Having warned His followers about false teachers, Jesus moves to the subject of qualification. He begins by making a statement that should trouble many, “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.” This is perhaps the most difficult thing Jesus has ever taught.
Those Jesus speaks of, know who Jesus is. They understand that He is Lord. They even call Him Lord. Actually, in saying it twice, they are insisting He is Lord. But Jesus says that they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. For it is not knowing who He is that saves us. It is not knowing that Jesus is Lord that saves us. It is not calling Him Lord that saves us. It is not even insisting that He is Lord that saves us. It is honouring Him as Lord that saves us. We are saved by obedience to God’s will.
The thing about that is that you can only be about God’s will if you really do know Him. For when you meet Him, you are immediately aware of not only His holiness, but your lack of holiness. That fact fills you with the sorrow that leads to repentance. Not a sorrow for sins as regret only, but a sorrow for sins infused with a godly ambition to not repeat them. As Paul wrote, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation.” For this reason repentance is always the first word of the Gospel.
Jesus Himself preached this point, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Repentance is key. Without repentance you might call Jesus Lord, and even insist that He is Lord, but you will never be about God’s will. Being about the will of God means you are set entirely apart for His purpose. As Paul wrote, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” Only God can sanctify (set apart for Himself), and God only sanctifies those who love Him.
Sadly, many who know His Name and know who He is do not love Him. Instead, they love what He is capable of doing for them. They love the benefits of the Kingdom of God. They might even love the church of God, with all its traditions, ceremonies, structure and art. They may well know the Word of God – even to the point of teaching it as the Pharisees did. But if they do not love Him to the point of repentance, they are going about their lives entirely on their own effort. Human effort might look like sanctification, but it is just legalism all dressed up. It is just filthy lives clothed in their Sunday finest. Such is not the will of God, but the purposes and plans of man. It is hypocrisy instead of salvation and a subtle lie instead of the honest Gospel.
The will of God is repentance for sins. It is an honest evaluation of our lives that drives us to come to God and bow before Him regularly – if not daily – in prayer, and finding Him ever faithful to wash us clean of our sins, to come to Him in thankfulness, purposing to live by His will for His will. Such a life produces joy, is centered in prayer and is verbalized in thankfulness. As Paul exhorted, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
The disciple of God might be known in the community as upright, moral and God-fearing. But in their heart they are not marked by such things. In their hearts they are marked by personal repentance and commitment to Christ as surely as the homes of Israel were marked by the blood of lambs on the night of Passover. Amen.
Saving faith is permeated with repentance and repentance is permeated with faith.
Anthony A. Hoekema
APPLICATION: Intentionality
What drives you to God today?