a reassurance

*remember my post on fears? it was on jan 21. a friend [ming dao] read it and very kindly taught me some very important things regarding my last and final fear. i think it would be a great help to everyone so i have copied the email over here, with his permission of course:) so everyone..say thank you to ming dao:)

Hey Jane

I read this on your blog last week.

having God look at me and tell me He didnt know me at all even though i have been doing stuff in his name. [matt 7:21-23] a scene that has been drummed into my head during church sermons. its a very very scary thought and i shudder at the possibility of it. havent really figured out what is it to do for me to be sure, really sure.

Scary stuff hey. I was once slightly worried by this too, but it was made clearer to me recently, and I wanted to help you figure it out :)

Firstly, in context.

Matthew 7

A Tree and Its Fruit

15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

***

Jesus seems to be giving warnings to his disciples and the crowd. Vs 15-20 appears to be a warning against false prophets, and vs 21-23 against false followers. Jesus knows his old testament well (altho he didn't call it that of course :p) and knew that the people of God were continually 'plagued' by false prophets. These guys prophesied exactly what the people wanted to hear, and never ever spoke God's word.I.e. the people would never be lead closer to God as a result of those false prophets' teachings

If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,'
he would be just the prophet for this people!
Micah 2:11

And so Jesus very cleverly points out - how can you detect a false prophet? Well, by their fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, a bad tree can't produce good fruit! You can tell someone's sincerity based on their visible actions and faith. In today's context, we have the bible (100% God's word) that we can use to measure against any 'prophet'. If someone is saying stuff that's different from God's word (in context), or that doesn't lead to God being glorified or His people being brought closer to Him...well, you better ignore that teacher and his/her teachings.

Moving on. It's unsure whether calling Jesus "Lord" (as in vs 21) was calling Him God or just a title of respect. Whatever it is, those people who were pleading to Jesus had somehow missed the point - they had failed to do the will of Jesus' father in heaven.

"Many will say to me on that day..." Here Jesus refers most probably to the Judgement day itself, when all our thoughts and deeds are laid before God and we have to give account of our life. God's question is implied: "Why should you be let into my heavenly kingdom?" The answers by the guys in this passage are clear:

"Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" (vs22)

Jesus answers simply - "I never knew you". Why on earth would He respond like that? These followers appeared to have got it right, I mean...how many christians have reached the "skill level" of being able to drive out demons and perform miracles? Yet Jesus brushes it all aside.

And so the question remains, what answer should they have given? What gets us into heaven? Well, we do know the answer to that question! (FMC trains its youth well in terms of assurance of salvation) Our entry into heaven does not depend on us (thank God), but on God :) We will live with God forever, not because we have done good things in our life, but because Jesus did a great thing for us. Our place in heaven is secure because of Jesus' finished work on the cross!

And that's exactly what Jesus spent so much time preaching about on earth. In all his descriptions of the Kingdom of God, he never described it as an earthly kingdom based on force and might (which is what the Jews expected), but something...more subtle. A kingdom that's ushered in through the sacrificial Lamb, and established on the faith of the believers. Matthew 15 and 20 contain more of Jesus' parables on this kingdom (His analogies seem obscure, but it's so that you'll think hard ;)

So who are the false followers of Jesus? Well, it seems that it's those who believe they are Jesus' followers because they have done all these things in His name. When trying to get into heaven, their only answer is "but we did this, and we did that..." etc. It reflects their attitude, and where their faith really lies, deep down - in themselves. Those who think they know God because they are merely doing all these things for God will be terribly shocked to find out that God doesn't 'know' them.

What is the reason the true follower gives, when asked why he/she should be allowed into God's eternal presence? Eph 2:8-9. "I'm not worthy Lord, and can stand only in the blood of the Lamb that has washed away my sins". The true believer's faith lies completely in Jesus and in what He has done. And of course they would have done good deeds in their life too, but it was done only as a response to the salvation they had been given, not earned. Jesus can judge based on a simple answer like that, because it reflects the underlying attitude of the heart.

And so we are encouraged, and still warned. Encouraged because we can know that God is in the business of saving sinners, and isn't the sort who would lead us on and surprise us on Judgement day by saying "too bad, you missed the point!". Those whom God rejects are those who have already rejected God, and the only reasons they can give God for letting them into heaven are superficial ones.

Yet we are warned because of this same thing! Do we believe we are getting into heaven because of what we have done for God, or because of what God has done for us? Are we missing the point (faith in the sacrifice of Jesus) and just 'serving' God artificially? The consequences of this are terrible.

We come back to what you said in your post:

"havent really figured out what is it to do for me to be sure, really sure."

Well, we know what the answer is now, don't we :) How do you be really sure that God's gonna look at you and say "well done, good and faithful servant"? It's nothing that you've done, but everything that God has done. And if you have already come to terms with the fact that you are a sinner and have accepted Jesus' sacrifice as the punishment for your sins, you can be sure, really sure, that you will be embraced by Jesus on that day.

Hope that helped. God is such a good God isn't He? :)

Mingdao