Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
Repentance is not a word used and considered enough in churches anymore. However, Jesus came preaching repentance to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In his second sermon in Acts, Peter declared, ‘God raised up His Servant (Jesus) for you and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways’ (Acts 3:26). The blessing of Christ is to turn us from anything antithetical to His nature and character. Every law of Christ, as He has expounded on in this sermon, reflects His nature, His heart, and His standard of righteousness as a result. To know Jesus is to know a desire for heart holiness that honors our Father in heaven. We cannot abide in Christ and continue in sin comfortably. To remain in Christ is to continually turn away from the sins and values of this world and put on the mind and values of Christ. Jesus makes no mistake about it, anyone who makes a continual practice of what He declares to be sin, without repentance, will not enter His kingdom and does not really know Him. He also sobers us with the reality that there are people who say He is Lord of their lives but don’t live like it. Words are cheap with God! He is looking at the intentions of our hearts. Are we seeking to know Him, love Him, and honor Him or do we just want to use Him for eternal insurance? To best examine ourselves, we need to continually ask ourselves WHY we are doing what we are doing? If our motivations are anything other than an overflow of love from connecting in relationship with Jesus, then our actions are coming from worshipping self or others and not Jesus, which is idolatry.