Articles
“"I Never Knew You"”
21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:21-23
Can you imagine anything more terrifying than hearing Jesus say, “I never knew you; depart from me”? In the conclusion of his sermon on the mount, Jesus pierces our hearts with this warning against self-deception. His words describe the person who believes he is right with God when he is not.
The Lord speaks of the danger of a merely verbal profession of faith. He describes those who base their salvation on a credal affirmation, on what they “say” to or about Christ. “Not everyone who says to me…” (21) “On that day many will say to me…” (22) Jesus wants us to understand that our final destiny will not rest on what we say to him but whether we do what we say.
Jesus calls those he rejects “workers of lawlessness,” yet notice all their positive attributes. They confess Jesus as “Lord,” a necessary part of our salvation (Rom. 10:9-10). The address of “Lord” is more than a respectful title. It was a divine title equated with Yahweh in the Old Testament. Notice, too, their fervency in the repetition of the title (“Lord, Lord”). There is a strength of zeal there. Finally, they claim to have done many good things in the name of Jesus. These were not closet Christians. They worked in public, claiming Christ’s authority was behind their works, even supernatural ones such as miracles, prophecy and exorcisms.
If they confessed him as Lord with fervency and worked in his name, why does Jesus shun them on the day of judgment? They are “workers of lawlessness.” Though they used his name freely, their name was unknown to him. When he says “I never knew you,” he does not mean that he was unaware of their existence but that he did not recognize them for who they claimed to be. In other words, their profession was a sham. They called him “Lord” but did not submit to his lordship (24; Lk. 6:46). So the vital difference is between saying and doing. They did evil (“workers of lawlessness”). Works are crucial as they complete and confirm our faith (Jas. 2:26), but it is not enough to be engaged in religious works (6:1ff; Col. 2:20-23; Titus 3:5). To be pleasing to God we must do the works he has prepared for us to do (Eph. 2:10). Their works violated God’s law.
Whether or not they succeeded in performing these miracles is not the issue. They at least thought they did. Even if they did, Paul warns us that possessing and exercising a spiritual gift was no guarantee of God’s approval (1 Cor. 12:27; 13:1-3). Jesus warned of false Christs and false prophets who arise to “perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Mt. 24:24). Paul warns of false signs and wonders which the wicked use to deceive (2 Thess. 2:9-10).
There is no reason to doubt their sincerity either. The point is there is more to gaining a good standing with God than attaching Jesus’ name to what we do (even if those deeds are good; see for example, Acts 19:13-16). At the end of the day, their life testified against them. They worked lawlessness, despite what they said and despite wielding Jesus’ name. Taking Jesus’ name requires departing from iniquity (2 Tim. 2:19).
Jesus is not impressed with our pious words. The proof of our sincerity is in our practical obedience to him as Lord, which he goes on to explain in his conclusion: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23 are not meant to cause paranoia in the elect. His purpose is to warn the self-deceived. There will be surprises on the day of judgment. How can Christians be confident in their salvation? (cf. 1 Jn. 5:13) Perfect obedience is impossible but saving faith will give evidence of itself (1 Jn. 1:6; 2:4; Jas. 1:22-25; 2:14-20). Christ is not looking for mere verbal professions but a life that is changed by grace.
