Judgment Is Coming

“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.  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?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”-Matthew 7:21-23(ESV).

Jesus is about to finish His Sermon on the Mount.  The teachings He has propounded have been many, varied and different.  His principles for the Christian life that have been beyond what had been taught before.  And here He comes with a strong warning about the final judgment. He leaves no doubt that all must face it.  Will all pass the test?  Will all enter heaven?  The answer to these questions  is clearly declared by Jesus:  “the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”  Not all who speak in the Lord’s name, not all who prophesy, cast out demons, do mighty works will pass the judgment.  Some will hear the condemnation: “depart from Me; I never knew you!”

How then can we prepare for the final judgment?  “By doing God’s will.”  Obedience to the Father is the test of faith in Christ.  It is more than saying, “Lord, Lord!”  It is more than following the ten commandments.  We call it “the new birth.”  It is having the Holy Spirit within the heart to guide, motivate and direct.  Paul explained it this way in Romans 8:11:  “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”  The Spirit of God within the individual’s heart makes that person eligible to pass judgment.  The Spirit also leads the believer to obey God and to do His will. 

Strong teachings in both the Old and New Testaments show us plainly how we can do God’s will.  There are many, but I cite these:  “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).  And in James 1:22-25:  “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” Grounded, then, in ‘the law of liberty’—which is accepting the Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, Who came to fulfill the law of God and make His way known to us, and then perseveres and obeys, and becomes “a doer who acts” in accordance to God’s will and way, such is the disciple who will be recognized in the judgment and will enter into his reward.  God’s love in the heart motivates the disciple to obey God and serve others: “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). Followers of Christ have no need to fear the judgment day.  They belong to God.  The Holy Spirit within them bears witness to God’s spirit that they are the children of God. This seal was imparted to them at conversion.  Praise be to God!  We rest in the assurance of being known by Him both now and in the judgment!