Matthew 7: 21-23

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. ²² 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?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

This is by far the scariest verse in the Bible even for believers. At the surface, it seems like if we are not doing the will of the Father then we will go to hell. It also shows that the people that Jesus are casting out have done remarkable things: prophecy, exorcism, etc. But there are a couple questions we are left with:

1. What is the will of the Father?
2. If these miraculous got these people cast out of the presence of Jesus then what works is acceptable?

Lets answer these questions by looking at scripture and see if we can find a bigger picture. What is the will of the Father? Jesus tells us this answer in John 6:40:

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.

So it seems that the Father’s Will is that all that believe on Jesus will have everlasting life. So how does that fit into Matthew 7:21-23? Well it seems that these people did alot of things in the Name of Jesus, but yet still didnt hit the mark? Lets look at another verse that may tie into this theme about standing before Jesus.

Matthew 25:34-45

³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

⁴¹ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

⁴² For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

⁴³ I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

⁴⁴ Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

⁴⁵ Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me

Look at how both groups who stood before Jesus answered Him. One group was surprised and didn’t believe they did anything for God. They seem very humble, understanding that their works were nothing but dirty rags. They did not count any of their works as a reason to enter Heaven. While the other group argued with Jesus and said we did all of that. Jesus has different answers as well. To the first group He states that when they did something for the least of his brothers that He counted to them as having done it for Him while He answers the other group stating when you did not do it once for my brothers; you didn’t do it for Him. Does this mean we have to always help everyone and one mistake will forfeit our salvation? NO, of course not. But the humble realization that we don’t deserve Heaven and not playing the hypocrite goes a long way.

The truth is: we don’t deserve the grace or mercy of God, but He gives it freely to those who accept the sacrifice of Jesus and believes in His resurrection. He saves the ones who stand not on their own righteousness but stand on the righteousness of Jesus. The only one who came into this sinful world and while being tempted did not sin. The one who gave his life for our sins. The sinless for the sinful.