- the same judgment we use will be used on us...
- the narrow and wide gate...
- false prophets...
dang.
but the scariest thing to me is
Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?"
And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS."
it's not scary because it's arbitrary. God doesn't work in the arbitrary. these are people who are doing things for the Lord. they are prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles... yet Jesus doesn't know them. they practice lawlessness.
these few verses don't scare me and keep me up at night... but they do make me evaluate myself every now and then. why am i doing what i'm doing? is it just a list of things? is it to earn points? or is it because i'm truly in love with this amazing God and can't wait to do more to show him my love?
as i've known him more and more i love him more and more. and my desire to serve him continues to increase. i hope i know no one who "serves" God and has to hear these words from him.
2 comments:
Does the idea of fearing God come in to play in this passage? I mean we fear God but we love him because of it. Do you think that God did not recognize these people because they thought they were doing his work, but not seeking Him like in verses 7-11. I feel like those verses and the other verses in 7 represent what we should do but then Jesus adds 21-23 to remind us that if we are not truly seeking Him and building our relationship with Him we can end up not knowing Him; and we would miss out on the whole reason he came to earth.
Can you explain verse 6 or give an example? I read that and couldn't make any sense out of it.
This is my thought on verses 21-27. Starting in chapter 5 up until this point Jesus has been laying out his main moral teachings; many of which are a reinterpretation of parts of the Jewish Law (Chapter 5). The "words" He is talking about in 24-27 are his moral teachings from Chapter 5, 6, and the beginning of this one (at least that's my thought). Thus, the people in 21-23 went out in his name and did miracles, but never actually tried to make their lives fit into the kind he depicts in the two previous chapters.
Paul also uses a reference to "dogs" in Philippians 3:2. He defines them as men who do evil. I kinda see it as talking about evaluating people's character so as to not be taken advantage of and lead astray.
Post a Comment