Matthew 7:21-23
I once heard two preachers talking about another, older minister who had experienced some very rough times in his ministry. He had fallen into sin and failure but had continued on and was being used of God. The one commented that he wondered what kept the older minister going in spite of all that had happened to him, and the other minister said, “Because if he quits, he will go to hell. He has to keep preaching, it’s his call”. The first minister nodded in agreement, citing Matthew 7:21.
These ministers believed that “He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” meant that if God tells you to do something and you don’t do it then you will be rejected at the judgment, because you did not obey God’s will. This thinking is usually held by those who also believe that you can be in God’s perfect will or God’s permissive will. They say His perfect will is what He wants, while His permissive will is what He allows. What He “allows”? Doesn’t He “allow” anything? If there are two wills of God for man, which one must you do to “get to heaven”?
In order to properly understand verse 21 we should read further to find the context. In verse 23, Jesus makes it clear that those to whom He is speaking were never believers in the first place; “I never knew you”. This tells us that someone who knows the Lord but fails to do everything that He tells them to do has no fear that they will be rejected at heaven’s gates, for they have known Jesus.
Jesus states in verse 21 that those who get to enter into the kingdom of heaven are those that “do the will of my Father”. There cannot be two wills of the Father; one perfect and the other permissive, for that would make one path of God less than perfect. God’s will and plan for your life is always perfect and anything that you do other than that is always permissive. Even living in sin is “permissive” since God doesn’t strike you down dead, but no believer wants to live under the power of that (Romans 6:14; 1 Corinthians 6:12).
The will of God must be universal for every man so that salvation is the same everywhere. We know that the “will” that Jesus is speaking about is not the 10 Commandments, for Paul calls these the “ministry of death” and “condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:7, 9). What might this will be? Jesus was asked as much following His feeding of the 5,000, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent’” (John 6:28, 29). Jesus defines God’s will as man placing faith in Jesus Christ. Only faith placed in Jesus Christ and His finished work will produce the kind of works that every believer desires.
If that older preacher mentioned at the beginning were to quit preaching, he would not go to hell because he stopped walking in his call. He would be miserable because he would not be using the gift that God gave him to minister to souls, but he would not have to fear being rejected at the judgment day. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have fulfilled the will of the Father and you will not be rejected as if He never knew you for “he cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
I once heard two preachers talking about another, older minister who had experienced some very rough times in his ministry. He had fallen into sin and failure but had continued on and was being used of God. The one commented that he wondered what kept the older minister going in spite of all that had happened to him, and the other minister said, “Because if he quits, he will go to hell. He has to keep preaching, it’s his call”. The first minister nodded in agreement, citing Matthew 7:21.
These ministers believed that “He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” meant that if God tells you to do something and you don’t do it then you will be rejected at the judgment, because you did not obey God’s will. This thinking is usually held by those who also believe that you can be in God’s perfect will or God’s permissive will. They say His perfect will is what He wants, while His permissive will is what He allows. What He “allows”? Doesn’t He “allow” anything? If there are two wills of God for man, which one must you do to “get to heaven”?
In order to properly understand verse 21 we should read further to find the context. In verse 23, Jesus makes it clear that those to whom He is speaking were never believers in the first place; “I never knew you”. This tells us that someone who knows the Lord but fails to do everything that He tells them to do has no fear that they will be rejected at heaven’s gates, for they have known Jesus.
Jesus states in verse 21 that those who get to enter into the kingdom of heaven are those that “do the will of my Father”. There cannot be two wills of the Father; one perfect and the other permissive, for that would make one path of God less than perfect. God’s will and plan for your life is always perfect and anything that you do other than that is always permissive. Even living in sin is “permissive” since God doesn’t strike you down dead, but no believer wants to live under the power of that (Romans 6:14; 1 Corinthians 6:12).
The will of God must be universal for every man so that salvation is the same everywhere. We know that the “will” that Jesus is speaking about is not the 10 Commandments, for Paul calls these the “ministry of death” and “condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:7, 9). What might this will be? Jesus was asked as much following His feeding of the 5,000, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent’” (John 6:28, 29). Jesus defines God’s will as man placing faith in Jesus Christ. Only faith placed in Jesus Christ and His finished work will produce the kind of works that every believer desires.
If that older preacher mentioned at the beginning were to quit preaching, he would not go to hell because he stopped walking in his call. He would be miserable because he would not be using the gift that God gave him to minister to souls, but he would not have to fear being rejected at the judgment day. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have fulfilled the will of the Father and you will not be rejected as if He never knew you for “he cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
