“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. 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 miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Mt. 7:21-23).
Beginning in chapter 5, Jesus had been describing the character of one who would be a citizen of His kingdom. The kingdom is open to all. But sadly, not all will choose to enter. Who is it that will enter? The one “who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” Do we want to be a part of God’s kingdom? Then we need to do the will of God.
Doing the will of God means being obedient to His word. Yet many reject the necessity of obedience. They believe that if obedience is necessary then we earn our salvation, and we can never earn our salvation. But to say obedience is necessary does not mean we must earn our salvation. Jesus said, “when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’” (Lk. 17:10). Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned.” Nothing we can do can change the fact that we have sinned. Therefore, God offers salvation to us through His grace. But this does not nullify the need to obey. The one “who does the will of My Father” is the one who will be saved by His grace.
In denying the necessity of obedience, many claim that salvation is by faith alone. The problem with this belief is that it is not taught in Scripture. James spoke of demons that believed in God (James 2:19). Could those demons be saved by faith alone? No! Why not? Because “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). No passage in the Bible teaches that we are saved by faith alone. In fact, the only time those words are used together is in James 2:24. “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
Some who believe in God will be rejected by Him. We saw this in our opening passage. Some would “prophesy” and “cast out demons” in His name (Mt. 7:22). They believed in God. Yet they were told to “depart” (Mt. 7:23). Doing something in His name does not automatically sanction the practice.
Why would some people who were religious and engaging in “good works” be rejected? Because they were practicing “lawlessness” (Mt. 7:23). This means they were doing things that God had not authorized them to do. They were not lawful deeds. There was no authority for the practice. Therefore, it could not be classified as a “good work.” God has defined what “good works” are in His word. Scripture equips us to engage in “every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). If authority for a practice cannot be found in the word of God, it cannot be called a good work. To engage in it is to practice lawlessness.
If we want to be pleasing to God and be saved, we must do His will. That does not mean to simply be religious. It does not mean we can do whatever seems good to us. It means we must do the things He has commanded us in the way He has instructed us to do them. Let us be diligent to do the will of God so we can one day hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your lord” (Mt. 25:21).
Andy Sochor