February 18, 2015

Matthew 7:21-23



Rachel Workman: 21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! 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. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
These verses can sound scary. But if you believe Christ is who he says he is and did what he said he did and you repent of sins you will be saved. If you don't then you will not. Even demons believe in Jesus. Repent and believe. I wish I didn't need to repent so often.
____________________________________________________________________________________

John Burnett:  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. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [b]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’  Verse 21 is another scripture that leads me to believe that there are many people who go to church every Sunday but have never repented of their sins and put their trust in Jesus as their Savior.  Many people put the cart before the horse.  Living a Christian life doesn’t save you, and I use the term Christian very loosely.  To be a Christian, the Bible says to repent and believe.  Jesus knows our very thoughts and He knows who is real in their repentance and belief.  When Christ accepts you, you will receive the Holy Spirit, which means you are now justified, imputed Christ’s righteousness, and are now an adopted son or daughter of our Heavenly Father.  He knows you as co-heir to the kingdom he has been preparing for close to two thousand years.  I can visualize most of the televangelist using verse 22 as their case before the judgment seat.  That is not going to be a good day for them according to verse 23.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Allen Michaels:  21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Not everyone who talks about heaven belongs to God’s kingdom. Jesus is more concerned about our walk than our talk. He wants us to do right, not just say the right words. Your house (which represents your life, 7:24) will withstand the storms of life only if you do what is right instead of just talking about it. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe. 22 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ ”That day” is the final day of reckoning when God will settle all accounts, judging sin and rewarding faith. 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Jesus exposed those people who sounded religious but had no personal relationship with him. On “that day” (the day of judgment), only our relationship with Christ—our acceptance of him as Savior and our obedience to him—will matter. Many people think that if they are “good” people and say Christian things, they will be rewarded with eternal life. In reality, faith in Christ is what will count at the judgment.

No comments:

Post a Comment