"Not everyone that saith unto me 'Lord Lord' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven..."?

Question

"Not everyone that saith unto me 'Lord Lord' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven."

Does this mean that words are not as important as action? Does this mean that keeping the commandments is paramount? You cannot impress Jesus with nice words if your life does not measure up?

But wait! My cousin did a special thing at a Baptist church, similar to saying 'Lord Lord' -- and they have told her that she is saved. Totally saved.

Do the Baptists know something Jesus doesn't? Perhaps they do -- would anyone care to illuminate this topic?

Answer 1

James 2:17
In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn't cause you to do any good things.

in order for faith to be valid we must "live it"

Answer 2

Whatever he has commanded. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart and mind. That is something you have to do. Those that think it means nothing more than "faith only" are greatly deceived. You can't earn salvation, but sticking out your hand to receive a gift is not earning the gift. A free ticket for a train ride does you no good if you don't get on the train.

Answer 3

It doesn't matter what someone else tells you. When you are saved you know it for yourself. Is she the one who is doubting that a change of heart came with the words spoken or are you? Are you trying to live the Christian life also? Baby Christians are just that. You have to be born again of the spirit and then you can be dressed like a modest Christian as God begins to quicken your heart to lay things aside and what things to do. Then they learn to crawl desiring the sincere milk of the Word and when learning to walk and to be mature enough to rightly divide the Word of truth for themselves, that spiritual meat, they may fall several times before they learn to walk upright, balanced, and confident. However, if there has not been a real change of heart, in the person's thinking and desires and attitudes, they need to check their salvation experience and dig until they get the "I know so" kind of salvation. You can't get it like sticking your hand out for candy at a parade in an assembly line. Doesn't work that way. Faith without works is dead so a Christian will begin bearing fruits. A real Christian will say "I'm sorry" when necessary but they are still human. God expects people to stop sinning when they are saved and not trample the blood of the covenant underfoot, treating it lightly.

Answer 4

The quote you gave is of Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, one sect of teachers of Jewish religious law at the time. They knew these laws inside out, but many didn't practice what they preached. We have the same problem today with some Christian preachers whose teachings are leading people astray. Jesus' words were nothing short of condemnation.

You cannot keep the commandments nor the hundreds of littler laws in the bible. But that's not why they're there. The laws of the bible are there to let us know what is wrong with our lives. If you were zipping down the highway doing 80, how would you know you were speeding if there wasn't a sign reading SPEED LIMIT 65 MPH." Same thing with the bible. It's information, not a condemnation.

God knows we can't adhere to His laws. That's our sin nature at work. And that's why He sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins. We can try harder to play by God's rules, but we'll never get really good at it. So God says, "look, try your best and in the mean time, trust Me to save you. Just acknowledge that Jesus died for you and believe it in your heart. I'll take care of this salvation thing."

Our actions do speak volumes. More than words ever will. But God looks deep into our hearts. He wants to see that our actions are for the right reasons. You want to do good things to please God and give Him the pat on the back for changing you. So even the right actions, done for selfish reasons, are of little value to God.

When your cousin prayed "the sinner's prayer" God knew her heart. She knows if she's saved or not and God knows. Nothing else matters.

Answer 5

There is a difference between actually being saved and saying you are saved. The Baptist church, or for that matter, any church, can not guarantee that you are saved. That is something between the individual and Jesus alone. Might I add, Jesus knows everyones TRUE HEART.

Answer 6

When Jesus said this, He meant fasle prophets, teachers, healers, etc. He meant though you might THINK you are going to HEaven for working for the Lord, you might not. This is because some people do things for their own glory, and not God's glory. Some people are too interested in the gift, and not the giver of a gift they have.

I suggest everyone reads more than a portion of a scripture, insetead of pulling parts out to interpret. Most of the time the answer is within one or more scriptures, not merely a portion of one.

Answer 7

The Bible says, "Let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity". You cannot just "get saved" and continue to live an immoral or "wicked" life. You must be obedient to God's word to the best of your ability. God forgives christians who sin, but there comes a point when you have to make the decision to follow Christ, not just follow a church belief system.

Answer 8

There are people who get paid to preach the gospel.. they have already received their reward here on earth...

People who truly serve the Lord do not seek reward for it here on earth...

This kind of person thinks they are going to Heaven but Jesus was rejecting them as being false, kind of like the Pharisees (sp?) who were preaching the letter of the law and none of the Spirit of the law...

and, you HAVE to accept Jesus as your Savior, be Baptized, and live your life doing your best to keep the commandments.

Answer 9

This is one verse in the Bible that I don't quite grasp. I think it means that there are people who call themselves Christians, but it has been lip service only. They really have never made Jesus the Lord of their life. If in doubt I always pray about it. Just ask Jesus to help you not be that type of person. If your heart is open to Him I believe He will guide you in the right path.

Answer 10

you give no indication of seriously being willing to accept any honest answer from an honest one of The True Christian Faith... if you would like to ask a question conerning the basics of The True Christian Faith you may email me... one honest question will receive one honest answer......and no... Baptists do not know any thing that Jesus dose not.... I received my free gift of Salvation from God and then went and found a small Baptist congrigation to fellowship with... They Know The Word and Will of God as good as any other of The True Faith... Baptist or not.

Answer 11

many people think they are doing the will of God, but really they arent. so on Judgement Day they are saying 'Lord Lord' but as we follow the scripture in matt 7:21 “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. "

so really many of these people are workers of lawlessness, not of righteousness. also the scripture in Zeph 2:2 Before [the] statute gives birth to [anything], [before the] day has passed by just like chaff, before there comes upon YOU people the burning anger of Jehovah, before there comes upon YOU the day of Jehovah’s anger, 3 seek Jehovah, all YOU meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably YOU may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.

the point is WE DONT KNOW IF WE WILL BE SAVED OR NOT, THAT DECISION IS UP TO GOD. action is involved on our part, hence in vs 2 is says to SEEK all of these things. so there is NO way they can know that your cousin so called "saved."