Why Christ Tells Some People, “I Never Knew You.”

Let's discuss Matthew 7:21-23:

“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 who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

1. “Lord, Lord”—they greeted Jesus, thinking He was their Lord and Savior.

2. “in Your name”—They felt the ministry they did was done in Christ. 

3. “evildoers”—Jesus calls them this because they had an outward “form of godliness,” but they never gave their hearts to Him and refused to repent of lifestyle sins such as those listed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. 

Christ never knew them, and they never knew Christ. But they thought doing ministry in His name was enough.

Jesus wasn't saying genuine Christians must be perfect, or we'd all be lost! But “no one who continues to sin” (living a lifestyle of unrepentant sin) knows God (1 John 3:6). 

This passage need not concern any who have truly given their lives to Christ. Their respect for God's Word proves that they take their relationship seriously (Philippians 2:12-13; John 14:23; 1 John 2:5-6; 1 John 3:24).*   

But let's warn those who think they're saved while continuing in unrepentant sin.

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Please take time to do the Bite Size Bible Study, When Jesus Tells Professing Christians "I Never Knew You." It will explain more about these verses. For example, it discusses whether these people actually performed miracles in God's name when they weren't actually saved.

Also see Lessons We Learn from Secret Sinful Lives about a prominent Christian personality who lived in sin for 20+ years. 

If you haven't purchased a copy of Lies in Disguise, please check out these reviews of Lies in Disguise 

from the son of a martyr, a seminary professor, and a gifted Christian author.🠞

* Note: Genuine believers disagree about whether a person can lose their salvation, but this devotion is true no matter your view. People who are truly saved accept and seek to obey God's Word. If they appeared to be following God for part of their lives and then began living immorally, the one view says they were never truly saved and the other view says they walked away from God. Either way, we must admit that a person who doesn't respect God's Word is not saved even if they made a profession of faith (1 John 2:3-5; John 15:10).

BLN