those red-blooded, get your hands dirty things and are rejected, but the sheep don't even know they did those things. (Matthew 25)

 

[StAnselm]

Yes, that's right. They're a necessary but not sufficient condition.

That's Jesus' point, I think - good works can be faked, but not ultimately.

 

[NJA]

So you think that the 'goats' are people that fake good works, and the sheep really do them but some how don't realise what they are doing ?

 

[StAnselm]

Yes, sheep look a lot like goats. Jesus is saying that you can't the two groups of people apart just relying on surface appearances. What matters is the inner reality. But the Shepherd knows.

 

[NJA]

Does anyone else know ?

Do you know ?

If so, how ?

 

[Endure2]

well Jesus said people would know us by our love, paul said people knew the disciples had been with Jesus by how the acted, Jesus said wed know them by their fruit.

if you are a man or woman of God who walks with God, you know what its like. you know what it is and what its not because you doit yourself. you dont have to be God or all knowing or be able to search a mans heart to atleast know whos a sheep and a goat most of the time. ive met people and from the way they acted i was very sure they knew God, and i was right. and i know some people by the way they act, and they way they act is proof that they are not living for God.

 

[StAnselm]

Do you know ?

If so, how ?

No. Not in any absolute sense, anyway. There's a balance required between "by their fruits you shall know them," and "judge not". In one sense, the works of the flesh are obvious, in another sense the wheat grows up intermingled with the tares.

Rabbi Duncan once said that when he got to heaven he'd be surprised by all the people there whom he thought wouldn't be there, and also by all the people not there that he was sure would be there.

And so there might be a difference between accepting someone as a Christian, and being prepared to say that they're regenerate.

 

[heron]

Lately I've been coming across verses like this and seeing a difference between promises of salvation and of the kingdom.

I see salvation as the declaration that we are free, absolved, redeemed, and cleared for heaven.

I see the Kingdom as the realm where God is active, where we are participants with him in spreading the life-giving power. It's like a third dimension, a spiritual realm where we can tap into amazing things.

If we just say that we believe, but don't listen to God, we will never understand what He's all about. Obedience is taking care of the needy, using our faith, keeping clean business practices... In the context of Matthew 6 and 7, pray the Lord's prayer, don't show off when you pray, ask for help, don't judge others, treat others well, control your materialism, trust in God to provide for you.

 

[Sketcher]

First of all, let's get on the right track of being born again:

Jesus tells us how to be born again in John 3:14-18.

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

In the desert, Israelites were being punished by snakebites for their sins. God told Moses to make a bronze snake around a pole, hold it up, and declare that God would heal all who turn and look at the snake. Likewise, we must look to Christ on the cross to heal us from our sins, the evil within us.

Once we've been born of the Spirit, according to verses 6 and 7 of the same chapter, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and begins producing fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control. These will be increasing in your life as a Christian. True believers who walk with the Lord will be continuously growing in these things, and from them comes good deeds.

See:

Galatians 5:22-23
2 Peter 1:5-9
1 John 4:13-18
Romans 10:9-11

 

[StAnselm]

First of all, let's get on the right track of being born again

Well, I'm not sure we are on the same page...

Jesus tells us how to be born again in John 3:14-18.

I don't see any evidence in this text that Jesus is telling us how to be born again. Rather, I believe that being born again takes place prior to haveing faith, and is an essential prerequisite.

I do agree with you, though, that once we've been born again, we have the Spirit, and he produces fruit in us.

 

[NJA]

Rather, I believe that being born again takes place prior to haveing faith, and is an essential prerequisite.

I see NO evidence for this, quite the reverse -

Acts 8:12: But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13: Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
14: Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

See also the disciples before Pentecost, Acts 10, 19, Galatians 3v2.

People are spiritually blind, they hear about God, or see evidence, then they start believing (even the devils believe), then they should go on to receive the Holy Spirit. The fact that they have belief does NOT mean they have received the Holy Spirit !

 

[StAnselm]

If people are spiritually blind, how is possible that they believe, except they have their eyes opened by the Holy Spirit?

 

[Simonline]

Hi, all! I just came back to the Lord about a year ago, and since then I've been trying to study the Word. But I'm confused about the meaning of the verse Matthew 7:21 - "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

This verse has bothered/confused me because I'm not sure what the difference is between a true Christian and one who says "Lord, Lord". Could someone please explain the difference to me? Thanks a bunch in advance!

Blessings,
Buffy

A true Christian is one who does the will of God in Heaven, it's as simple as that. It does not matter how long you have been a believer, how much theology you know, how involved in your local Church you are or how immersed in the Christian sub-culture you are, if you are not doing the will of God in Heaven, then, at the point of Judgment, the Messiah will denounce you and you will go into the everlasting Lake of Fire.

In other words, a true Christian is one who is a Christian on God's terms and not on their own terms.

Simonline.