This is one of the most sobering verses in the New Testament to me:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:21-23
I believe it is important to live the supernatural life that Jesus lived to demonstrate the presence of the kingdom of God manifesting on earth.
But without two critical things present in our lives we could find ourselves hearing these sobering words.
1. The word "knew" denotes a consistent intimate knowledge of Christ that comes from a love relationship. This is not mere knowledge for knowledge sake, but like knowing your spouse.
2. The charge of practicing lawlessness has nothing to do with not keeping Jewish traditions under the law. It has everything to do with both an attachment to and lifestyle of unrighteousness.
Why am I thinking about this today? There are so many opinions out there about right and wrong. They are political, humanistic, and often just plain lies, arguments, and philosophies against the truth.
We need to get our perspective from the Lord in all matters of life in belief and practice. When we face Jesus some day as the righteous judge of all the earth as well as it's Savior, it won't be test of how much we know about him, but how much we know Him.
Authentic relationship, from both word and Spirit with Christ, will lead to a desire to live a supernatural lifestyle by faith in Him. But it will also cause us to love righteousness and shun evil. Today in the world many seem to call evil good and good evil. Lovers of Jesus and His righteousness do the opposite.