Bible Truth #62 - Matthew 7:22-23

Matthew 7:22-23
22  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?

23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Can you believe it? These were men who prophesied in Jesus’ Name and even drove out demons!! And did many other signs and miracles! But Jesus told them in effect to go to the Lake of Fire! WHY? Because He never KNEW them. Well why didn’t He “know” them? He didn’t “know” them because He didn’t foreknow them, because they weren’t chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) and as such, the Father didn’t give them to Jesus (John 6:37). A man can believe (or say he believes) as hard as he wants, but if he isn’t chosen, he won’t be known by Jesus. They can try to enter through the narrow gate but they won’t be ABLE (John 6:65), because they MUST be chosen by God.

And finally, look at what Jesus calls them - workers of iniquity. You may not remember this but it is written in Psalm 5:5 that the Lord HATES all workers of iniquity. Now He may hate the iniquity too but it is written He hates all WORKERS of iniquity. So is it any wonder why they are told to depart from His presence? Everything they did in Jesus’ name was not done in the spirit but in the flesh, and they they are in the flesh can NOT please God (Romans 8:8). Why were they doing it in the flesh? Answer - because their spirits were still dead and they can do nothing in the spirit, hence EVERYTHING they did was in the flesh.

The Arminian claims, “But John 3:16 says God loves the whole world.” I agree with the verse but their interpretation is incorrect. Jesus is not saying that God loves everyone on the planet, and everyone who ever lived. If that’s what He meant there would be contradiction with Psalm 5:5, Psalm 11:5, and Proverbs 6:16-19, and you and I both know there is NO contradiction in His Word, right? Those three Scriptures and others make it clear that there ARE those people whom God hates. So where the Bible is VAGUE in it’s meaning or scope we MUST defer to Scripture that is CLEAR. And John 3:16 is vague as to exactly to whom the word “world” pertains. Because the Gospel of John was written primarily for Jews, when he writes “world” it should be understood that he means “God loves not only Jews, but Jews AND Gentiles.” More on this in a future blog post (Bible Truth #66).

Bottom Line - there are those who think they know Jesus and “prove” it with their works but Jesus will tell them to go to the Lake of Fire because He never knew them.