"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
In Revelation 3:9 Jesus explains that eventually He will make those who only claimed to be believers understand who His real followers really were. It is interesting to note that at the end of the first century, these pretenders claimed to be "Jews"—not Christians. While most of modern Christianity rejects this term and many teachings associated with it, such as the seventh-day Sabbath and annual Holy Days, this passage says the pretenders claimed to be "Jews" because they believed this was the correct name. Were these first century pretenders confused about this name?
The Bible shows that this Jewish name and the days of worship given in the Old Testament were not rejected by Christ or the first century Christians. These first century pretenders had the right name, but the wrong practices. Lest one misunderstand, believers were also called "Christians" in the first century (Acts 11:26) and this name is also an appropriate designation for believers. The real key in identifying the people of God, however, lies in their conduct.
The apostle Paul clarified this Jewish link to Christians saying, "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God" (Romans 2:28-29). In writing to the believers in Galatia, he described them as "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16).
Jesus had much to say throughout His earthly ministry about people who would appropriate His name, but not do what He said. In Matthew 5:17, He exclaimed, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law," but many people claiming to be Christian today mistakenly think that Jesus came to destroy the law and liberate people from it.
In Matthew 7:21-23 He said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" Similar passages are found in Mark 7:6-9 and Luke 6:46-49.
Jesus' instructions are the basis for Paul's admonition to "walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory" (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Jesus predicted long ago that people would claim to be His followers, but reject His commands. UN
