“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 (Matthew 7:21, emphasis added).” The Commentary of Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible says, the “reduplication of the title “Lord” [is] denoting zeal in according it to Christ[1].” It would seem that those who say this want Christ to see that they were zealous for Him. They see now that He is Lord and they want Him to know that they are on His side. However, their zeal is likely an effort to make up for the fact that they weren’t so zealous for Him in life. It is likely they either served Him for selfish gain or failed to serve Him at all. But now that they see Him exalted, they try to get on His good side by stressing the fact that He is Lord and He is their Lord.
However, Jesus is not about platitudes. He said that those of us who enter Heaven will not be those who can talk a good game but those who do the will of God. Going to church is not enough if all we’re going to do is sit in the pew. Yet, neither is singing in the choir or preaching from the pulpit if we’re not called to and we’re not doing it in service to the Lord. There are many people who can sing like angels, but if they are not doing it unto the Lord, then their singing is in vain. If our teaching or our preaching is not done in obedience to and in service of the Lord, then our work is in vain. Why? It is because it is not in the will of God that it was done but in the will of the performer.
Jesus had just finished telling the people that bad trees cannot bear good fruit and good trees cannot bear bad fruit. Therefore, we will know a true believer because his or her lifestyle will reflect it. He goes on to connect that to who will enter Heaven. It will not be just anyone off the street but those of us who are submissive to and obedient to the will of God.
What is the will of God? It is not the will of God that we live in sin. It is not the will of God that we sleep around. It is not the will of God that we only love those who love us and hate those who hate us. It is not the will of God that we take from those that which doesn’t belong to us. It is not the will of God that we disrespect our parents. It is not the will of God that we break the law. It is the will of God that we read our Bible because in it we will learn about Who God is. It is the will of God that we pray—for He created us for a relationship with Himself. It is the will of God that we go to church. What born again person would not want to assemble with others of like faith for fellowship, support, and accountability?
I don’t understand how people expect to go to Heaven when we die but live in rebellion while we are alive. Yet, you ask a many people do they expect to go to Heaven when they die and they say yes. Then you ask them if they go to church or read their Bibles regularly and you get excuses. You then ask them why do they think they are going to heaven and they will say something like ‘because I’m a good person.’ As this text shows, being good is not good enough.
[1] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Mt 7:21). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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