On Judgment day many will.... Iniquity? Question on Mat 7:23!

[All4one]

I believe with all my heart the biblical teachings but one scripture has held me for some time and it comes to my mind often and in a away bothers me because I know there is a deeper meaning.

Matthew 7:21-23
(21) Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still wont enter the kingdom of heaven. The decisive issue is wheather they obey my Father in heaven. (22) On judgment day many will tell me,' Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name.' (23) But I will reply,' I never knew you. Go away; the things you did we unauthorized.'

I have looked it up in the KJV as well and understand both versions in correlation. Here is my question. Many people tell me that this means just because we do things for God and call on His name does not mean we are going to heaven. Here is my thought though. Could this possible mean that even many of the saved will not go to heaven because they have not done the will of God? The decisive issue is wheather they obey my Father in heaven.
It seems obvious to me that these people were saved according to Gods covenant for they had come into the gifts of God. Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name.'
What kind of bugs me here is that it seems these men were convinced of their standing with God. They had to have known God to do these works... They produced the fruit of God. Bottom line to my question is, seeing as how it seems that these people worked in God but not for Him, how does anyone know they are working in Gods spirit. Like I said these men seemed convinced. Just because a person goes around healing in Gods name and truth... this does not mean they will inherit the kingdom of God? I yearn for the truth here... I want no personal opinion if it can be avoided. Please back any replies us with scripture.

In Christs Love,
All4one

 

[DSGodChild]

Hello All4one,

You're asking a question on one of my favorite verses, and one that I've agonized over a few times myself. I offer a few verses to guide you:

Read Luke 12:35-12:48. Jesus gives the parable of the watchmen. He tells the disciples (and us) to be constantly ready, and constantly at work, waiting for and expecting his coming. Like Matthew 7:21 --> "...but he that doeth the will of my Father...", Luke 12:47 says -->"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes."

As to the Will of the Father:

Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Joh 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again, at the last day.

Joh 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.

I believe that Matthew 7:21-23 is a warning from Jesus to keep our ducks in a row (Wow, I'm starting to sound old... ) until the very end. We must be prepared ourselves, constantly in vigil with God and straining to know him better every day. Yes, those people in the parable showed the outward signs of piety, but as Jesus said, he never knew them. They had never taken the time to sit down and say, "Lord, I wait for you. Show yourself to me."

We also must be working in advancing the kingdom, seeking the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. We are the workers of the harvest, and must be working so that of all that the Father has given the Lord Jesus, he should lose nothing.

I hope my babbling has shed some light for you. God bless you in your search for truth, and may the Holy Spirit guide you in all that you do.

 

[Count]

IMatthew 7:21-23
(21) ....' I never knew you. Go away; the things you did we unauthorized.'

The key is in the bold and underlined words. Jesus says He never knew them. Never.

 

[Hidden in Christ]

Hello,
I will try to offer some insight and hopefully I will not add to your confusion...
First of all, I believe in eternal security of the believer, not just because I was raised in a denomination that taught it, but because God revealed it to me himself. (by His Spirit and the Bible) Once I got far away from God as a saved person, and really I wondered if I was even a Christian at all because of this. Then God spoke to me and said "You were once my child, you will always be my child." There is nothing we can do or not do to keep our salvation just as there was nothing we could do to obtain it. God gave it and He will not take it away.
I do believe it is very possible for a saved person to do good works (as in the given Scripture) for the wrong reason, but they are still saved. They have known the right way and they have followed God in his command to be born again.
The people who will hear Jesus say "Depart" are those who have lived a life of doing good for the wrong reason. They have never obeyed God from the heart. And they have sadly been very deceived into thinking that is all there is to salvation. I believe a lost person could cast out demons in the name of Jesus. The Lord's name is just that powerful. It's not that that person had a relationship with God, but that simply God honored the name of his only begotten Son.
That is why it is so important not to trust in manifestations of healings or other wonders. We must remember that God sees the heart.
I hope this helps.

 

[Sharky]

I got myself into this kind of confusion alot so i know how you feel. (sorry below i have included parts of scripture but no ref. to them cause i'm in uni atm) Without getting into debates about lost salvation or one saved always saved stuff i'll present some wisdom God graciously granted to me over the years.

See, a true christian, is one who obey's His commandments. Jesus said, 'If you love me, keep my commandments.' I'm guilty of not keeping all of His commandments which is why alot i'm unstable in my ways. I don't cut off things that cause me to sin, and so, i end up sinning. Jesus said if whatever causes you to sin, CUT IT OFF, for it is better to enter heaven maimed than to enter hell intact (i better start cutting things off then) See He cares about your salvation.

A false christian, (hypocrite) is one who just believes, thinks he's saved, but still does not do what God wants him to do. He does things that look christian, miracles, prophesying, preaching but God told him to feed the poor, help those in need.

He is one who continues to think he's saved, but he keeps on sinning and living in iniquity. He who uses miracles, using His name to cast out demons etc, does ALL this christian stuff thinking it will make up for his EG: casual lying here and there, hating people here and there, lightly taking God's name in vain, willingly looking ith lust every now and then and doesn't do God's will is someone who obviously does not care about God. And so, he believes (because he did all these cool 'christian' things) but is a false convert at heart.

I know you're concerned which is good, because it keeps you on your toes. You obviously have the fear of God in you which is one trait true christians have.

How do you know you are soundly saved? Do you listen to God? Or your flesh? Do you prefer to watch TV than read God's word? (guilty of this too )

First most important commandment Jesus gave us. "Love the Lord with all your heart mind and strength." What person, who love's God with all his heart mind and strength would not listen to what He told us to do?

What did He tell us to do? Lots of things. Give to the poor, go out and preach the word (share your faith), cut off things that cause you to sin, put your 100% trust in Him, sin no more, depart from iniquity, resist the devil, don't tempt those of younger faith, maintain good works, repent from all your sins etc.

Do you listen to Him? I myself am getting convicted writing this so if you're going to start listening and doing what He says, i'm with ya. I must cut off my internet personally.




So bottom line:

If you're not doing what He says, chances are, you don't love Him and need to examine yourself, to see if you're in the faith and repent. So just repent and start doing what He says. I'm not saying a true christian never sins, a true christian falls into sin sometimes because of the battle with the devil and the flesh, but a true christian hates and abhorrs his sin he once dwelt in.

I know this sounded a little heavy but remember, Jesus DOES NOT want you to end up in hell which is why He told us to listen to Him. And man oh man, i'm thankful beyond anything that Jesus didn't teach light heartedly but heavily with all seriousness.

This is all i can come up with at this point. Any inconsistencies with scripture, it is not willingly i do that because i dont have a bible with me to confirm. All from the top of my head at this point.