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Matthew 7: 21-23: The Lord, Lord people trust in works righteousness
Preface
Friday, January 11, 2019 article significantly revised on October 14 2023, for an entry on academia.edu
A very good sermon on Matthew 7: 21-23
Matthew 7:21-23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
CRANFIELD, C.E.B. (1992) Romans: A Shorter Commentary, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Matthew 7:21-23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
[a] Matthew 7:22 Or works of power
Bible Study Tools
ἀνομίαν
Bauer:
Lawlessness (71). ἀνομία is the root word. (71)
In the context of Matthew 7: 23, it is a lawless deed (72), therefore those who practice lawless deeds (72). I can further connect this within the New Testament in that those who practice lawless deeds (1 Corinthians 6) shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, and these people (Revelation 20-22) are outside the culminated Kingdom of God.
Sin is lifestyle for the 'Lord, Lord' people and sin is a struggle for those under grace, until culminated perfection in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). Seems to me, this is a stern warning from Jesus Christ for those that reason his/her works righteousness will gain him/her salvation, through any church and its practices and rules, in obedience. By embracing a form of the atoning and resurrection work of Christ plus works righteousness, in the case of the Lord, Lord people, in actuality the works righteousness through a religious system, becomes more central than the exclusive gospel work of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, theologically and practically, cancelling out the gospel work of Christ which exclusively and only covers sin, defeats death and provides everlasting life. This is rather apparent in certain church, religious systems in this modern era.
Biblically, in contrast, one that is saved, performs works in salvation, after being saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2.8-10). Those that do the will of the Father in heaven are those that produce works (Ephesians, James) after the atoning and resurrection work of Jesus Christ is applied to him/her through regeneration (Titus 3), being born again (John 2) (1 Peter 1: 3, 23). I am not claiming moral and ethical superiority in every sense here for the Biblical Christians over the Lord, Lord, people. But these people trust in works righteousness over the exclusive atoning and resurrection work of Christ applied to those in Christ, for salvation. The soteriology from the New Testament is that there is imputed righteousness and justification. This is granted by grace through faith, alone (Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Hebrews as examples). There is no human works added for salvation; only human works, within salvation.
Bible Study Tools
ἀνομίαν
Bauer:
Lawlessness (71). ἀνομία is the root word. (71)
In the context of Matthew 7: 23, it is a lawless deed (72), therefore those who practice lawless deeds (72). I can further connect this within the New Testament in that those who practice lawless deeds (1 Corinthians 6) shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, and these people (Revelation 20-22) are outside the culminated Kingdom of God.
Sin is lifestyle for the 'Lord, Lord' people and sin is a struggle for those under grace, until culminated perfection in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). Seems to me, this is a stern warning from Jesus Christ for those that reason his/her works righteousness will gain him/her salvation, through any church and its practices and rules, in obedience. By embracing a form of the atoning and resurrection work of Christ plus works righteousness, in the case of the Lord, Lord people, in actuality the works righteousness through a religious system, becomes more central than the exclusive gospel work of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, theologically and practically, cancelling out the gospel work of Christ which exclusively and only covers sin, defeats death and provides everlasting life. This is rather apparent in certain church, religious systems in this modern era.
Biblically, in contrast, one that is saved, performs works in salvation, after being saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2.8-10). Those that do the will of the Father in heaven are those that produce works (Ephesians, James) after the atoning and resurrection work of Jesus Christ is applied to him/her through regeneration (Titus 3), being born again (John 2) (1 Peter 1: 3, 23). I am not claiming moral and ethical superiority in every sense here for the Biblical Christians over the Lord, Lord, people. But these people trust in works righteousness over the exclusive atoning and resurrection work of Christ applied to those in Christ, for salvation. The soteriology from the New Testament is that there is imputed righteousness and justification. This is granted by grace through faith, alone (Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, Hebrews as examples). There is no human works added for salvation; only human works, within salvation.
BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1976) The Letters of James and Peter, Philadelphia, The Westminster Press.
BAUER, WALTER (1979) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Translated by Eric H. Wahlstrom, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
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HUGHES, PHILIP, EDGCUMBE (1990) A Commentary On The Epistle To The Hebrews, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
JOHNSON A.F. (1996) 'Book of Life’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
KANE, ROBERT HILLARY (1996) ‘Book of Life’, in Robert Audi (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
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