Lord, Lord

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one 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!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

 

It’s a great feeling to be used by God, but we need to be careful not to let it go to our head.  I don’t know about you, but I can very easily slip into that “beat-my-chest” mentality after being used by God.

But the above verse is a sobering reminder that our works or spiritual exploits will not get us into heaven.  Only Jesus, and Jesus alone, can do that.

2 Corinthians 2:21 says that “Jesus became sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God.”

The key words being “in Him.”  Our salvation is never secured by our behavior.  It is only secured by the righteousness of Jesus imputed (credited) to us.

Apart from Jesus, even are best works fall very short.  As a matter of fact, Jesus likened those who prophesy, drive out demons, and perform many miracles to “evildoers” if their works aren’t an extension of a life surrendered to Jesus and motivated by love for Him.

When we say “Lord, Lord,” may it never be followed by a list of accomplishments, but instead, spoken from a heart that is broken over our sin and understands it is bankrupt without Jesus.