“Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you”— an explanation of Matthew 7:21-23
Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
To understand what Jesus is saying here, you simply need to back up a bit to what He had said earlier, then follow the flow of thoughts down to these verses.JesusJesus starts by saying in verse 13 & 14 of the same chapter
Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Many have greatly misunderstood what Jesus was trying to pass across here.The word “narrow” as used here is translated from the Greek word “stenos.” It simply means “closely defined, single and lacking complexity.”So, what is Jesus saying here? Single is the way that leads to life! It’s just One Way. Faith in Christ. He is THE Way, the Truth and THE Life. The way to life is closely defined. It is single.
The word “difficult” in verse 14 is misleading. It is translated from the Greek word “thlibó.” It means “compressed i.e lacking room for additions.” So, this further buttresses what He had said earlier. It’s ONE Way. You cannot add to it!The Jews were trying to get Life by their efforts, perfect obedience, good conduct etc.
John 5:39-40 (NKJV)
39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
They were looking for life in the wrong place, by their efforts. But Jesus is THE Life. They were going through the broad and wide way which leads to destruction. Giving room for additions instead of simply putting faith in Christ. Jesus uses “many” because at THAT time, many still looked to legalism to have life. Only a few found the Way to life, which is Jesus Himself. They found the single way! These “few” included his disciples and a few other folks who put their trust in Him. Jesus was talking about a state of reality peculiar to THAT time. Notice His statement: “and there are (present tense) few who find it.” Then Jesus goes on to say
Matthew 7:15-20 (NKJV)
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Jesus begins to discuss false prophets.Based on the flow of thoughts so far, these false prophets would refer to those teaching that there’s another way to life. Not teaching that Jesus is the only way. So a false prophet would try to present to men other ways (alternatives) to life rather than Christ and Him ALONE. In this context though, it refers to those who pointed the Jews to the system of Judaism as the way to Life rather than Christ.
Now keeping that in mind, Jesus then says
Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Examine Matthew 7:21-23 CLOSELY. What is the will of the Father? Simple. That we may be saved through Christ alone. So, those whom Jesus would tell to depart from Him are those who preach and do otherwise.
Notice verse 22: “..many will SAY to Me in that day.” You’ll realize that they are the ones saying it, not Him.So, in their minds, they thought that they were doing service unto God but actually, they were pointing men to EVERYTHING except Christ for salvation!
Notice again verse 23, Jesus says: I NEVER KNEW YOU.
“Knowing God” is a term for salvation. We find corroborative evidence in Galatians 4
Galatians 4:8-9 (NKJV)
8 But then, indeed, when you did not KNOW GOD, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now AFTER YOU HAVE KNOWN GOD, or rather ARE KNOWN BY GOD, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
So these persons (in Matthew 7:23) were NEVER saved to begin with! They did not accept Jesus as the Way to Life, they chose their own efforts.Jesus calls them “those who practice lawlessness. “Lawlessness” in this context would be to know Christ as the Only Way to Life and choose otherwise. It is acting contrary to what God has established already. This portion of Scripture (Matthew 7:21-23), therefore, is not referring to the believer AT ALL but the man who after knowing that Jesus is the Only Way to Life, deliberately chooses to find life in his own works. Such a man is rejected on the basis of unbelief in Christ.
© Josh Banks Ministries. 2017.
