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| Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. |
Who is denied entry, and why?
Few are unfamiliar with this passage in the Sermon on the Mount. Its sound bytes are often used to blast off others to the lake of fire! But look again... is it saying what is popularly understood?
Matthew 7
21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Please note... it is at the end of the long sermon on the mount. Much has been said and heard. It is time to sum up, to conclude. It is wonderful to hear such profound teachings from the very lips of the Son of God - "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
But the privileges of hearing God's word obligates God's children to do the Father's will.
Here are a few thoughts.
1. Who is Jesus Christ addressing?
- They are those who have openly claimed Jesus Christ as their Lord. These most certainly can't be those who are still dead in trespasses and sins, i.e. those in enmity against God, and Christ.
- Apostle Paul stated categorically. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1Cor 12:3.
- They are those who have preached in Jesus' name. And in Jesus' blessed name, they have even performed miracles and did wonderful works. These can't be dismissed as false claims. Those dead in trespasses and sin would never willingly associate themselves with Jesus in such a manner; neither will they attribute their labours to Him! To think otherwise is just pure fiction.
- Then who is Jesus dealing with? God's children, every one who confesses Jesus as Lord. Jesus Christ is addressing them on a vital matter. Their confession of Christ shall not get them into the kingdom of heaven. It is doing the will of their Father who is in heaven.
- These are God's children who are disobedient to the will of their Father. They are being solemnly warned. Too many don't believe this stark reality the Lord Jesus is dealing with.
- The popular fable is, "All God's children do the will of the Father, and that those who don't do the will of the Father are not His children, to begin with."
- This fiction makes many solemn warnings in the Scriptures superfluous, and meaningless.
2. What issue is Jesus addressing?
- It is about entering the kingdom of heaven. This is distinct from entering heaven... where the Father is. Too many children of God CANNOT distinguish the two; not even self-acclaimed theologians!
- The former is conditioned upon DOING the will of the Father. The latter is conditioned solely upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. The former deals with the temporal salvation; the latter, the eternal salvation by God's free and sovereign grace alone, in Christ alone.
- Not everyone that professes Christ's lordship [and only God's children can do so!] shall enter the kingdom of heaven which Christ has established with His work of redemption.
- The entrance into the kingdom of heaven is conditioned upon their doing the will of their Father.
- Not doing the will of their Father amounts to doing work of iniquity.
- The very mention of the doing of the will of the Father implies that those addressed are God's children. Who, but the children of God alone, has business and obligation to do the will of the Father? Only those children that do the will of the Father shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Those who don't shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. They shall continue in the old earthly theocratic kingdom of Israel, and perish with it when it ios dissolved and abolished.
3. Who is turned away from what, and when?
- These are charged as not doing their Father's will, therefore these can only refer to God's children.
- God's children who do not do the will of their Father are turned away by Christ. They are not confessed by Christ, but denied before the Father. Mt 10:32-33. What redundancy, and superfluousness for Christ having to deny those who don't belong to the Father, to begin with? Such a foolish idea!
- "For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Mt 12:50. Doing the will of Jesus' Father in heaven is equivalent to doing Jesus' will! He acknowledged and received such.
- Christ the Lord is ashamed to be associated with children of God who do not do the will of their Father. They shall have no part in the kingdom of heaven that Christ has established. He came to do His Father's will. He associated with those who do the same. He acknowledged not those who don't!
4. When does this turning away occur?
- "In that day" - on the great judgment day at the end of the Jewish world. A picture of that is painted in Mat 25:31-46.
- Mt 24-25 deals with the end of the Jewish world, ending with the judgment of the sheep and goats of the One same Shepherd. The Shepherd divided His sheep and goats.
- The sheep and goats DO NOT represent the elect and the non-elect; they represent God's children who are obedient and the disobedient respectively.
- It is not about the judgment at the end of the human world. For that see Rev 20:15-21
- They are not turned away from eternal heaven itself. On the great judgment day, such shall be resurrected unto eternal glory... which is not conditioned on anything but the free and sovereign grace of God alone. Their names were written in the book of life from eternity.
5. The parable following confirms this
- They who do the will of the Father spoken through his Son are delivered from the great destruction to come. That deliverance is conditioned upon their work of doing the will of their Father.
- Those who do the will of the Father are likened to wise men.
- Those who don't do the will of the Father are likened to foolish men.
- Which one are you? Where do you build your house?
- The outcome depends on whether one does the will of the Father or not. That's salvation by works, temporal salvation through the obedience of God's children, those whom God has bestowed eternal salvation by God's free grace in Christ alone.
- It is not the eternal salvation and entry into eternal glory. This is solely and wholly conditioned upon the redemptive work of Jesus Christ ALONE, plus nothing.
Is it that hard to understand?
