False Christians
Matthew 7v21-23
23rd May 2025
In verses 15-20, Jesus warned us about false prophets, telling us that "They come to you in sheep’s clothing" but that under their disguise, "they are ferocious wolves". He tells us we can know who they are because "By their fruit you will recognize them.. He told us that "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Continuing this thought, He now says:
Matthew 7v21-23
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and
in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?'
Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Perhaps more than any other saying in the Bible, this should cause a church-going person to stop and think. Jesus is moving from talking about false prophets to talking about false Christians. He's saying that there are people who think they're Christians but are not. This must cause us some self-examination. Surely we must ask ourselves, "What about me? Am I truly a Christian?" Jesus tells us that we can't be assured of our salvation on the grounds of our ministries or our spiritual gifts. He says that some people who believe they prophesy in His name, or drive out demons in His name, or perform many miracles in His name, are not His people.
There are people who go to church almost every Sunday, who sing the songs, and pray the prayers, and read the Bible, and say the right things, and have some role within the church community, and are seen as respectable members of society, and are well-liked in church, who are not Christ's people.
Why do I believe I'm saved? What makes a person a Christian? Jesus says the test we will face on the Day of Judgement is did we do the will of my Father who is in heaven? We believe in a Gospel of faith and not of works, so what did Jesus mean? I think doing the will of God the Father has two components.
Firstly, Jesus said, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6v29) It is the will of God the Father that we believe in Jesus Christ. This is not merely to believe that Jesus existed, or that He was a good man, or even that He is God. To believe in Jesus the way God requires is to believe the Gospel, that Jesus is both Lord and Saviour. If we truly believe this, we will repent of our sins (that is, we will accept Jesus as Lord) and we will put our faith in His atoning sacrifice on the cross to pay for our sins (that is, we will accept Jesus as Saviour).
If we have repented and believed, than Jesus will accept us. As He promised in John 6v37, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away.". Thus He will never say to us, "I never knew you".
Secondly, the day we believed, God gave us the Holy Spirit to live within us. The Holy Spirit, working on the basis of our repentance, will work to make us better people. We will become more loving, more forgiving, kinder, gentler, more moral people. Our thoughts and actions will become more aligned with the Bible. This demonstrates that we have been accepted by Jesus.
Sadly, as Jesus says, Many will be shocked to discover on the Day of Judgement, when it is too late, that whatever they believed, and whatever good things they did, Jesus will count them as evildoers and will command them, "Away from me!" Everybody sins. Without saving faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross our sins are not forgiven. Without the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit our characters will not improve. We will perish.
May people think they're Christians, but they've never been born again, their sins have never been forgiven, they've never been adopted into God's family. We don't know how many people there are who truly believe they're Christians but who are not, but we do know that there are many of them. Make sure you're not one of them.
Let each of us examine himself. Do I truly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord? If I do, then I will increasingly live as He teaches me to live (Luke 6v46). Do I truly believe that Jesus Christ is my Saviour? If I do, then I will celebrate His atoning sacrifice, and gratefully dedicate my life to His service and His glory.
And let those of us who are church leaders examine ourselves. Are we preaching the Gospel, the way of salvation, clearly? Or are we making it possible that people who regularly attend our meetings can be unaware that they do not believe what the church believes?
Romans 10v14
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they
believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without
someone preaching to them?