Lord, help me to believe: Matthew 7:21-23

-
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 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.’"
I had struggled with today's passage for a long time. But it dawned on me, I had been misunderstanding these words at the end of Jesus' sermon on the mount. I kept reading this passage and hearing the 'Lord, Lord,' as though these were people who had faith in God. I mean, who would prophesy, who would cast out demons, who would do mighty works ... if they didn't believe? Right?

But that isn't what Christ is noting here. Read the words, again.

"Did we not ... do this."

They aren't expressing their faith in God. They are praising themselves. Look at me, Lord, they're declaring. Look what I did for you. Look how mighty I am, I was, I can be. Heaven will be a better place because of me.

Say what?

Hear a truth of today's message from our Lord. God doesn't desire your sacrifice; he desires your mercy. Do you want to go to heaven, he asks. God doesn't need your handouts (Matt. 6:1); he doesn't need your worship (Matt. 6:5); he doesn't need your piety (Matt. 6:16). God needs you to believe, to trust, to have faith.

He still needs you to obey. But don't think for a second the Father will set aside even an iota, he reminds us in Matthew 5:18.

If you love God, you will obey Him (John 14:15). "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother ..." he reminds us. It is not those who hear the law that are righteous in God's sight, it is those who obey (Romans 2:13). We are not to merely listen to the Word of God, we are in fact to do what it says (James 1:22).

Heavy words, aren't they. Stop sinning, he reminds us, again, and will remind us, again.

You haven't lived a sinless life, and you aren't going to start living it now. So what is it that God wants?

He wants you to believe! Have faith in God! Trust God! Remember, that is the essence of godliness.
  • Turn your eyes to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2).
  • Believe the Word made flesh (John 1:14), the Word that is living and active (Heb. 4:12).  
  • Obey the Word (Hosea 8:2-3, Matt. 10:14, Titus 1:16)
  • Submit to the will of God (Jer. 11:10, 1 Cor. 3:6-7, 1 Tim 4:7).
  • Accept the truth of the Word (John 14:6, 8:31-32).
This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another (1 John 3:23).

Is that too much?

Come to me all you who weary and burdened, and I will give you rest, he calls. The law is not burdensome. It will feed you. It will fill you. It will rejuvenate you. It will refresh you.

Popular posts from this blog

Upon this rock ...

-
I don't need to comment on this post. I just need to share it. Upon this rock... which one? Matthew 16:18 is a problem for Lutherans and Roman Catholics.  Rome points to Peter and the Petrine office of the papacy.  Jesus is pointing to a man, rather a succession of men, whose primacy is, in their view, undisputed.  Lutherans insist that Peter may have been the voice but it is the confession that is the rock.  This faith is the rock upon which the Church is built -- not a man but the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Lutherans insist that this is affirmed in Jesus' own admonition that Peter did not confess this on his own but as the Father revealed it to Him.  Now surely this is a rather simplistic way of putting it and there are nuances on both sides that I have overlooked to put this into a brief paragraph. But allow me this for the moment.
Read more

It's not man's word: 1 Thessalonians 2:13

-
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. I have Christian friends who don't believe the Word of God. Do you believe? Think about that for a minute. Do you believe in God? Do you really believe the Word is from God? Do you believe the Word was God? Do you believe the Word was with God? (John 1:1-5). And that the Word became flesh? (John 1:14) Some people who call themselves Christians, don't believe. If they don't receive the word of God, if they say it is from men, that it is a human word, not the Word of God, then how can they call themselves Christian? It seems to me that is one of the points Paul is driving home in 1 Thessalonians 2:13. It is important because, what do we have without the Word of God? What we have are heresies taught by false prophets and greedy teachers. "We ar...
Read more

Voices

-
My wife doesn't write often enough. But years ago, she wrote this, which I found while looking through one of my old websites. I hope you enjoy it. Voices I never really listened to what I had to say If I had taken my own advice my life might've gone another way. I took on all the problems of those who couldn't cope I gave them all the answers I returned to them their hope. Though never did I realize that the words were meant for me I thought my problems were too big for all the world to see. But then one night I had a dream His face is what I saw He said to me “This is the way here's how to have it all.” “Listen to yourself” He said “The answers are within Within your soul I'll talk to you Truth shall you hear and happiness shall you win.” The moral of this poem is as simple as it is true The only one who has the answers is God listening, experiencing, acting they are all up to you. So listen to the Voice inisde when it says “Child, I love you” It's God ...
Read more