Matthew 7:21-23

Day 60 -Matthew 7:21-23

7-27-25

Getting to the TRUTH

Pray

Q: HOW do we get from v 7:15 to v7:23?

V15 says, “Watch out for false prophets.” A clear, unambiguous warning. 
Then v23 says, “‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

How we get from 15 to v23 is what we are going to talk about today. It is not hard to understand, but it is very heavy material, and deadly serious. No one EVER wants to hear Jesus says, “‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Understanding verse 15 correctly, and understanding the real danger of false prophets in it’s biblical context, is the key to avoiding EVER HEARING vs 21-23 from Jesus on judgement day. Remember, these verses today are in thd middle of the summary of the SOM, and Jesus has been presenting us with choices. And IMPLORING, even commanding us,  to make the right choice.

A: We need to have a “truth radar” that is always on. And that truth radar can only come to us from prayfully and expectantly studying, knowing and understanding God’s Word through the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit.

So – let’s dive in to today’s verses.

Read scripture: Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (NIV 1984)

REVIEW and OVERVIEW:

Correctly understanding the truth of Jesus’ legitimate warning against false prophets in v15, will lead to a correct understanding of God’s will in vs 21, which will then, if we make right choices, lead to not ever having to hear Jesus’ word in Vs 23 on judgement day. I think the key words in this passage are “God’s will” in v21 and the words “I never knew you” in v 23.

False prophets and false teachers are just as prevalent today as they were in the Old Testament times of Jeremiah (or any of the true prophets in the OT), and every bit as dangerous.  

Q: Have you ever heard the old saying, “If you don’t know history, you are doomed to repeat it? 
What do you think it means? 
How does it apply to Jesus original audience of the SOM in the first century??
How does it apply to us today in this class?

A: In the OT, false prophets led the people of Israel, God’s chosen people, astray, and it had devastating results in their relationship with God and their lives. 

In today’s world it is equally true that believing in lies or “untruths” about God has devastating results in our relationship with God and our lives. 

Q:  What does verse 21 say and mean?

A: Jesus says in v21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Do you see any clues to what Jesus is getting at here?
The first clue are the words, “the will of my Father.” He is saying that “ONLY” he who does the will of my Father will get into heaven. 
Jesus here in these words is giving us the parameters, the qualifications, for getting into heaven. He is also telling us the context of this whole passage that we have been looking at for over a month. So we have to ask ourselves, “What is the simple, main point of Matt 7:15-23? And

“What are these parameters?”

THE MAIN POINT: 
You cannot earn your salvation with good works. The only way to heaven, the only way into the Kingdom of God, is to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Believing in Jesus is the only way. 

The Parameters:

1. Doing the will of God (v21), which is …
2. Believe in Jesus. “John 6:40 (NIV 1984) says “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
3. So, believing in Jesus, not doing good works, is the key to entry to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Our human nature wants so bad to get credit for our good works, for our efforts to be good and do good. We want to feel like we have contributed to our salvation. That somehow, we have earned at least a part of it by trying to be and do good. But the scriptures clearly and repeated tell us that that is not possible. 

Our book has some really good comments on this. On the bottom of page 101, the author says that this section, our verses today, are an “embellishment on the two-trees theme…” (Holman Commentary). So the first verse in this whole section we have been looking at for a month, “Watch out for false prophets” command and the discussion of the good and bad fruit and good and bad trees is directly connected to the last verse in today’s section “‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Then he says on pages 101-102ff, “…the emphasis here is on doing God’s will.” (Holman Commentary) and “Jesus went to this length to demonstrate the importance of righteousness by faith alone in Christ alone.” (Holman Commentary), which is really the main point of the whole thing. 

Q: So, then, What would disqualify us from getting into heaven? Remember, context is important here. 

A: Doing OUR WILL, rather than doing the will of the Father. Let’s explore that a bit…

In v22 it would seem that the people who are saying “Lord, Lord,” are appealing to the Lord based on their works, what they have supposedly done for the Lord – prophesying (hence the connection to false prophets in v15), driving out demons and performing miracles – rather than actually trusting in JESUS HIMSELF for their salvation. They were relying on what they were doing for the Lord, in short, they were relying on THEIR OWN WORKS. In John 6:29, Jesus responds to a similar question. “Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (See how they are so focused on “works?” But Jesus them answered saying), “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”” John 6:28-29 (NIV 1984) 

Q:   So then, going back to v21,  What does “… only he who does the will of my Father” in verse 21 mean?

A: By saying this, Jesus was telling the false prophets that they were NOT doing His Father’s will. The only alternative, is that they were doing their own will. There are only Two Camps. 

Let’s look at a couple verses for some context. Ps 37:3a and Eph. 2:8-10. As you may remember me saying, I, personally, think the order of words and sentences in scripture is very important. 

Psalms 37:3 (NIV 1984) 3 “Trust in the LORD and do good;” (briefly comment – redemption: salvation first, then works)

Since we never make dogma or doctrine or vast generalizations using only one verse – let’s go to Ephesians 2, which says pretty much exactly the same thing (in a different book, a different testament , by a different human author)

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV 1984) 8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (briefly comment – same thing: redemption: salvation first, then works) 

Finally, and maybe most importantly, John 6:40 tells us explicitly and directly exactly what the “will” of the Father is. Jesus says, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

So, according to Matthew 7:21, the people Jesus is referring to in that verse, do not truly “… look to the Son and believe in Him.”

Q:  So, now, going back to verse 22, which says, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’” What does verse 22 say and mean? What is actually going on in this verse?

A: The unbeliever (and how do we know this is an unbeliever talking? – the context of vs 21 and 23!), is asking, regarding salvation – or entrance into heaven – “What about all my good works?”

Remember what our author said on pages 101-102ff? “…the emphasis here is on doing God’s will.”(Holman Commentary) (As opposed to our will) and then he said, “Jesus went to this length to demonstrate the importance of righteousness by faith alone in Christ alone.” (Holman Commentary)

Q:  Ok, now, What does verse 23 say and mean?

A: It says, “23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:23 (NIV 1984) 

The first Jesus is saying here is important. He says, “I will tell them plainly,” 

What does that mean? Remember, He is in the first century, giving the SOM to it’s original audience, so He make it clear He is not talking about ‘them” (the original audience), He is talking about the false prophets primarily, but also, secondarily, about anybody who may be trying to earn there way into heaven by there own works. This is important because, remember, to the original audience, the Gospel, what He is really teaching, it a very new and radical thing for them. But not so for us. We can’t forget that if we want to understand the SOM. 

Q: So, moving on, what does “I never knew you” mean? 

A: Hint: Read 1 Corinthians 8:3 (NIV 1984) “But the man who loves God is known by God.”

What does verse say about the person who’s God does NOT know? It means that that person does NOT love God, because if he did love God, then God would know him. 

Loving God is evidence of our salvation, (as is His loving us!)

Loving God, and gratitude to God, is the motivation for our works AFTER we are saved. 

We are not saved by good works. We are saved for good works.

MAIN POINT REVISITED:

Q: What is the main point of this passage?

A: You cannot get into heaven by works, or by being a good person, or by doing miracles. It seems that demons can do (or appear) to do miracles. Pharaohs court apparently did miracles. Supernatural acts were done in Acts by those who were apparently not true believers (see Acts 19:13, 16:16-18, 6:8, 7:9, etc.) And, when the 12 were sent out by Jesus in Matt 10:1, did Judas perform miracles? Matt 10:1 says, “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.”

The ONLY way into the Kingdom of Heaven is the salvation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; by acknowledging sin, repenting, and believing in Jesus. 

There is no way work or earn your way into heaven. It is ONLY thru a personal relationship with Jesus that we can enter heaven. And a personal relationship with Jesus can only happen thru the salvation that ONLY Jesus can provide. 

APPLICATION: 

How do we apply this to our lives?

GET TO KNOW GOD! Know Him better every day! Seek Him. Persue Him! Follow Him!
Everything in your life, EVERTHING, in your life, depends on your relationship to Christ, your personal relationship. Knowing God, AND  being known by Him. 

Let me end with these amazing word from John 14:5-15 ’
“5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” John 14:5-15 (NIV 1984)

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Notes:

* Everything with an asterisk and is italicized and purple is my own added words and thoughts and are not part of the actual verse or quote.