"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the Will of my Father 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 deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers."
The first thing we notice when we read this passage is that to get into heaven we must not only call Jesus, "Lord, Lord," but we must also do the will of God. Now, some may say that God's will is to believe and that these people never really believed; however, I disagree with them. Not only did these people call Jesus "Lord," but they also performed miracles in His name. They had a good amount of faith. Now, I agree that it is God's will that we believe, but there is more to God's will than just belief. To find out what it is, we turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6, where Paul says that God's will is that we abstain from fornication, know how to control our body, and that we don't wrong or exploit anybody. The people in Matthew 7:21-23 did not do God's will, and this fits right in with verse 23 where Jesus calls them "evildoers."
If we read the passage in context, we find that it is in Jesus' famous "Sermon on the Mount." In this sermon, Jesus talks pretty much exclusively about works, mentioning faith few times. The context of the passage (good works) fits RIGHT in with God's will being that we do good works.
One objection might be that these people only CLAIMED to have done miracles; some say that they only THOUGHT that they did miracles. Now, I disagree with this interpretation. I can see fooling yourself into thinking that you cast out a demon or two, but that's not all they did. They also prophesied and did many other deeds of power. Now, how can you THINK that you prophesied when you really didn't? Also, they did MANY deeds of power, not just one or two. You can't fool yourself into thinking you did MANY miracles. Besides, even if they only thought they did miracles, they still had faith.
Now, some Protestants like to hang on to the part where Jesus says that He never knew the people. This, however, backfires on them. If these people performed miracles and Jesus STILL didn't know them, then what makes Protestants so sure that Jesus knows them? Besides, it's very possible that Jesus was using a hyperbole when He said that He NEVER knew them.
The idea of people being condemned for doing evil is consistent with the rest of Scripture. In Matthew 25:31-46 and Revelation 20:12, the dead are judged by their works, and faith is not even mentioned. In John 5:29, Jesus says that those who have done good will go to heaven, and those who have done evil will go to hell.
The idea of people who have accepted Jesus but have fallen away being condemned is also consistent with the rest of Scripture. In 2 Peter 2:20-21, Peter says that it's better for people to have never believed than to believe but then fall away. In 2 John 8, John says that we must work hard to not lose what we have worked for. In Romans 11:22, Paul warns the Romans that they must stay in God's love, or else they will be cut off.
The idea of people performing miracles and having faith but STILL being condemned because they didn't have love is also consistent with Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul says that even if we speak in tongues, have prophetic powers, understand all mysteries and all knowledge, have all faith, and give away our possessions, we are nothing if we do not have love.
"�.work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain."
The first thing that jumps out at you when you read this passage is that Paul is telling the Philippians, people who had already accepted Jesus, that they were not yet saved; they still had to work out their salvation. How were they to work out their salvation? They had to "work for his good pleasure" and hold fast to the word of life.
Paul says that he can boast that he did not work in vain BY THE PHILIPPIANS' HOLDING FAST TO THE WORD OF LIFE. If salvation comes when we first believe, then Paul would be able to boast because they had believed. However, salvation does not come right when we first believe, so Paul can boast only if the Philippians hold fast to God's word.
Another thing that this passage tells us is that salvation is a PROCESS that must be worked out. This fits RIGHT in with the rest of Scripture. Jesus tells us that to be saved, we must endure till the end (Matthew 24:13). Jesus warned us not to fall away when persecution comes and not to be choked out by the lures of the world (Matthew 13:20-22). St. Paul tells us that we are already (we were) saved (Romans 8:24, Ephesians 2:8), we are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18, 2 Corinthians 2:15), and we hope that we will be saved (Romans 5:9-10, 1 Corinthians 3:15). We are already saved because of Jesus' sacrifice, which happened in the past. We are being saved, because we are living the Christian lifestyle. We hope that we will be saved when we endure till the end and finally reach heaven.
Let me give an analogy. We are like people lost at sea, and Jesus has come in a boat to save us. We are already saved because the boat came and Jesus threw out a lifeline to us. We are being saved because Jesus is pulling us in, yet we can let go. We hope that we will be saved when we are finally pulled into the boat.
Paul tells us that our salvation must be worked out "with fear and trembling." What did he mean? He was obviously not saying that all we have to do is believe because there's nothing scary about believing. What, then, is scary about salvation? The fact that we can lose our chance of being saved! The author of Hebrews supports this in Hebrews 10:26-27 when he says, "For if we willfully persist in sin after receiving the knowledge of truth�.[there is]�.a fearful prospect of judgment." Judgment is fearful for those who persist in sin because "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). Peter also supports this. He tells us that, "If we invoke as Father the one who judges impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile" (1 Peter 1:17). Not only does Peter tell us that God judges us according to our deeds, but he also tells us to live in "reverent fear."
