Journeys of a Former Firebrand

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Matthew 7:21–23 (NASB 95): 21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The older I get the more I realize how important it is to listen to what my body tells me. It hasn’t always been that way. When I was younger, I regularly ignored what my body said to me, at times pushing it beyond its limits.

Oh, how things have changed!

Now that I’m approaching 50 at break-neck speed, I feel like I’ve broken a few other things along the way. I’m much more intrigued with anatomy and health now. I’m by no means a “health nut,” but I certainly appreciate more how the body works because of my many ailments.

That idea lives at the heart of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7. We aren’t to simply assume that our faith is strong if there are warning lights flashing and sirens going off. Just like human anatomy, the anatomy of our faith reveals health or lack thereof.

Are there objective tests that we can apply that help us ascertain spiritual health in the anatomy of our faith? Certainly! Christ gives one right here to put our own faith in perspective.

What did Christ have to say about faith? What lessons can we learn about the health of our spiritual lives?

1. Faith can be faked.

The implication here is that some think they are good with God to the point they can say, “Lord, Lord” in absolute sincerity. Yet, these people aren’t truly part of God’s kingdom. Their faith not only deceives those around them but also deceives their own heart to lead them to a dangerous false conclusion: they have saving faith.

Christ’s words contradict the assumption that simply claiming we know God or simply praying to Him a quick prayer will get us to heaven. Those things won’t because they are works of our own, and works don’t get us to heaven.

But true faith through obedience to God does.

2. False faith contrasts with true faith in its results.

Nope. Jesus wasn’t instructing us to work for our salvation. Those who didn’t enter the kingdom in Jesus’ story did lots of works. In fact, they did essentially the same things those who entered the kingdom did. The problem wasn’t works.

Then what was the issue with this group?

It was perspective. This group did their best to impress God with effort on their part, only to forget that they should have done those things in obedience to God’s Word. They engaged in “radom acts of kindness” that gratified their own desire to do good rather than obeying God.

In other words, they wanted to do it their way rather than listen to God and do it His way. In the end, their works, as wonderful and helpful as they were, did absolutely nothing for them because true faith would have revealed itself through obedience to God, not just random good deeds.

One way glorifies God. The other way glorifies self. Both include works, but only one reveals saving faith.

3. False faith leads to eternal punishment.

Yes, I know. Telling people that hell actually exists isn’t very popular. It isn’t considered “nice” to reveal that people who disobey God actually go there. Too many live under the delusion that a “loving God” would never create a place like hell, let alone send people there.

Yet, that’s exactly the implication of Christ’s statement. Those who think that their own goodness will get them to heaven rather than obedience to God will end up spending eternity separated from God’s loving embrace for all eternity.

4. Those condemned never knew true faith in the first place.

Notice Christ doesn’t say, “You had heaven but you blew it. Now you get nothing but hell!” What does He say? He says, “I never knew you.”

Some would claim that this shouldn’t be taken literally and is only a figure of speech. Some would claim that these people were once those who understood grace but forfeit it to gratify themselves.

The answer is simply this: if we don’t understand Christ’s statement as literal, what would lead us to understand it any other way? Put more simply, what gives us any right to undestand this in any way other than the way Christ spoke it?

The simple answer is that these people don’t know Christ and never did. They lived under the delusion that whatever they were doing pleased God. All the while, they accomplished really good things that did nothing for their eternal condition.

They misunderstood God’s grace, and that cost them.

What can we learn?

Obedience to God eclipses any good thing we do. It’s all about seeing God as the Author of our salvation rather than seeing human effort as the motivating factor.

Salvation is of the Lord by His grace through faith plus nothing.

May we all understand that we could never grasp grace on our own. If not for the saving work of Jesus Christ and believing on Him as God instructed us, we would be lost forever.

In believing in Christ, we obey God.

He gave us that grace. We live because of that grace. We continue to live in that grace. We will enter heaven not because of what we have done but because of wonderful grace that instructed us to obey God and simply believe in Jesus Christ His Son.

Embrace grace today through Jesus Christ and find a truly healthy faith.