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Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you who work iniquity.” (Mt. 7: 21, 22.)
If Jesus rejected these believers, then He also rejected some pretty noble and altruistic actions. They believed in the right Lord; prophesied in the right name; worked for the right God; called upon the right Spirit; and opposed the right devil. They did all this with recognition from the Lord for their actions, but were not honored for their deeds. They had recognition without honor - from God.
There were apparently some errors in their religion. But what? Did they believe the wrong things about the Lord? Did they prophesy the wrong words? Were they wrong in their doctrine of demons? Were they wrong about the miracles they claimed to perform? Perhaps they were wrong in all these areas. Perhaps it was only in the area where they believed one became a member of the family of God.
Someone might even argue that these people tried to earn salvation through works. It’s not their works Jesus is rejecting. He is denying any family knowledge of them. He rejected their name, not just their works. If anyone contends that this is an issue of salvation by works, do not some who believe do similar works? Will one who believes live a life without offering proof of that belief? Were not these works proof of their belief?
The Lord obviously had a reason for naming these four categories. If we consider the Lord’s objections to be valid, then what label would we give these categories? I submit that they are belief, worship, life and benevelence. If this is true, they they were wrong in their belief, wrong in their worship, wrong in their life and wrong in how they helped others. If we consider the Lord’s final statement that He, “never knew” them to be an indicator of His objections, then He is saying that they were not nor ever had been Christians. They were wrong from beginning to end. How sad.
It is an eye opener that God will allow people to be deceived (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2: 11) if they will not believe the truth. They will think and believe that what they teach is the truth and that they were serving the Lord. But, if the Lord did not accept their service, then they were not serving Him. Is it then possible to serve another in the name of the Lord? Who would that be? Indeed, there is another who has an interest in deceiving people into thinking they are serving God and keeping them happy in their deception. That great deceiver is the devil, himself. He is happy and content if we deceived into thinking our service is to God when it is not. He know that false service will keep us in his world and land us in the devil’s hell.
This verse is a great indicator that the Lord has a standard that dictates belief, obedience, life, lifestyles, work and worship. He will not accept everything that man sends His way. It behooves us to be Biblically right about salvation, belief, worship, life and benevelence. All areas of our life must be guided by His truth lest we be rejected by the Lord. We must confirm and prove our beliefs. When was the last time you read your Bible to prove whether the things you believe are true?
goto part 3/return to part 1
Larry K. Henry
Deacon/Webmaster
Smithville church of Christ
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