Matthew 7:21-24
English Standard Version (ESV)
I Never Knew You
21 B)’>says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will D)’>does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 F)’>many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not H)’>in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 J)’>never knew you; L)’>you workers of lawlessness.’
These have been described as the most frightening words in scripture. I have to say they scare me. Doing the will of the Father? Most of the time I’m not sure what the will of the Father is. Rarely do I feel I am doing it.
As D.A. Carson puts it, “It is true, of course, that no man enters the kingdom because of his obedience; but it is equally true that no man enters the kingdom who is not obedient. It is true that men are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ; but it is equally true that God’s grace in a man’s life inevitably results in obedience. Any other view of grace cheapens grace, and turns it into something unrecognizable.”
As Lloyd-Jones, comments, “We must realize that what God wants, and what our blessed Lord wants, above all, is ourselves – what Scripture calls our ‘heart’. He wants the inner man, the heart. He wants our submission. He does not want merely our profession, our zeal, our fervour, our works, or anything else. He wants us.”
We have allowed folks to believe that being Christian is joining a club, like being a Rotarian or a Republican. We cheat them if we convey anything less than the revolutionary idea that being a Christian is being something radically different than what we were before: a new obedient creature.
To know God and to be known by Him. It’s what it’s all about.
Be blessed.
Nick
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