Fear God

Matthew 7:13-14 "(13)Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (14) For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

(21)"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. (22) On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (23)And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"

I don't know about you, but this passage scares the heck out of me. Sometimes I wonder if this will be me... I am on staff at a church, I lead the congregation weekly in worship songs, but that doesn't mean that I am saved. I am sure there are many pastors that preach weekly that do not believe that Christ rose from the dead. I know that throughout my life, I am going to have to constantly change. That's what sanctification is. There will be no "glorification" in this lifetime for me, I know that. Paul writes in Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own." Paul recognized that he was not perfect, (if you know anything about Paul, from the outside he would have looked perfect!) Paul knows, he KNOWS, that Christ is the only perfect one, and that he should strive to become perfect through sanctification. Perfection will not come until we die and we are glorified through Christ.

The question is, will we be the ones shouting, "Lord, Lord...?" We need to have a passion to know Christ intimately. This is the only solution to the problem of Christ saying back to us, "I never knew you, depart from me..."

-cg