Lord, Lord!

"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 you name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' "

Matthew 7:21-23

Most of us find this particular passage to be among the most frightening in all of Scripture. Maybe it is for many but I don't think it's meant to be. I would, in fact, argue that it is one of the sweetest reminders of salvation by grace through faith that we see in Scripture. The only caveat is that "faith" may be something different than we often consider it to be. We tend to view faith as our belief concerning Jesus Christ and what He did for us on the cross and through His resurrection. Amen to that! This is indeed faith, but I would submit to you that this is only a part of the picture and faith without works is dead according to James.

"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead."

James 2:26

Faith, as I have discussed in the past, is much more than an intellectual ascent concerning Who Jesus is and what He has done. Faith must be an actual tasting of the Lord - Jesus Christ seen and savored through the eyes of the heart and this seeing and savoring leading to a glorious joy. We could spend a thousand pages talking about "tasting" the Lord but today I would like to focus on one more aspect of true faith that is at the heart of Jesus' words in the text from Matthew 7.

The context of this passage is actually "The Sermon On The Mount" and can be found at the very end of all that Jesus says in this sermon. This is a long sermon and contains in it a plethora of exhortations, commands and directions for what Jesus desires for us. I always considered it odd that we tend to preach sermons that focus almost exclusively on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus...yet Jesus never did. Jesus' sermons and conversations certainly focused in on His own centrality in the Gospel and points to His death and resurrection being the focal point of God's story of redemption. But it is more than a little curious that in what is considered to be His "main" sermon, Jesus says nothing about this. In fact, He points to something all together different - how we are to live our lives - otherwise known by the dirty W word, "works." There, I said it! Jesus is talking about works in the "Sermon On The Mount." Some of you are probably ready to beat me silly at this point, thinking that I will be arguing for salvation by works. I urge you to follow me to the end of my argument before you write me off as such.

The headings of each section of this sermon are as follows:

1. The Beatitudes - where Jesus pronounces blessings on those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, on the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers etc.
2. Salt and Light - where Jesus encourages us to live as salt and light in this world (and contrary to what some believe, saltiness has nothing to do with harshness or rebuke but grace, love and holiness)
3. Christ Came to Fulfill the Law - where Jesus makes very clear that He has not come to abolish the Old Testament laws but to fulfill them and warns anyone who tries to be rid of them that there will be consequences
4. Anger - where Jesus likens sinful anger with murder and exhorts us to be reconciled to our brothers at almost any cost
5. Lust - where Jesus uses hyperbole to show the seriousness with which we must fight against sin in our lives
6. Divorce - where Jesus makes it very clear that divorce is unacceptable and that it indeed causes other people to sin
7. Oaths - where Jesus tells to simply let our 'yes' be yes and our 'no' be no
8. Retaliation - where Jesus tells us to show scandalous grace to those who hurt us and sin against us
9. Love Your Enemies - where Jesus actually likens God's perfection with how He loves His enemies and commands us to do the same. I would like to note here that this is not some forced or coerced love that is spoken of but a sincere and heart-felt love that causes us to pray for and do good things for our enemies
10. Giving to the Needy - where Jesus commands us to keep our giving secret as well as making sure it is done without being forced (not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing)
11. The Lord's Prayer - where Jesus teaches us how to pray
12. Fasting - where Jesus again commands us to be careful about announcing our good works
13. Lay Up Treasures in Heaven - where Jesus warns us of the lure of riches and commands us to serve God and not money
14. Do Not Be Anxious - where Jesus tells us to live as the sparrows of the air and the lilies of the field, not spending our lives budgeting and storing up riches to protect ourselves but to trust Him with all that we need to live
15. Judging Others - where Jesus warns us against the dangers of hypocrisy
16. Ask, and It Will Be Given - where Jesus exhorts us to seek God, ask of God and to trust in God's desire to give us good things
17. The Golden Rule - where Jesus tells us to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated
18. A Tree and Its Fruit - where Jesus warns us of false prophets who may look like they believe all the right things but whose lives bear fruit that prove them to be false

As you can see, this long sermon contains almost exclusively exhortations and commands about how we, as children of God, are to conduct ourselves and live our lives. No mention of the message about His coming death and resurrection and no mention of salvation by grace through faith. And considering the stern statement of Matthew 7:21-23 this ought to really make us wonder at what Jesus really means by them.

Jesus mentions that many will come to Him and call Him "Lord" and proclaim all of the things they have done for Him or in His name. This is interesting because according to 1 Corinthians 12:3, no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by or in the Holy Spirit. So the mystery of what Jesus is saying here is deep, indeed, because we know that according to Romans 10:9, if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead we will be saved. What in the world could be going on here? Are the people who Jesus is talking about saved or not? They call Him Lord and seem to be preaching His gospel, yet Jesus condemns them to hell.

The key is found in the second half of verse 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." Only those who do the will of the Father get to enter the kingdom of heaven. That sounds odd because we know that we are saved by grace alone, apart from any works (see for example Ephesians 2:4-10). Yet, Jesus states very clearly that not everyone who knows Who He is, preaches His gospel and does mighty works in His name will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father Who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven.

So what's really going on here? Are we saved by faith or by works? Are we to trust in Jesus or our good deeds? The answer is actually simpler than it at first seems to be and it is, of course, that we are saved by faith. However, faith is more than facts that we have bought into or truths that we have taken a stand on. Faith is the also the outworking of what we know to be true in our conduct, our hearts and our lives. No one can love their enemies without faith. No one can overcome sin without faith. No one can give to the needy in secret without trusting that God sees and will indeed be pleased by such a gift. No one can trust God to provide for them without faith. So it all comes down to faith in the end. But again, faith is much more than an intellectual ascent to the truth or an acceptance of some particular fact. Apart from works such as are laid out in the Sermon On The Mount there can be no salvation because the lack of them would prove that there was no real faith. Faith without works is dead and leads to death.

So why should we care about this? We all know that we are supposed to do the things prescribed for us, no commanded of us, in the Sermon On The Mount. The question is this: do we understand the weight of what Jesus is saying? Do we understand that without a faith that can forgive the worst of trespassers against us there is no real faith and thus no salvation? Do we understand that the "will of my Father" Jesus is speaking of is indeed the very things He just spoke of in His sermon? Do we understand that loving an enemy is much more than simply withholding punishment but actually doing good to them from a sincere heart of love and forgiveness? Do we understand that at the last judgment Jesus will not ask us what we believed but will actually look at the totality of our lives and make a sound judgment as to whether or not there was true, saving faith in our hearts? Don't make the mistake of thinking that at the last judgment you can say "Jesus is why I should be let in!" That is no different than what the people who Jesus condemned to hell did. "Lord, Lord..." That is not to say that there is any other reason than what Jesus did on our behalf that should gain us entrance into the kingdom of heaven - there isn't.

Our works do not gain us entrance at all. Our works simply show that our faith is genuine and of a saving nature. Our works show whether or not we truly do love people as Christ commanded us to do. Our works simply show whether or not we truly do trust God enough to forgive those who have sinned against us. Our works show whether or not we truly do treasure Christ and His Kingdom above all else. Our works show whether or not we truly do belong to Him and have been born again with a heart full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. None of the things that Jesus commands of us in the Sermon On The Mount are different from what Galatians 5 refers to as the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians focuses on the condition of the heart of faith and Matthew 5-7 shows us what such a condition of heart looks like.

Let's look at Matthew 6:14-15 as an example:

"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

It's pretty clear, isn't it? If you forgive, God will forgive you. If you don't forgive, God won't forgive you either. And forgiveness isn't just a state of the heart - it comes with loving behavior and loving pursuit of the person who has sinned against you. Just look at Matthew 5:43-48 to get an idea of the cost involved in truly forgiving someone. God doesn't just forgive you in a passive way - He pursues you and does good to you and His kindness leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). It's important to point out that, once again, it's not your forgiving of another person that saves you, it is your faith in the act of forgiving that person that saves you. But don't be deceived, if you don't forgive people their sins against you through scandalous and loving actions, God won't forgive you either.

Don't trust in your works for they will gain you no good standing with God. We are saved by grace through faith. But, if you look at your life and think that you can circumvent the life of humility, suffering, sacrifice and hardship that Jesus demands of us in this text I urge you to assess yourself soberly and find out if you indeed are in the faith. If you don't love anyone but those who you are drawn to and those who love you back - repent and live like Jesus! If you have budgeted your life away and avoided living like a sparrow in His Father's hands - repent and live like Jesus! If you think that Jesus is impressed by the numbers of people you have drawn through your preaching or if you think that Jesus will reward you for doing everything for Him - repent and live like Jesus! If you think that anything other than a faith that dies to your own rights and needs will save you - repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Living a life like that which Jesus demands doesn't look successful nor does it look very sexy. In fact, it will look like you have lost everything. You will pursue people who have hurt you with love and care. You will forgive, from the depths of your heart, those who have done the most heinous things to you. You will be betrayed and abandoned by the very people you love and pursue. You will be mocked and reviled because you take extreme measures in your life to put sin to death. You will be alone at times...you will feel like this earth is not your home...you will suffer abuse at the hands of people you have loved and still do love...you will suffer financial difficulty...you will give generously but no one will know that you did...you will love your spouse, even in the face of extreme betrayal and unhappiness...you will look weak...you will have your heart broken over and over again. But in reality, you have lost only your life in order to gain eternal life with Christ.