“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. 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?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:21–23
Note three things about this passage, preached from the Prince of Preachers, Jesus Christ, in His greatest sermon, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7).
First, this speaks of those who were assured that they were truly saved, but in the end it was revealed that they were not, as they heard the words of the Lord, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Second Thessalonians 1:9 says that “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”
I have always said it is one thing to have the attitude “eat, drink and be merry”(Luke 12:19). In other words, party now and then later party with your friends in Hell. Yet, I can guarantee that Hell will not be a party, but instead will be eternal, conscious torment (Luke 16:28) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12).
It is quite another thing, though, to actually live your entire life believing you are saved, only to find out at the end of your life that you were not!
As pastor John MacArthur wrote in the introduction of his book, Hard to Believe,
“The world is filled with millions of people who think they are headed for heaven – but they are deadly wrong. Probably most people think heaven awaits them, but it doesn’t. But what is especially sad, is that many of those people sit in evangelical churches misinformed.”
Second, the basis of their assurance was that their works were done “in the name of the Lord.” I can hear others say, “but we taught Sunday School ‘in Your Name’; we did counsel time at Awana ‘in Your Name’; we taught Vacation Bible School ‘in Your Name.'”
Third, “many” fit this category. In verse 22, Jesus said, “On that day, many will say to me . . .” (emphasis added). This is consistent with the context. Earlier Jesus said, “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.”(Matt. 7:13; emphasis added)
In that same book, Hard to Believe, pastor John MacArthur highlights three reasons why people are deceived about their salvation:
1) False Assurance
“Somebody has told them that as long as they ask Jesus into their hearts, or pray this prayer, or perform this little ceremony, they’re safely in the kingdom.”
2) Fixation
“Another thing that causes people to be under the delusion they’re saved when they’re not is fixation on religious activity. They go to church, hear sermons, sing songs, read the Bible, go to a Bible study, take a class, and because they’re all wrapped up in religious activity, the illusion becomes convincing that they are believers.”
3) Fair Exchange
“Whenever this deceived person sees something wrong in his life, instead of dealing directly with it and examining whether he is a true Christian, he finds something right with his life and makes a fair exchange. It is like swapping around Weight Watchers points. “Oh, I can’t be that bad. I mean, look what I did over here!” And he is always trading off the negatives and the positives, so instead of evaluating his life honestly with integrity and saying, “If I’m a believer, should I be doing this?” he says, “Well, I know I do that, but look what else I do.” He makes a fair exchange and whitewashes the deal.”
(John MacArthur, Hard to Believe: The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus,
[Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003], 96–97.)
