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. 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?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
The scariest verses in the Bible are not about Satan's kingdom, hell, lake of fire or demons or the signs that are going to be there before the coming of the Lord.
But the most terrifying words of Jesus are to the religious people, the Church people who prayed, who cast out demons, who did wonders and supernatural works in His name, who appear to be godly but lost in their relationship with Him.
Is any lostness worse than remaining lost while believing you’re not lost?
Who is the worst deceived? Those who finally travel the broad way to destruction after wasting the earthly life and rejecting God, or those who sang Christian songs, prayed Christian prayers, and sat under countless Christian sermons along the way and ended up in destruction?
I never thought such a thing would ever happen until I read these verses that came out from the very mouth of the Holy Lord. Many who say they are Christians, they break bread with the believers, they praise and worship the living God, they are engaged in services that bless many, they do wonders and supernatural works in the Lord’s name- the Bible says some of them could end up in hell. These are the words glowing as if engraved in fire, Jesus’s own words giving us a transcript of the eternal destiny of some on the judgment day!
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. 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?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21–23).
I read it again. And again. No verse had ever scared me like this one before.
I realized that I could be one of the “many.”
You could be like so many sermon-hearers, Bible-readers, and synagogue-attenders of Jesus’s day: lost in a dream, traveling toward hell in church clothes.
“As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched” (Isaiah 29:8).
At the end of the greatest sermon ever preached, Jesus exposed three possible deceptions (three fake dreams) that many professed Christians hold up over them to claim their entry to heaven!
1.CORRECT DOCTRINE IS NOT ENOUGH
First, Jesus shows the insufficiency of having the right doctrine — of the one who would say, “I know and, thus, I am saved.” Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” These men and women were addressing him with the appropriate term, “Lord” (Greek kyrios), the characteristic title for God in the Old Testament — and so he was.
Calling him Lord proved their orthodoxy, they may have thought. They knew something every child of God knew to say. They did not approach him as a mere prophet or religious teacher; they addressed him as exalted majesty. They knew the Scriptures, the books to read, and the truth to follow. But calling on him as Lord did not open the kingdom of heaven to them. As the scene shows in full sobriety: knowing the right verses, scriptures or doctrines is not sufficient for eternal life.
You can believe the right things but still be lost.
James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.”
- Demons have perfect theology
- They believe God exists
- They know Jesus is Lord
- They recognize His authority-
- what they lack is submission
Confessing Jesus as Lord is not enough but surrender to His Lordship and allow Him to be Lord over everything.
Faith that does not move the heart, change the will and shape obedience is dead faith- Correct doctrine that never transforms life is mere informational- but not salvational.
b)The Church that had everything right- and still lost Jesus.
In Revelation 2 Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus- They had sound doctrine/Discernment against false teachers/Moral discipline. But Jesus said they had abandoned the first love for Him.
When we stand before Him, He won't ask about our ministry credentials, our mission accomplishments, the number of churches we planted, number of people we baptised, or the number of sermons we preached or even the miracles we did- what matters is how faithful we were in our daily walk with Him.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified”.
Paul is taking his personal life seriously. When we stand before the throne of Christ, what matters is not our church membership, not the number of meetings we attended, sermons we preached, ministry credentials, accomplishments, the hard work we have done for the Lord, the number of people we led to the Lord or any other charity projects we have initiated- but only one thing that matters- our personal walk with Him, so that He could say that day ‘ I know you’!
c)Doctrine must lead to devotion.
Doctrine is only the path to the destination. Path is very much needed- but it’s only the path but the destination is to become like Christ.
We pray for revival but nothing happens- We are giving more weight to praying than obeying.
We want revival without repentance, we want blessings without obedience, we want Christ without surrender. We want Jesus to be our saviour- to save us from eternal hell but do not want Him to be the Lord that demands surrender!
Gospel has become like a one time vaccination to immune us to eternity.
Romans 1:16
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile”.
Doctrine without devotion is smoke without fire!
2.EMOTIONS CAN BE DECEPTIVE
These are not atheists, these are not the persecutors of the Church, these are not mockers of Christ, these are not the tyrants that oppress the people of God. These are the very people who profess they are Christians, who are engaged in numerous good works, who claim to have been walking in the path to heaven!
A complete stranger to the Son of God! He never knew them. They had knowledge about Him but did not know Him. They had doctrines but no devotion. They have religion but no relationship. They know the truth but not walking in truth.
Addressing him as “Lord, Lord” shows that this wasn’t spoken dryly. They spoke enthusiastically, expectantly, and confidently. They spoke emphatically to convey a sense of familiarity with who they perceived to be their Lord.
Paul warns Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “ Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”
The apostle is not asking about the progress they made in their Bible study or how many souls they brought into the Church or any other good works they have done in the name of the Lord. But he was asking them to test the authenticity of their own salvation, whether they are in the saving grace and faith of the Lord.
3.ACTIVITY CAN BE WORTHLESS
They were shocked when they heard they were rejected by the Lord. They brought evidence to Him. They listed their stories of success and accomplishments before Him. All their testimonies of themselves, their claims of accomplishments, their earthly achievements were all rejected. God was not approving them. He was watching them as strangers! There was no Father-son relationship, There was no Master-servant relationship.
They were living as though they were their masters.
The very nature of self deception is that the deceived person would never know he was deceived.
Judas walked with Jesus for 3 years. He was witnessing everything that the Lord has done! He performed miracles with other disciples, and heard the most beautiful sermons that were ever preached. He witnessed every demonstration of divine power. But he was not truly saved. He did not know the Lord. He had an external form of godliness that he could deceive the entire disciples for 3 years. None of them ever knew that he was a crook. When Jesus said one you would betray me. Every disciple asked themselves is it me? Nobody ever doubted Judas- that is the power of self deception!
Jesus warned about two builders! (Matthew 7:24-27).
Their work looked genuine until the test came. But the house with no strong foundation fell down when the wind blew. Where is your house built on- is it impressive externally, appreciated by all around but with no strong foundation in Christ. Are you rooted in Christ? Does your life come out of your dependence on Him alone?
Does the Lord know you? Do you walk with Him? Is He the Lord of you over everything?
Finally, Jesus shows the fantasy of mere activism — of the one who would say, “I’ve done great things for God and thus I am saved.” Jesus says, “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?’” They took action in Jesus’s name. They performed visible, effective works for others.
They had a résumé of miracles. They acknowledged him before the world.
People heard them prophesy, watched them cast out demons, and do many other mighty works in his name — and they concluded that this counted for more than it did. They were “used by God” — surely, they must be his. And yet, they heard, along with those who outwardly hated God, “I never knew you; depart from me.”
God used us for His Kingdom does not confirm that we are approved by God. It shows only His sovereign power to use anyone or anything to fulfil His divine purpose in this universe. He could use donkey, fish, raven, heathen kings, objects in nature, anything or anyone at any time! He is God!
WHAT WAS MISSING?
Jesus’s answer might surprise us: They were not doers of the word. “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.” Instead of doers of God’s will, they amounted to “workers of lawlessness.” They called him “Lord, Lord” but failed to do what he told them (Luke 6:46).
“You who Practice Lawlessness”
The present participle indicates constant character, “they who always work”. The term “lawlessness” means, “the violation of law”. The “law” in the context is the will of the Father.
They heard the word of God — in the gospel message and in the written Scriptures — but they did not obey it. These were those who, as Jesus teaches in the next breath, built their lives on sand because they heard his words but did not do them:
Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:26–27)
“They thought and felt and acted, at times, like saints, but deep down lived as devils.”
They thought and felt and acted, at times, like saints, but their lives were marked by self and sin. They listened to the Sermon on the Mount, only to go away not to cut off limbs of lust, nor cease their adulteries, nor end the hatred toward their brother, nor renounce the love of money, nor forgive their neighbour, nor relinquish their anxieties, nor resolve to be charitable in their judgments — all by faith in and love for the Preacher. Nor would they be bothered to ask, seek, and knock for the Spirit’s help (Matthew 7:7–11). Their righteousness would not exceed that of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).
They vainly thought — as I thought for many years, and ache over how many in our day still think it — that hearing was sufficient. That feeling was enough. That public displays of religion would do the trick. They wandered, as in a dream, trusting in the fact that they heard, that they felt, or that they did, even though they continued to practice sin.
James, who would have been unbelieving when he heard his brother (Lord Jesus) preach this sermon, later urges the church not to similarly live in this dream of disobedience:
“Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:21–22).
Later he calls such “faith” useless, dead, and demonic (James 2:14–26).
