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.'”

Churches across the world are full of people who earnestly believe that because they go to church every week, because they do all the right things, and because they said a prayer one day that they will avoid the fires of hell and instead enjoy heaven – if there is a heaven. They are leaders, they are followers, they are movers and shakers in the Christian world, but in the end they will face the same judgment as everyone else. Will they be able to honestly plead the blood of Christ as a defense?

I find this part of Jesus' preaching to be very disturbing. It is challenging and seems harsh for some reason. Too many people gloss over all the hard things that are in the Bible because it is discomforting and they want a feel-good Jesus, an easy Bible, and a quick fix for everything. Here Jesus challenges us though. He tells us directly that there are people who are not saved that act as if they are. However He also tells us that all we must do is believe in Him and He will give us everlasting life. All we must do is call on the name of the Lord and we shall be saved. How then do these two statements mix? If there is a person who calls on the name of the Lord to cast out demons, how will they be unacknowledged and thrown out of heaven?

We are given the answer. They did not do the will of God. God wants all to be saved, but He also is a pure and righteous God. The blood of Christ washes us clean of all sins, but we must accept it totally. A quick prayer and doing the right things is no substitute for a total acceptance and faith in Him. People who stand before the throne of Judgment and say “But Lord! I did all this stuff in your name!” have tried to earn their way, by themselves. They could not surrender themselves to total commitment to Christ. They did not truly believe in Christ and His blood and they could not do the will of the Father because they did not know the will of the Father.

When we came to a knowledge of Christ's grace for us, we were adopted into God's family. Jesus' gruesome death on the cross was our adoption fee. We were given direct communication with God. In prayer and supplication we find out everything God wants for us. If we love the Lord, we are called to obey Him. We obey Him by loving Him. How easy is that? Yet it is the hardest thing in the world for us to accomplish. We are saved by Grace, but it is also only by grace that we can learn to love our Lord.

We, as believers, need to dedicate ourselves every day to learning to love God. It doesn't matter how well we know the Bible. What is important is how well we know the author of the Bible. God has blessed us so completely that we can honestly do nothing less or more than learn Him. We can not help but love Him. Let us then make this our aim – to know and love God more and more each day!

Redeemer, come, with us abide;
our hearts to thee we open wide;
let us thy inner presence feel;
thy grace and love in us reveal.