Changed360

“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in your name? and then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ This is a sobering message from Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23. We see in verse 21 that not everyone who says unto Jesus “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Christ tells us that he who does the will of His Father will enter into heaven. This is not talking about works based faith, there is nothing you or I could ever do to “earn” our way to heaven. The bible tells us that our good works are filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). However, when we truly know Christ it changes every aspect of our life so that we do the will of the Father, not in order to gain acceptance, but out of our love for Christ! This doesn’t mean perfection but rather growing in God’s grace and mercy, because of our love for him. What about the people Christ talked about next? They prophesied in His name, cast out demons in His name, and did many wonders in His name. It sounds like these people did some good things, they were probably considered “good people”. So what was the problem? They did things in Jesus’s name but they didn’t really know him. It was a façade, a show, nothing more than surface level. Cultural Christianity plagues the culture we live in, especially in the south. It is easy to only give Christ part of our allegiance and not all of your heart and life. I want to tell you, Jesus wants all of you! He doesn’t delight in singing on a Sunday when your heart is far from him. He doesn’t delight in the status you hold at Church when you fail to represent him well or at all, at home or in the work place. He see’s beyond what we show others, he knows our hearts! This isn’t meant to be harsh or judgmental but truthful! Don’t let Satan fool you into thinking that because you’re a “good person” or a church goer or whatever justification you might make that you will have a home in heaven. Jesus is the only justification for entering into heaven that we have and knowing him will inevitably change you! We all are sick with sin and Jesus is our only hope of healing! Grow in the grace and mercy God has given us! He is so good! He loves you dearly and wants your whole heart!

– Faith