“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.’ Mat 7:21-23
To me, this was the scariest passage in the Bible. I would not measure up to anyone that prophesy or cast out demons and do any type of mighty works like healing the sick. But Jesus is telling them “I never knew you”. The people that He addresses believed that they served Him, stating that they did those things in His name! So this scripture is referring to many people that believe they are Christians! Nevertheless, Jesus states very strongly “I never knew you” and follows with “Depart from me you workers of lawlessness”
The reason why he denied knowing them was that they are workers of lawlessness. On the other hand, Jesus starts out saying; only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven.
The first thing coming to my mind is the Lord’s Prayer:
Mat 6:9-10 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (10) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Those described in Mat 7:21-23 believed that they are disciples and most likely all of them have prayed the Lord’s Prayer, but Jesus denies knowing them and the key phrase here is “Workers of Lawlessness”. So, what does Jesus mean with this?
We read in 1 John 3:4
1Jn 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (ESV)
1Jn 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. (NIV)
So it seems very clear that there is a connection between doing the will of God and keeping God’s Laws, so let’s look at this connection in more detail. Before this passage, within the same chapter, we have two other passages that are directly related to this one:
- A Tree and Its Fruit
- The Narrow and Wide Gates
A Tree and Its Fruit
Preceding this paragraph Jesus talks about wolves in sheep’s clothing and that you recognize them by their fruits.
Mat 7:15-20 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (16) By their fruit you will recognise them. Do people pick grapes from thorn-bushes, or figs from thistles? (17) Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. (18) A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.
For ages I thought that those good fruits are all the good results we have as being Christians; witnessing to others and bringing them to Christ, helping others, and of-course the Fruit of the Spirit come to mind (Gal 5:22-23); love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
But if I am honest I can find many of these qualities in the world as well and therefore it does not distinctively set Christians apart from Non-Christians, except for Love in the context of: “Love one another. As I (Jesus) have loved you – Joh 13:34″. So, let’s have a closer look at what type of fruits God is after and how that relates to doing His will.
What is the good tree bearing good fruits?
Psa 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (3) He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
And who are the wolves in sheep’s clothing?
Eze 22:26-27 Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. (27) Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
We see here that those who delight in the law of the Lord are compared to a tree that is planted by streams of water and yields its fruit (the right fruit) in season. Psalm 40:8 confirms this as well:
Psa 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
We also see that the wolves in sheep’s clothing are those priests or pastors that teach that there is no difference between what is holy and what is common, between what is considered clean and unclean, and that shut their eyes to keep the sabbath!!
Does this not sound familiar to you? Is this not exactly what is preached in churches today? We are told that we can ignore the day that God declared Holy and choose any day we want, also we can now eat anything we want because Jesus declared now all foods clean! (see also In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) and we are told that we no longer have to keep the Sabbath as commanded within the 10 Commandments.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
Another common misconception within Christian Churches is concerning the passage about ‘The Narrow and the Wide Gates’ just before the previous passage about ‘A Tree and Its Fruit’. Noticed that all these passages are in the same chapter and come right before the one we are talking about in Mat 7:21-23, and are directly related to one another.
Mat 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (14) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
When I grew up I remember seeing a big poster displaying an image of the narrow gate that leads to Heaven and on the other side a wide gate and we see all the sinners going through it, partying and enjoying themselves, ignoring God and ending up in Hell.
At that time I believed that all Christians are those who enter the narrow gate and all non-Christians are entering through the wide gate.
But we saw already that when Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…”, that He was not referring to unbelievers but to those that believed they are Christians!
Note also that He mentioned “On that day many will say to me ‘Lord, Lord…” matching the wide gate, saying: “…and many enter through it”!
Please take a minute and think about this! The people on the wide road are those who believe they are Christians but are not recognized as such by Christ!
We see a confirmation of this in Luke 13: 23-27 were Jesus said something very similar, but here we see that Jesus said that many seek to enter the narrow gate but will not be able to! In seeking to enter we see that they are interested, not people who do not want to have anything to do with God:
Luke 13:23-27 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, (24) “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. (25) When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ (26) Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ (27) But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!‘
Peter last words are warning us about the error of the Lawless man
Jesus referred to the “workers of lawlessness” while Peter warns us, in his last words, to be careful not to be carried away by the error of Lawless men. Both refer to ‘Lawless’ which is not coincident, Peter even warns that it can lead to the fall of your secure position, same as what Jesus is saying in Mat 7:21-23!
2Pe 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.
Before this verse, Peter warned that Paul’s teachings are difficult to understand and that they will be taken out of context by ignorant and unstable people.
2Pe 3:16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Take note that Peter is not referring to Lawless men as horrible sinners that enjoy breaking the law but as ‘ignorant and unstable people’ that are (like wolves) within the assemblies of believers who take what Paul wrote out of context!
So, how is Paul’s Teaching being taken out of context? Paul’s Teachings are used within Church Doctrine to teach that God’s Laws, given by Moses, have been abolished and no longer apply to us. Is this not the definition of Lawless men:
Lawless Men = Men that don’t believe the Law applies to them! = workers of lawlessness
I hope you start to see a pattern, the wolves are those that teach that “there is no difference between what is holy and what is common, between what is considered clean and unclean and that shut their eyes to keeping the sabbath” and the Lawless Men are those that no longer believe that the Law of God, as given to Moses, applies to them.
In conclusion:
This is not nice teaching and something not many like to hear, but something we as Christians have to consider. Maybe you understand now why I said it at the start that this was the scariest part for me in the whole Bible. But it does not need to be scary. We are not required to do miracles or cast out demons or any of the other big things, but instead, we are simply asked to do the will of God by keeping His instructions for us. Throughout the whole Bible God keeps on repeating one thing, obey me! (see also what His instructions are for us)
If God does not change as he said in Malachi 3:6-7 and also Hebrew 13:8
Malachi 3:6-7 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
And Jesus did the will of the Father
John 5:30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Then is it not a logical conclusion that the way of doing the Father’s will is to walk as Christ did? For us ‘to love one another the way Jesus loved us’ requires of us to walk as Jesus did and to become like Jesus.
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6)
Jesus did the will of the Father by keeping His commands. When we delight in God’s Laws and do them, then we are like a tree planted beside streams of water and bearing the right fruits in season, the fruit of obedience by doing the will of the Father! Let’s examine ourselves and ask:
- are we doing the Will of the Father by keeping His commands?
- are we truly disciples of Christ?
In the end, we can’t blame the pastor or others, we are all asked to do God’s will and are responsible for obeying Him. If we don’t, Jesus will Say:
‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
I hope that God speaks to you through this article. May God Bless you and don’t forget to test everything!