THE PEOPLE OF MATTHEW 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

This passage is one of the most frequently twisted scriptures today, and yet it is so very plain. Here we have a group of people being cast into hell, who attempt to appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us analyze what they said:

1. They called Jesus, “Lord, Lord.” Apparently they thought lip service was going to please him.

2. “Have we not prophesied in thy name?”

3. “And in thy name have cast out devils?”

4. “And in thy name done many wonderful works?”

These people boasted of all the wonderful things they did, all the good works they performed. But according to Jesus, they did NOT do the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father? Look at John 6:40:

John 6:40, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

The will of the Father to enter into the kingdom of heaven is to believe on Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son. Let us look again at the people mentioned in Matthew 7:21-23.

They said, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”

They did NOT say, “Lord, Lord, did we not believe on you? did we not receive you as our Saviour? did we not rest in the gospel preached of you?” Their faith was in themselves, NOT the Lord Jesus Christ.

So why did he call them workers of iniquity, even though they did “many wonderful works”? Because they did not have Christ’s righteousness imputed to them by faith. All they had to offer was their own filthy rags.

Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Romans 4:5-8, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”

According to Paul and David, a man who has faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour is forgiven of his iniquities. He is NOT considered a worker of iniquity. The workers of iniquity in Matthew 7:21-23 were so because they did NOT have their sins forgiven; Christ NEVER knew them. How sad! All they had to do was believe the gospel (the death of Christ for our sins, his burial, and his bodily resurrection on the third day).

Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

1 Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”