What Does It Mean To Say, "Lord, Lord!" - Matthew 7:21-25

 True and False Disciples

Yesterday we talked about true and false teachers, and today Jesus teaches about true and false disciples.  A disciple is a follower of Jesus and increasingly learns how to live their lives as if Jesus were them.  It is not about performance but a deeper connection with Jesus and then living in the power of the Holy Spirit, who produces fruits in our lives.  

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 

Jesus states that it is not just those who proclaim with their lips that are his true disciples, but those whose lives match the will of the Father.  

"This warning of Jesus applies to people who speak or say things to Jesus or about Jesus, but don’t really mean it. It isn’t that they believe Jesus is a devil; they simply say the words very superficially. Their mind is elsewhere, but they believe there is value in the bare words and fulfilling some kind of religious duty with no heart, no soul, not spirit – only bare words and passing thoughts." (Guzik)

Calling Jesus "Lord" is appropriate, but just because someone utters this does not guarantee anything.  The true believer calls Jesus his Lord, and then lives their lives under his leadership.  

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 in your name perform many miracles?’ 

Doing works doesn't prove one is a disciple no matter how great these works are.  There were others in Jesus' time who did works of power.  These would be the three highest works someone could do, so the person is obviously laying it on "thick".    

"It may be observed, that these men lay the whole stress of their salvation upon what they have done in Christ's name; and not on Christ himself, in whom there is salvation, and in no other: they say not a syllable of what Christ has done and suffered, but only of what they have done." Gill 

23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Here is the key to the whole passage.  Though people may claim to do lots of things FOR Jesus, if they aren't doing them IN Jesus, they are merely works of the flesh.  Despite claiming intimacy with Christ. their works are all motivatied by glorifying themselves.  This makes it clear that these are not Christians who have fallen away from the faith or committed apostasy, but these are people never knew Jesus. They never believed in him by faith or received God's grace.  

There may be a connection with the false prophets from the passage before, as he calls them evildoers.  This implies, like the false prophets, these false disciples were of ill intent.  They were calling Jesus 
"Lord, Lord" but he was anything but THEIR Lord.

Do you see any difference between Jesus calling Jesus Your Savior and calling him Lord? What is the connection of doing God's will and entering His kingdom? How does your intimacy with Jesus lead you to do the works he does?  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acts 22 - Paul Sees the Light

Image
6  “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.   7  I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,  ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’  8  “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.  “  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,  whom you are persecuting,’  he replied.   9  My companions saw the light,  but they did not understand the voice  of him who was speaking to me.  10  “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “  ‘Get up,’  the Lord said,  ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do. This is the famous story of the apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.  Paul was going there to persecute Jewish Christians and throw them into prison and he meets Jesus is a spectacular way.  Not only is he blinded by a briliant light, but he hears the Lord's voice audibly.  And the Lord asks him, "Lord, Lord why are you persecuting me!"  Paul thought he was serving the Lord, but he was persecuting him b
Read more

Hebrews 6 - Have You Graduated From Elementary School of Faith Yet?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 6 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. The author once again picks up with the theme of moving on to Christian maturity.  He teaches them to move on from the "elementary" teachings about Christ. What does he mean by that?  He gives clues by citing repentance, faith, cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, and teaching on the judgment and resurrection from the dead. We might call these the basics of the Christian faith. If you read through the Apostle's Creed, which our church confesses in our 8am service, it contains many of these core doctrines.  Click here to see the Apostle's Creed Written Around “When we consider the
Read more

2 Timothy 4 - Fight the Good Fight! Finish the Race!

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Timothy 4 4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul gives a closing charge to Timothy. First of all, he is to preach the word. God's Word speaks to all situations and seasons. The Word of God will sometimes correct us. Our lives can get of out alignment with God's will as outlined in
Read more