Christ's Rebuke of Matthew 7

Theology
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Let’s have a look at what Jesus showed in the Matthew 7 example of those He will tell to get away from Him when He returns.

Matt 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto Me, “Lord, Lord”, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father Which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?”

23 And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”
KJV

Those who prophesy in Christ’s name, those who cast out devils in Christ’s name, those who do many wonderful works in Christ’s name, just who all… would those be?? BELIEVERS ON JESUS CHRIST.

I hear men’s doctrines try to come up with all kinds of stories to make it sound like Jesus was pointing to unbelievers that only claimed to believe, but their idea is just a doctrine of men simply because they do not understand that some well-meaning Christian brethren who love Lord Jesus can be deceived and fall away to the coming false-Messiah which Jesus and His Apostles warned the Church about for the end.

Jesus showed there that He will rebuke those believers on Him that work that “iniquity”. I strongly believe the ‘iniquity’ He was pointing to that those brethren will do is about the end of this world with falling away to the false-Messiah, thinking he is Jesus.

Same result will happen to the five foolish virgins Jesus mentioned in His Matthew 25 parable of the ten virgins. All ten represent believers on Him. Five had a spare vessel of the Oil which represents The Holy Spirit, while the other five virgins only had the Oil that was in their lamps. I strongly believe that lack of the spare vessel of Oil represents lack of understanding the “strong meat” of God’s written Word by The Holy Spirit, and instead trusting men and their doctrines of men. Only a believer who thought they could ‘buy’ Oil at market would think men and their doctrines could save them.

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In the verses just before this, Jesus was talking about false prophets. He also said, ‘in that day’. What day is that? He’s talking about the future where each person will give an account of themselves.
These men are pointing to their works as the means to their salvation. ‘Didn’t we do this and that Lord and in your name!’ The point is that no amount of works can earn us salvation. Salvation is by what we believe and trust in, not by what we do.
When Jesus said ‘I never knew you’, it means they never fully believed in Him in the first place. They were doing all this stuff aside from Him and not by Him.
The confusing thing about this passage is their ability to drive out demons, prophesy and do miracles. One would think that any of these would be the evidence of being a Christian. Obviously that’s not true and Revelation talks about the false prophet doing many signs and wonders. (Rev 13)
What we do is important, but its not by what we do. That’s the paradox of the gospel. It’s important to understand that our salvation is by God’s grace, given through faith and not by our own works.

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And there it is brethren, that doctrine of men that they were not fully believers on Christ.

Jesus’ subject at that point was… about having fruit in Him, which is about works. Even though works do not save us, but instead Faith does, judging one’s fruit (works) is what He was saying that by one’s fruit we shall know them. These were believers He was speaking about that did works in Him, but they had a particular “iniquity” which He did not really go into what it was. The serious Bible student shouldn’t have to wonder what their “iniquity” was, because when Jesus appears that is pointing to the last day of this world with the false-Messiah having just appeared slighty before Jesus’ coming.

Matt 7:20-27
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto Me, “Lord, Lord”, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father Which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?”

23 And then will I profess unto them, "I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
KJV

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One thing that has always stood out to me in this passage is that the people Jesus addresses seem genuinely surprised by His response.

They point to things they have done, but Jesus responds by talking about knowing Him. That has always made me pause and reflect on the difference between religious activity and a living relationship with Christ.

I also find it interesting that the passage ends with the wise and foolish builders. Both heard Jesus’ words, but the difference was what they did with them. To me, that suggests the issue is not simply knowledge, works, or even outward appearance, but whether a person’s life is truly built on Him.

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A believer’s faith, works, etc., won’t matter if they instead fall away to the first supernatural Messiah that appears which Lord Jesus and His Apostles warned us at the end of this world about. The LORD even gave the ‘with child’ analogy about those who do not remain a “chaste virgin” waiting on Jesus’ return after that false-Messiah comes first.

So yes, those believers who didn’t listen to our Lord Jesus in His Word, but fall away to that coming false-Messiah that comes first, will well deserve to have the door shut upon them when Lord Jesus does return to destroy that false-Messiah. How would one of us feel if we went on a business trip and trusted our bethrothed to remain a chast virgin until we return for the marriage, and when we return we discover our betrothed already took up with another, and we find is pregnant with child? That is actually Lord Jesus’ analogy about falling away to the false-Messiah who comes first. Apostle Paul used that analogy also in 2 Corinthians 11.