Conflicting Professions on the Day of Judgment
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount of Beatitudes (Mt 5–7), our Lord issues a solemn warning to His disciples about the right interpretation and application of the Law of God. In view is the Christian life — to be lived in the holiness of the Spirit and in truth. With principles and illustrations, Jesus pressed the need for His disciples to examine themselves.
There is a dualism for us to consider, especially in verses 13–27 of Chapter 7 of Matthew’s Gospel. In these verses, the subject to consider is how one is to live, today, as a legitimate citizen of the kingdom of heaven. We must join those first disciples in seriously scrutinizing our true identities.
In Matthew 7:13, Jesus teaches that entry is required into the kingdom of God, which implies that one is outside of the kingdom before this move is made. There is an alternative that most people enter, however. It is wide and accommodating, but it leads to destruction. Your test in self-examination is to honestly assess which path you are on. The way of life is less traveled because its direction is away from the enticements of the world. It is the way of holiness as prescribed in the Law of the Lord (Ex 20; Dt 5) and perfectly exemplified in Jesus of Nazareth. This the first duality: two different ways with two different destinations.
Next, in Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns against false prophets. These are men and women sent from the enemy to entice followers of Christ to abandon Him for some alternative. True prophets preach sound doctrine, while false prophets preach perversion. Prophets of Yahweh, contrasted with false prophets promoting doctrines of demons, present a second duality…two different types of preacher with very different messages.
Jesus then presents a third duality in 7:16–20. By way of illustration, our Lord taught the difference between good and bad trees. These would be detected by good and bad fruit produced by them. Good aligns with good and bad with bad. Simply put, each source produces an aligned product.
Only God is good (Mk 10:18; Lk 18:19); therefore, it requires the good seed of God’s Word (Mt 13; Mk 4; Lk 8), implanted in one’s heart (Jas 1:21), to grow to maturity and prove itself to be what it is in truth. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is good (Gal 5:22–23), whereas the corrupt seed of the world naturally produces the things of the world (tares) that are an abomination in the eyes of God.
The consequence of good fruit is a multiplication of good fruit production, which is the principle of abundant life. Meanwhile, the bad seed growing up to be a bad tree, producing bad fruit, must be cut down and thrown into the fire (Mt 25:41; Rev 20:14–15). This is the evil course of the world, the wide way by which many people are destroyed.
Fully sensitized to these dualities, Jesus brings us to a view of Judgment Day. He is the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 17:31; 2 Tim 4:1; 1 Pet 4:5). The elect and the reprobate will appear before His great white throne of judgment upon which is His judgment seat (2 Cor 5:10; Heb 9:27; Rev 20:11). In the company of the reprobate will be a particular group who were greatly deceived in this life.
It was Satan’s crafty work to delude these people into thinking they were Christians. In Matthew 7:21–23, we learn some of the characteristics of the fake Christian embedded in Christ’s church.
First, the imposter lived in the company of Christians. Despite his being a goat, he pretended to be a sheep belonging to Christ (Jn 10:26; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 3:23). Not only did he fool himself about his identity and association, but he fooled others, too.
Second, having listened to false prophets, who taught diverse heresies, this man developed a false assurance of salvation. This false peace was derived from false doctrine taught by demons who inspired the false prophets.
Spiritually dead men must be transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, exclusively by the Word of God, preached in the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit (Jn 6:63; Eph 2:3; Col 1:13). It is the will of God that true believers be recipients of Christ (Jn 1:12–13). It is the Spirit of Christ who causes God’s elect, redeemed people to be born again of God (1 Pet 1:3).
Third, it is the characteristic of the deceived to profess numerous types of good works performed in Jesus’ name. All false religion has works of service as the basis of salvation (favor with god[s]). In Christianity, the saved do not work for their salvation (Rom 4:5), but they receive it by His grace (Jn 1:12–13; Eph 2:8–9).
The person Jesus is referring to — and they are many — calls Jesus “Lord.” Do they mean it? Even when faced with their eternal sentence, on the Day of Judgment, they present their defense with the familiar title, “Lord, Lord.” In each of the three case examples taught by Jesus, there is profession of works done in His name (Mt 7:22).
Prophesying is preaching. These deceived people knew something of Christ Jesus. In their minds was a body of divinity. An intellectual assent to the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ belonged to them, but the very claim that they use in their defense is that they should be justified by these prophetic works done for the King of kings. How many Christian clergy will be sentenced to hell on the Day of Judgment?
Casting out demons is a second case example presented as a defense by the deceived fake Christian. Indeed, this also demonstrates a misplaced trust that one is justified by doing something “for” Jesus. Again, there is an advanced knowledge and understanding about the duality that exists between the “god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4) and the one true God of heaven and earth. The context is spiritual warfare that exists between the two kingdoms. This spiritual power-broker knows and works in the name of Jesus, but in the end he is condemned.
The final case for justification by those who address Judge Jesus as “Lord, Lord” is the working of miracles as proof of right standing before Him (righteousness). The reader, as surely as Jesus’ disciples, will be amazed that all this merit of men is rejected by the righteous Judge.
The solemn punch line spoken by Jesus, in retort, implies that the meritorious works, that surely looked good to others, are simply meaningless in the matter of salvation and damnation. All false positions of any religion are very busy. There are so many works performed to appease offended deity, but Jesus, the righteous Judge of the whole earth (Gen 18:25), rejects them all. These works are deemed to be filthy rags in His assessment (Is 64:6). They do not qualify anyone for eternal salvation.
Jesus’ audience was intimate and immediate (disciples). They knew Him enough to call Him “Lord, Lord.” Judas Iscariot was present that day and no doubt called Jesus “Lord.” Vicinity to Jesus and volume of knowledge did nothing for the son of perdition. Manifest traitors aside, disciples who claim to be friends of God and who claim to serve the Lord Jesus must examine themselves and the status of their trust.
The Lord Jesus knows those who are His (2 Tim 2:10) and yet in this sermon that foreshadows the Day of Judgment, He says to these people, “I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness (Mt 7:23).” Every person Jesus encountered in His earthly ministry either belonged to Him or they had not been given to Him by God the Father (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24). Lawless workers of iniquity is what the sons of Adam are by nature and by practice (Rom 3:23; 5:12; Eph 2:3; 1 Jn 3:4). The fearful expectation of every person conceived should be these terrifying words, “Depart from Me.”
The crux of the matter is whether Jesus knows a person or not…and whether they belong to Him or not (Jn 10:26; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 3:23). We have learned that it is not enough for one to know about Jesus. We have also concluded that no “good” work of any kind or volume has any determination upon one’s standing before the Judge of all, on the Day of Judgment. It is futile for one to decide for Christ, if God has not decided to save that person.
Many will make claims on that day, but no claim will justify the ungodly, except the claim of the Judge Himself. His profession, contrasted with their profession, is the issue in this section of Jesus’ sermon. Many will call Him “Lord,” but the truth will reveal to whom the Spirit was given…that faith in Christ might be manifest, as the only type given by God that truly justified the unjust of His own choosing (Rom 3:28; 5:1; 11:5; 1 Pet 3:18).
In the end, it will be understood by all that it was God, alone, who determined the eternal salvation of the remnant people whose names He wrote in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world (Jn 15:16; Rom 11:5; Eph 1:4–5; Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27). It will also be understood that the many people who were deceived into thinking they could do something…anything…to manipulate their relationship status with Jesus Christ were terribly wrong.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
October 5, 2022
