Jesus’ Words Concerning Salvation
Matthew 7:21-23
If you’ll open your Bibles to Matthew 7:21-23 and keep them there we will get to it in a moment.
We have been preaching through 1 Corinthians and as I was studying this week preparing to continue I read in chapter six verses 9-11 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Then it lists a multitude of unrighteous acts.
The Holy Spirit instantly said, “The church in America needs to know that.” So, we’re taking a detour from 1 Corinthians to Matthew 7, asking how do we know if we have eternal life? This question comes up often in ministry.
Matthew 7: 21-23 which I think, is one of the hardest sayings of Jesus. Jesus said this near the very end of what many people regard to be the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount.
Since it comes from Jesus, it absolutely demands our attention if we’re concerned about our eternal destiny, so this morning we shall give it just that.
Matthew 7:21-23: Look at it with me, “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, ye that work iniquity.’”
Clearly a prophecy about what will happen on Judgment Day. So let’s look at scriptures which seem to be apparent contradictions between this and other things either Jesus or the Bible clearly says and then let me note the realities that it forces us to face, for our own welfare.
The first seemingly contradiction is: Romans 10:13 clearly says that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But here Jesus says that many will come to Him on Judgment Day and call Him Lord but will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So, what gives?
Second, Jesus and the New Testament clearly indicate repeatedly that going to heaven, being saved, inheriting salvation comes by faith or belief alone.
Jesus said this in everyone’s favorite verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 is emphatic that salvation comes not by good works, but by faith: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works that no one should boast.”
But here Jesus clearly says that only those who do the will of God will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. What gives here?
Third, Jesus clearly indicated in John 14:11 and other places that His miracles testified to the fact that He was the Messiah, and that if people did not believe for any other reason, they should believe on the basis of His miracles alone when He said, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”
And yet here He indicates that miracles done in His name are not infallible signs that Jesus is behind them.
He says many will come to Him on Judgment Day saying, “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 iniquity.” Again, what’s going on here?
Fourth, one of the joys of being a Christian is knowing you’re going to heaven—the joy of absolute assurance you are right with God.
Many passages indicate you can know this. One of the favorites is found in I John 5:11-13: And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
All of these words of Jesus are clearly designed to make those of us who think we are sure we are saved to think — are we so sure.
Then there’s the chilling aspects of the concept that many, not a few, will come before Jesus on Judgment Day who sincerely believe they have known and served Jesus all their lives only to find that they are dead wrong, to their eternal regret, and will be shocked at the outcome.
And the very sobering question that Jesus clearly intended each of us here to ask ourselves, “Could I by any chance be one of those people who will face this greatest nightmare of all eternity?”
And finally, “how can I avoid this terrible mistake; how can I and all those whom I know and love come to know better?”
Before we go further, I think it’s important to note that Jesus, the one who said this, desires for all men to be saved. II Peter 3:9 specifically says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
So Jesus says this with the motivation of making sure people who aren’t saved, who aren’t going to heaven think again, and consider how they might be sure they’re going to heaven, and He’s giving everyone time, plenty of time, 2000 years now since He came the first time, for everyone to come to this knowledge of how to be saved.
It’s also important to note that Jesus did everything He possibly could to ensure our salvation.
He gave His life for us on the cross to save us from our sins, came back from the dead to demonstrate He was the Way, and Has given us this miracle of salvation plus many others, and His Word, the Bible, to show us how.
Now, it is simply up to us to consider all these words, which Jesus stated in such a way that we would think and think hard about; to be sure we’re going to heaven.
It’s also important that we put this in context. Jesus comes to His people at a point in history when almost the entire religious establishment, almost all of the Jewish religious leaders, are entirely corrupt.
He comes to them at a time when the very people who are supposed to be leading other people to salvation are leading them astray, and don’t have a clue about how to get to heaven, and for the most part don’t care.
In fact, they will crucify the One who has come to tell them precisely how, because they don’t want to know and don’t care that their people don’t know. A shocking testament to the evil of this world and just how badly even we need to consider seriously what Jesus said about this matter today.
So, we come with this question: How can so many be so sincerely deceived into thinking they know Jesus and are sure of going to heaven?
I’m glad you asked, because they haven’t thought hard enough about it, and have depended on others which have led them astray.
I cannot tell you how many people have told me they are Christian because they repeated a prayer in some church when they were 9, or 12 and the preacher told them they were saved and would go to heaven.
Nowhere in the bible does it say that merely saying words ensures salvation. Though there is nothing wrong with this approach that identifies those who want to give their life to Christ (so people can get their names, pray with them and follow them up), it is not the same as salvation.
Scripture is clear that both the heart and the mouth have to confess Jesus is Lord (see Rom.10:9-10), and Paul the apostle regularly echoed the word of John the Baptist when he said to bring forth fruit proving your repentance (see Acts 26:20, Matt. 3:8).
Hence, making an emotionally motivated “decision” to ask Jesus in your life is a good step, but a truly converted person will bear fruit, proving they really gave their life over to Jesus. (See also 1 John 3:9.)
Those same people would say someone would ask them if they were sorry for their sins? A yes answer or a shed tear would be explained as a repentant heart.
The problem with that is the word “repentance” has to do with a mindset change, a change of thinking, more than an emotional experience.
Unless a person changes the way they think about God, their hearts will never be transformed by His power. Even Esau could not find repentance, even though he sought it with crying and tears! (See Heb. 12:17.)
So, again: How can so many be so sincerely deceived into thinking they know Jesus and are sure of going to heaven?
The first clue is found in the preceding context. After telling the many gathered on day that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and the Pharisees, they would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus concludes His magnificent sermon.
Verse 13: He says, “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Whoa, so much for the concept that most people are going to heaven. This goes against the grain for most Americans. A 2003 Barna Group survey showed that 76% of Americans believe in heaven, but only 1 percent believe they’re going to hell.
A 2016 survey shockingly shows that among evangelical believers—and I count myself as evangelical—64% believe that all people go to heaven when they die.
This is a pretty clear indication that 64 percent of people who are in churches like ours are not reading their Bible and have little or no regard for what Jesus said right here.
Enter through the narrow gate, because most folks will take the broad road that leads to destruction. Few will take the small and narrow gate that leads to life.
Let’s state this clearly: The Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God, who alone came from heaven and would know, says this; Most people are going to hell. Relatively few people are going to heaven.
Now I don’t like this anymore than you do. But it is clearly what Jesus said. And if you believe in Jesus, you must believe He told the truth, that He would not lie to you and I about such a serious subject.
Once that awful truth has sunk in, we’ll be asking another question. Why? Why is it that most people are taking the broad road that leads to destruction?
The answer is in the very next verse, Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Theres a big part of the answer. Jesus is both answering our question, telling us why many will go to hell, and also telling us at the same time that what we must do about it if we would save our souls. “Beware of the false prophets.”
False prophets are perhaps the very biggest reason why people are headed to hell. False prophets, mislead people, they mislead them to hell. Wow! That’s a revelation we’ve got to think hard about!
Why are they so good at their deceptions that they lead many people to hell? Verse 15 provides the answer to that question as well. “Who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
In Scripture, Jesus always characterizes true believers, real Christians, as sheep. Sheep follow their master most of the time. They’re helpless without their Shepherd.
But there is a terrible, monstrous reality we all need to be aware of and beware of; Wolves, the eternal enemies of the sheep, come to us in sheep’s clothing.
They pretend to be sheep and infiltrate our lives with this terrible deception, and if we’re not careful, we will believe they are real sheep and be deceived and devoured spiritually—spiritually eaten alive. What you see is absolutely not what you get.
Not a pretty picture! A tragic reality that we indeed face in this world according to no less an authority than Jesus Christ Himself.
Be sure you’re not following false prophets by studying scripture yourself, doing your own research.
Also, examine a spiritual leader’s fruit. In other words, check out their works—are they ultimately good or evil? What are their real motives for what they do, money, power, influence, etc.
Jesus, speaking to Jewish folks who knew the difference between a fig tree and a thorn, knew where to go to find good food—not a thorn bush, but a fruit tree. Verse 16: “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
So, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (A not so gentle reminder about their destiny.) “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Someone once said, “Apostasy—falling away from Christ—begins in the heart, and spreads to the head.” Once a spiritual leader begins to desire to do evil, He will begin justifying his deeds by adjusting his beliefs and his teaching to conform to what he wants to do. It has been borne out through history over and over and over again.
Joseph Smith, false prophet of Mormonism was a serial adulterer and a court-proven pathological liar who justified his multiple adulteries—he had “spiritually married” 50 wives, some as young as 14, and at least 11 married to other men—by the time he had the revelation on polygamy—that polygamy was required in order to get to heaven. (Doctrine and Covenants 132).
Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, plagiarized much of her book Science and Health from other authors, took morphine most of her life for the very physical ills and pains her religion denied even existed.
Charles Taze Russell, founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was proven a liar about his knowledge of Greek in a courtroom and often lied about the number of followers he had.
And we could go on, but we don’t have time.
Just remember, you shall know false prophets by their fruits. Are you watching? “Beware?” Jesus said.
Finally, we come to the saying itself. And what verse 21 plainly says is this: Not everyone who professes Jesus, even on Judgment Day, much less in this world, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
So, Jesus tells us to watch out for false professors of Christ and false professions. Just saying you believe in Jesus or calling Him Lord does not cast the final verdict regarding someone’s salvation.
So, what does? Verse 21 gives us the plain answer: The one who will enter the kingdom of heaven is “he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 10:22 & 24:13 Mark 13:13 Jesus says “He who endures to the end will be saved.” Folks, salvation is not a one-time event, it’s a way of life, he who does the will of My Father.
Okay, don’t throw stones at me yet. For a moment here it appears that good works, namely the one who works the will of the Father in heaven, does count. But what about all those sayings of Jesus and the Bible that tell us it’s by grace through faith, and faith alone.
Let’s take that emphatic one—Ephesians 2:8-9. but let’s go a little further—let’s read verse 10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should boast,” Verse 10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
What this passage is clearly saying is that faith alone is the means of salvation, faith in Jesus, but the result of salvation will be good works. It follows the psychological principle that what you believe determines what you do.
What about John 3:36? “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.”
We find James saying that true saving faith will always produce good works—not perfect, but good works. He says in James 2: “The demons believe and shudder.” “And faith without works is dead, being by itself.” So true saving faith is the faith that does good works.
And then there are repeated warnings by the Apostle Paul, the Apostle of salvation by grace through faith alone, that warn us that professors who continue in sin will not enter the Kingdom of God: I Corinthians 6:9-11: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived…
Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Ephesians 5:5: “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Suddenly, I have a clue as to why 64% of self-proclaimed evangelicals believe everyone’s going to heaven. It’s easy to point the finger at others with respect to this passage. But I believe the finger turns around and points to us on this issue—and at me, in particular.
We have so emphasized that salvation comes by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus, that we have forgotten to emphasize that the faith that saves is a repentant and obedient faith—a faith that if it’s real, turns from sin to God and generally obeys God.
This is the testimony of Scripture from the time of Abraham forward, the spiritual forefather of us all—that it is an obedient faith that saves.
Whoa! It has occurred to me that maybe we are preaching some form of false gospel ourselves when we don’t properly emphasize a faith that always results in good works, a faith that turns from sin and follows Jesus.
Jesus Himself said in this passage that every tree that does not produce good fruit is thrown into the fire.
Essentially, we’ve come to this—we have to pay much closer attention to the things we say we have heard and learned. We need to think hard on this subject of salvation.
We need to think very hard about whether we really know and do God’s will—because Jesus’ warning here was intended to make us think about our own lives—whether we both practice God’s will and preach an accurate version of the Gospel by which people may truly be saved.
How do you know when someone, or even you yourself is truly saved? Jesus tells us that not all who profess Jesus as Lord are saved. Not all those who believe Jesus is Lord will be saved. Not even all those who do miracles in Jesus' name will be saved.
The ultimate test and proof of someone who is going to heaven is an obedient faith in the Lord Jesus, an obedient life lived accord to God's will and God's Word. In other words—You shall know them by their fruits.
Words are cheap and sometimes even miracles are cheap. But a lifestyle lived according to God's will and Word are not. This, and this alone is the ultimate testimony as to whether someone is truly saved.
So, what about you and I? Are you merely a professor of Christ, or a possessor of Christ and a follower of Christ. Have old things passed away for you because you are a new creature in Christ? Have you believed and repented?
Let’s bow in prayer.