“’Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (NKJV Matthew 7:21-23).
Please read the passage Matthew 7:21-23. I heard a message where the teacher attempted to use this passage as evidence that a Christian can lose their salvation. This teacher did not say this directly, but it was heavily implied. This teacher then went on to present a works-based way to salvation. This was odd because he also stated that salvation is not about works. Because of his inability to properly interpret this passage, his message was chaotic, contradictory, and false. The doctrine of eternal security is a complex issue “if” people are misapplying scripture and presenting certain scriptures as stating that salvation must be maintained. We are going to look at what this passage, Matthew 7:21-23, actually says.
This passage presents 3 main points: only those who do God’s commands will enter the kingdom of heaven, manifestations of spiritual power do not indicate the presence of salvation, and there will be a large group of deceived individuals who believe that they are saved, but they never knew the Lord. Let’s begin with verse 21 and see how this teacher misinterpreted this entire passage and presented a very false application.
Verse 21 states that only those who do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven. The teacher seemed to imply that if you stop doing God’s will, you will lose your salvation. But is it possible for someone who is truly born again to “fall away” from God? “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (NKJV 1 John 3:9). According to God’s word, a person who is born again “cannot” be given over to sin. In fact, some interpret 1 John 3:9 as meaning that the born-again spirit cannot sin at all. This one scripture clearly refutes all teaching that asserts that a true Christian can “willfully” walk away from the Lord. Well, what about the people who were once church goers, but now they deny Christ? “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us” (NKJV 1 John 2:19). Those who “permanently” leave the church were never born-again. They may have had an outward appearance of being Christian, but their hearts were unregenerated. The next error of interpretation is subtle, but it is important.
Continuing with his message, the teacher then asserted that verse 22 shows that these individuals were operating under the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They told, or will tell, the Lord, “We prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and did many wonders in Your name.” Notice that Jesus did not confirm that these statements were true. These were people who were possibly operating under demonic power, and much of what they believed that they did was a demonic counterfeit. In other words, these unsaved people were living in great deception. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day” (NKJV John 6:44). These false believers were not drawn to Jesus by the Holy Spirit, they were drawn to religion by demonic spirits. Now, let’s look at how this teacher failed to address a key word in verse 23.
Jesus told these people that he “never” knew them. He did not say, “I knew you at one time, but then you fell away.” At no time were these false Christians born again. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one” (NKJV John 10:27-30). Never means never. At no time did these individuals have a relationship with God. They were false converts who had fallen into deception. Notice that they did not say, “But Lord, you died for us; and we put our faith in you.” These are people who were trusting in their works. It was about what they did and not what Jesus had done.
The issue of eternal security is an important one. To misuse God’s word and tell Believers that they must maintain their salvation is borderline heresy. This is an insult to the saving work of our Lord, it diminishes what was accomplished on the cross, and it makes humans, in part, the means of their own salvation. Salvation that must be maintained is works-based salvation. True Christians have eternal security, once saved always saved.
Grace and Faith Ministries 