Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Today, we continue Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount! Day 78, Matthew 7:23 — The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7:23 (NASB1995) “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” Yesterday’s Review We read about how many proclaiming Christians who call on Jesus’ name and do mighty works in His name are not truly saved. A person might perform many great works and get results, but that determines nothing about his salvation. People claim to have great ‘power’, ‘authority’, and ‘anointing’ in the name of Jesus, but Jesus says, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord.’” We learned that the principle Jesus is teaching here is to not boast in our works. There are many who boast about their credentials, miracle-working, understanding of doctrine, etc., but forget to look inward. Does their character align with Christ? It is easy to throw Jesus’ name on whatever we are doing. This will lead to people affirming that this person is completely ‘anointed’ and a genuine believer. But are we looking at results or the heart and character? This is what Jesus is saying. This is who Jesus is condemning. Discussion Today, we discuss the context of the latter part of this passage, where Jesus makes His most convicting and terrifying statement of all: “DEPART FROM ME.” The first question we need to answer to understand this statement is ‘who Jesus is speaking to’? We have just read that many who call on the name of Jesus and do mighty works in His name will not enter heaven. But why? We briefly discussed that one reason is pride and boasting about one’s works without genuinely being transformed by Christ. We must understand the simple truth that our works are filthy rags and mean absolutely nothing in determining our standing with God. Only He makes us righteous. Jesus rejects those who boast in their works, saying, “DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” But what is lawlessness? How do you practice it? Who is practicing it exactly? The Greek word for lawlessness here is anomia, which means ‘wickedness,’ ‘iniquity,’ or ‘sin.’ You can actually find this exact phrase twice in the Old Testament with the same principle. The Psalmist says in Psalm 6:8, “Depart from me, all you who do iniquity [wickedness, sin, lawlessness].” He also says in Psalm 119:115, “Depart from me, evildoers [wickedness, sin, lawlessness].” Both are like Jesus’ statement, but the lawlessness in Matthew 7:23 has a slightly different context. The worst kind of lawlessness one can practice is self-righteous boasting in one’s works. We discussed yesterday that Jesus will reject those who boast in their works, cause divisions, hate, hold grudges, seek vengeance, and seek self-glorification and possessions rather than glorifying God and dying to self. It is this kind of lawlessness that Jesus is rebuking. This does not mean we ignore other sins. But Jesus is speaking to those who delight in their works and believe their wondrous miracles, obedience, and knowledge justify them. As Matthew 7:22 says, “Did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” The issue is these folks relied on their ‘goodness’ for salvation. They proclaimed the name of Christ and attributed their works to His name, but they were not truly being born again and relied on themselves for salvation instead of Christ. You might not think you believe you are justifying yourself, but refusing to be transformed by Christ is lawlessness in itself. Jesus says we must be born again, which includes an inward change of character pouring out into their daily life. Our works, no matter how great they might be, cannot save us—even if they are of God. He can use the righteous and the unrighteous to carry out His will. We must rely solely on Jesus as our righteousness. This begins with genuine faith and submission to Him. Jesus has elaborated much on this exact topic. Most of His rebukes are to those who hypocritically practice lawlessness while performing religious practices to justify themselves. There is no repentance or heart change—just self-glory, which the LORD detests. On judgment, Jesus is saying that many will look to their works for their righteousness. This includes those who cast out demons, prophesy, and perform signs and wonders. They will look to themselves instead of recognizing their desperate need for Christ and His blood to forgive them. These people might seem ‘good’ or ‘righteous’, but the LORD says He will reject many like this. We will conclude this heavy three-verse passage of Scripture with this truth. Jesus says He will save only those who do the will of the Father. What is the Father’s will? That all people come to repentance and genuine faith in Christ—relying solely on Him for their righteousness. Through this faith, the Holy Spirit transforms people to carry out His mission with integrity and character traits found in the Beatitudes. Application Studying this passage has been genuinely enlightening for me. I hope it blessed you too! I always understood this passage to mean that anybody could be a fake Christin, including myself. This is still true in theory, but now I hope you understand what Jesus means and who He is talking about in this passage. I hope you have a way of reflecting and testing yourself to see if you are genuinely relying solely on Jesus. There are times when we seek the applause of man and enjoy being proud of our works. But we must be careful in these moments to not make these deeds our badge of honor. Jesus must always take precedence. It is never our works but His. He is the one doing the works through us FOR HIS GLORY, not ours. If we rely on our works and boast in them, then we are rejecting Jesus and sinning. This does not mean we cannot be happy about what we do. We should find more zeal and confidence the more we faithfully follow Jesus. This will lead to Him using us further! But may we always give Him the glory and never boast in what we do. Casting out demons, healing the sick, and prophesying means nothing if we take credit for it. May we repent of boasting in our works and giving ourselves glory for the works Jesus has done through us. May we boast in Christ in all things and never forget that we are nothing without Him. May we never hold back from speaking the truth, so that some of the many we come across will repent and turn to Christ and His righteousness. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 7:24-25. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together.
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