Today we’ll continue with some of your favorites (or the passages you have questions about).  Email (andy@stm-umc.org) or message me with any passages you’d like added or that you have a question about!

Today we are looking at Matthew 7:21-23: 

21 “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 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 deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’

Today we have another great question – “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven.  How do we know if we are truly doing the Father’s will or just giving it lip service?”  This is something really powerful to think about. 

First, remember, when interpreting the Bible, one of the first places to start is with context. One of the best clues to understanding what is happening in a passage is to understand what is happening all around it.  Today, we see Jesus tell us that not all who say Lord, Lord will enter into His kingdom.  How do we know we are doing it right?  How do we know we are truly serving the Lord? 

We see this passage is between two others that give us a real clue as to what is happening. First, right above is a passage that talks about the idea of fruit.  A tree will produce the fruit that it is, an apple tree, apples, and so on and so forth. To understand what kind of tree it is, look at the fruit.  

To understand what sort of tree we are, we have to look at the fruit. The Bible tells us that the fruit of the spirit is​​ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-24).  To understand if one is truly following Jesu or just giving lip service, look to the fruit.  

In other words, to pay attention to what someone says, look at their lives.  Look at the fruit their life is producing.  That fruit will show you who they are.  If I say that I am a Christian, but you see no evidence of the fruit of the spirit in my life, then I should look deeper in my heart.  Am I really following Jesus?  Is He really my Lord?  Or am I just talking?  

We see the passage afterward gives us even more context.  To follow Jesus is to put His words into practice. Belief is not intellection agreement or accent. Belief is submitting our lives, our will, our everything to Jesus.  

How do we know if we’ve done that?  Look at the fruit. 

To make Jesus Lord, to follow Him is not to intecutally agree to the correct doctrine or to say the right words. It is to submit all that we are to Him as Lord. 

He is telling us that a lot of people will say that they followed Him, but in fact, they did not.  It is to that we agree intellectually that Jesus is Lord. It is that we submit all our lives to His Lordship.  How do we know?  Look at the fruit we are producing.  

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