To Encourage You

Matthew 7:22-23 “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Matthew 25:41-46 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The verses above show two sides of the same coin, i.e., the utter inability of man, in and of himself, to glorify God.  Both Scriptures talk about the scene at the final judgment at the end of the age.  In the first, Jesus speaks to us about those who will say that they’ve done many things “in His name” on that day.  Specifically, they will talk about how spiritual they had been. They will claim to have prophesied, cast out demons, and done many mighty works, even miracles, during their time on earth.  It is by their religious activity that they will attempt to justify themselves.  However, Jesus warns that there will be many people like this who will be shocked to find out that all that activity was utterly worthless because it had nothing to do with a genuine relationship with Him.  Religion, spirituality, and claims of spiritual power will never justify anyone in the end.  A person can attend church every day of the week, memorize the entire Bible, burn incense, take communion, etc., etc., but if none of it is rooted in the love of Christ and faith in His death and resurrection alone for salvation, they will be lost.  1 Corinthians 13 reiterates this with these words:  “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Think of it, even if a person is so sincere about their “faith” that they die as a martyr, they will gain nothing in the end, and in particular eternal life, if that faith was rooted in a lie concerning the true gospel of Christ. 

Now for the other side of the coin.  There are those people, religious or not, who in the end will be condemned for what they have not done.  Jesus talks about those who have shown no compassion or love toward others in this life, yet they still address Jesus as their “Lord.”  Here, it is total neglect that is the problem, not misguided effort.  These people, like most people, see themselves as good, or at least as good as the next guy.  They may view themselves as moral, upstanding citizens. They may even have a semblance of religion and call themselves Christians.  However, their walk never matches their talk.  They are blind to the needs of others all around them, and that blindness is rooted in a spiritual blindness regarding who Christ is and what He has done for the world.  They don’t love others because they never fully realized the truth of Christ’s incredible love for them. If they had, they would have lived a life of gratitude seeking to glorify God by obeying His command to love our neighbor as ourselves. They go through life like the priest and the Levite in the story of the good Samaritan, walking by on the other side of the road from those who needed their help. 

No, religious effort and good works will never save us, and a lack of love for those around us in need is evidence of that unsaved condition.  Only Jesus saves. Only faith in His finished work on the cross will ever save anyone, and that faith will be characterized by a realization that all of our works are nothing more than filthy rags in the presence of a Holy God (Isaiah 64:6).  It is in the realization of God’s vast mercy and grace poured out on us as unworthy and undeserving sinners that transforms a person from a life of selfish ambition to the love of both God and the people He has created.  That’s the message of the gospel. It’s the only message of hope to the sinner.  And God, in His grace, has clearly explained how this will all be sorted out by Him in the end.

May we respond to the truth that it is “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5), for without Him we have no righteousness, and without His transformation of our hearts, we know nothing about God’s love.