A scripture that worries some Christians, but shouldn’t, is this one:

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. 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?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matt 7:21-23)

Jesus’ words worry some people because they seem to contradict what Paul writes in Romans:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)

Say “Jesus is Lord” and you’re saved, says Paul. But you might not be, says Jesus. Which is it?

You need to know that Paul is 100 percent correct. If you are persuaded that Jesus is the risen Lord, then you are his and he is yours and you are saved. Don’t let anyone move you from your secure position.

Yet Jesus is also 100 percent correct for there is no contradiction between him and Paul. Indeed, there is a nice symmetry, for Paul is describing sheep, while Jesus is talking about wolves. Let’s look at three things Jesus says:

1. On that day

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord…’” On what day? On that day of judgment when the nations are gathered before him and Jesus separates his sheep from the goats (and wolves).

Today (as in right now) there are only some who recognize Jesus as Lord, but on that day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess him as Lord. On that day it won’t take any faith to recognize Jesus as Lord because he will appear as he truly is.

2. I never knew you

Jesus is not speaking to Christians who have somehow missed the mark, because he says “I never knew you.” Not, “I knew you once but now I’m writing you off.” Nor does he say, “I wrote your name in my book but now I’m blotting it out .” Jesus is talking to people he never knew.

We may not be 100 percent faithful but Jesus is. If you are his you can rest assured that he will never let you go (John 10:28-29). God does not break his promises and unchild his children. If you have been born again you can’t be unborn. What God has joined together, no man can separate.

3. You evildoers

Jesus calls them evildoers which seems harsh for people who have gone around helping others. “Did we not prophesy, drive out demons, and perform many miracles in your name?” But things are not always what they seem. These guys are not as helpful as they make out.

First, they are self-righteous. “Jesus, here’s my resume. You gotta let me in because I am an accomplished individual. Look at all I’ve done!” Which is basically saying, “Jesus, you died for nothing. Keep your grace; I don’t need it. I stand on my own merits.” Pretty dumb.

Second, they are ravenous wolves. Read Jesus’ words in context and you will find this warning:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matt 7:15, NASB)

The word for ravenous is translated elsewhere as
extortioners . That’s what these evildoers are. They are religious gangsters who make their living by frightening those whom God loves and threatening the sheep. “God is mad at you. His sword is hanging over this city. Judgment’s coming. You are standing on the precipice. Beware astronomical omens. Stay away from grace – it’ll send you to hell.”

These terrorists use threats of punishment to extract money and service from the sheep. “Sow into my ministry and save yourself from the flames.” I am not talking about the misguided preacher who loves the Lord, but the self-righteous man who lives off stolen property and “makes himself wealthy by extortion” (see Hab 2:4-7). These fearmongers may serve in the name of Lord, but they are servants of fear and darkness.

The third thing to note is they are liars. They claim to be doing good but a “bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt 7:18). They’re putting on a big show, they’ve got their perfect smiles on the posters, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. They may look good on stage, but in private they are different people. They are bad trees with bad fruit.

Put it altogether and you have some very dangerous sheep-rustlers insulting the Son of God to his face, bragging about how awesome they are, and Jesus says, “Not in my house. Away with you evildoers!” This ought to make us happy. We may occasionally be fooled by charlatans, but Jesus is never fooled. We may let them into our houses, but he won’t let them into his, which is good, because they’d ruin the party for everyone.

What is the will of my Father?

Jesus says only those who do the will of the Father enter the kingdom of heaven. What is his will? Jesus answers with a word picture in the verses following. It’s building on the rock. It’s hearing the words of Jesus and putting them into practice. It’s banking on Jesus. It’s believing in Jesus (John 6:29). In short, the will of God is to trust in Jesus.

And this brings us back to Paul who said “If you declare, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart…”

This isn’t rocket surgery and you don’t need a seminary degree to make sense of it. Ravenous wolves who eat sheep will eventually have to deal with the Good Shepherd. But bet your life on Jesus and he will never let you down!

https://escapetoreality.org/2015/10/07/religious-gangsters-matthew-7v21-23/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1GdbFupCdo

This is the Will of God the Father....

So what is God's will? What are the works that God wants us to do? Some people asked our Saviour Jesus this very question in John 6. No better answer or explanation than that which comes from our Saviour Jesus Himself!

28 "Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 "Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

Again, in the same John 6, Christ says:

3 9 "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Our Saviour Himself is telling us what God’s will is! He is saying here that the will of God is:

1. For us to believe in our Lord Jesus (verse 29.) Even this we cannot decide to do on our own. Verse 44 of the same John 6 says “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” And there we were thinking “I decided to follow Jesus out of my own good sense and smarts”

2. That Christ should lose none of us that He (our heavenly Father) has given to Him but raise us up at the last day (verse 39)

3. That all of us who see our Lord Jesus Christ and believe in Him may have everlasting life. (verse 40)

Believers, this is what God wants us to do: to believe in His Son. For the New Covenant believer, believing in our Saviour Jesus is obedience. Under the New Covenant, there only the obedience of faith, not the Law. The Law is not of faith and without faith, it is impossible to please God. When the believing is right, right living will follow.

afternoon.....

evening

Hmmm hehehe

jiggaz:
afternoon.....

....

morning....

afternoon..

evening....

jiggaz:
afternoon.....

...

evening..

evening....

morning.....

noted

morning...

afternoon

evening..

morning...

morning..

evening.

jiggaz:
evening.

...

. . . .

.. .. ..

.

jiggaz PM please

Danielgabby:
jiggaz PM please

Didn't see any PM.