What does Mathew 7:21-23 means?

Question

Mathew 7:21-23 "Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. 22 Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ 23 And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew YOU! Get away from me, YOU workers of lawlessness. "

Answer 1

It means that there are only 12 million people associated with Jehovah's Witnesses, and only 6 million Jehovah's Witnesses who actively preach to their neighbors each month.

Answer 2

Kind of scarry, hun? It means that there will be a lot of folks who will have been deceived into thinking that they were serving God who really weren't.

"What our Lord is talking about here is a settled way of life which outwardly expresses conformity to Christian truth, but inwardly adopts and follows and conforms to the values of the world. This, he says, is what will be revealed in that day. Remember that at the close of the Sermon on the Mount he said, "Many shall come to me in that day, and say, 'Have we not done many mighty works in your name? Have we not cast out devils, and preached in your name?' And I shall say, 'Depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of iniquity,'" (Matthew 7:22-23).

So there is the answer to the question we asked at the beginning: Can a person be a Christian, and not a disciple? Well, you can come to Christ, and all who come to Christ are given life, if they mean it when they come. But it is clear that unless you take up the work of discipleship, this life is given in vain. Paul calls this "accepting the grace of God in vain," (2 Corinthians 6:1b). Only those who are disciples enter into an abundant life.

Now we are not all good disciples at all times; there is much of failure. And our Lord has made provision for failure in our lives. But he is talking about the heart: What is your aim? What do you really want of your life? Do you want to live it for yourself, or do you want to live it for him? That is really the question." - Ray C. Stedman - The Way of hte Cross http://www.raystedman.org/mark/3315.html

Answer 3

What does Mathew 7:21-23 mean?

There are many in the world who see the benefits of "being a prophet" or having the appearance of being a Christian. However, they are neither. They are using Christianity to thier advantage and are not Christian.

To the world they appear to be a Christian, when actually they are wolves in sheeps clothing.

They are doing thier own will for thier benefit, not the will of God for the benefit of others and the Kingdom of God.

When they appear at the final judgement, and are told of thier fate, they will cry out the words of Matthew 7. And Jesus will say to them, depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you.

Answer 4

It means that doing good (building big churches, converting lots of heathens, sending aid to Africa, thumping people with the Bible, telling people they are going to hell to scare them into Gods lap, having a show on TV every Sunday morning...etc.) will NOT get you into heaven.

The real message of the Bible is very simple..."Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". In other words all of the commandments have been replaced by that one simple rule which is so hard for people to live. Unless you live your life by that rule exclusively you will not get into heaven...wherever that is.

I am an Atheist but even I am smart enough to know that. I am also smart enough to know it is all bunk and that the "Golden Rule" is just pure common sense.

BTW I went to Bible college in the 1980's and after years of confronting this issue I can tell you with certainty that GOD DOES NOT EXIST.

Answer 5

Chapter 7 was part of the Sermon on the Mount, but it was a portion that was given only to his disciples, and not to the general public.
While it has important lessons for everyone (like actually living your life following Him, and not just professing to follow Him), but more specifically, it is to those who lead His followers in His absence (hence the part about casting out demons/evil spirits, and prophesying, etc) and teach them how to follow after Him: just because you tell people you are His disciple doesn't mean anything if you're not leading/teaching them correct principles. And they may be held responsible for those souls that were led astray because of their words or flattery (this is based on other comments, elsewhere).

It's another one that we won't really know who he's specifically talking to/about until the Judgement, and see it happening.

Answer 6

It means . . . You must follow the Lord to enter the kingdon of heaven. When you reach the time of judgement, you cannot tell the Lord that you have followed him, because He knows the truth. These verses are more of a message from God, not necessarily a prediction.

Answer 7

According to Jesus, calling on his name is not enough to get you into heaven.

Both Peter and Paul disagree saying, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21, Rom.10:13).

Answer 8

workers of lawlessness, iniquities. Those who do not deal with their own sins or judge themselves in this life God will judge in the next. Checking to see if we are really following Gods word.

God is not impressed with how many demons you can cast out or how much you can prophesy or any of your gifts they are all from Him anyways
Its your obedience He wants that shows you love Him. All the other things are from God, He gives them as a gift.
The only thing we can give Him that is ours is our obedience or doing what His word tells us to do, that shows Him we love Him.

Its just like when your parents asked you to do something you showed your love and respect for them by doing as they told.

If you say you love God but you hate your brother sister or another race, that's not following Gods law to love your neighbor as yourself. That iniquity a sin you never dealt with so God does

If you never forgive or repent then you cannot know God. There is some more to this but that is the jist of whats going on in this verse. I hope this helps a little in getting an understanding.
you can e-mail me if you have anymore Questions
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Answer 9

It means that the bible contradicts itself, because Romans 10:13 says that "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Clearly St. Paul had opinions which were vastly different than Jesus's, and yet his writings are accepted by most Christians as inspired. Weird, isn't it?

Answer 10

I think it is referring to people who are hypocrites, who are not sincere in their faith. They may make a big production of their faith in public by showing how much they give to charity, or by doing "powerful works," but that doesn't mean that their hearts are right. They may be terrible people once they get home and out of the public eye. Yes, it's important to give to give to charity, do good works, etc, but it should be for the right reason - because you love people and God, and you want to help, not because you are trying to earn some type of status in society.

I hope that makes sense and helps you out. The Bible can be confusing sometimes!

Answer 11

Just exactly what it says... many try to get by by just saying the words... many think that just doing the rituals, following some doctrin, doing some "good" work, will get them into Heaven

It do'nt work that way

All must come to God in The Way He proscribes to recieve God's free gift of Salvation... If you do not come to God as he decrees then you will be rejected and kept from Heaven

Do you want to know how to get started on learning The Way God proscribes?

I invite all honest seekers to visit my site. It is not ALL that is needed...but it might be the place for you to start you walk to God.

http://www.mikesoutreach.com