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Written by Pastor Mike Campagna @ http://www.aheartforgod.org

Original post @ http://www.aheartforgod.org/2015/01/29/cliffhanger-redux/

Cliffhanger (redux)

January 29, 2015 By Mike Campagna

“‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”‘” (Matthew 7:21-23)

This is a scary passage for some.

This is a scary passage, but it shouldn’t be.

I mean, let’s just say there’s a cliff over there and everybody’s afraid of falling off. So what do you do? That’s right. You don’t go near the cliff. You stay as far away as possible. Right?

This passage in the Gospel of Matthew is a cliff.

Let me explain.

There’s a lot of talk about “Lord” in the above verses. (Check it out again.) Three times the reference is made.

Then there’s the mentioning of “Your name.”

Do you see that, too?

Three more times “religious activities” take place “in the name” of Christ. (Look again.)

But there’s a problem with the people who say, “Lord,” and use His name in the passage. They “practice lawlessness.”

And worse than that.

They aren’t “known” by Jesus. “I never knew you,” He makes clear.

Another way of putting it: These people don’t have a relationship with God. They were doing spiritual things and calling Him, “Lord” (which denotes surrender to a sovereign) while the whole time their hearts remained in an unregenerate and unsubmissive to His will state.

It is God’s will that none should perish and that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

You don’t do works for God to become right with God.

You become right with God first (by faith), then you do works for God.

So that’s the cliff.

And some of you reading this post at this very moment may be hanging over it by your fingertips?

Time to climb back up, cliffhanger. (Romans 10:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

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Filed Under: faith and works, gospel of matthew, holy bible Tagged With: faith and works, gospel of matthew, holy bible
About Mike Campagna

Mike Campagna (affectionately known by some as Pastor Mike) is making the most of web technologies to encourage disciples. A self-proclaimed “twitterholic,” one twitter follower describes him as the “jogging, blogging, tweeting Pastor.” Visits to Pastor Mike’s blog (http://www.aheartforgod.org) number in the hundreds of thousands. His video blogs have been viewed over a half a million times. His day job is content manager/social media specialist for Sugar Pine Realty. Pastor Mike and his family have lived in the Sonora area of California since 1997.

P.S. (from bruce) Get off the cliff !! Here is a link for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, after first being drawn in by God…John 6:44… https://godsmanforever.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/gods-group-thoughts-for-7112013-the-truth-about-sin/