Grant B. Caldwell
03/31/09
Jesus 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" (Matthew 7:21). There has never been a time in the history of the human family in which God did not expect compliance with His will. Yet, there are those even today who believe that obedience to God has nothing to do with salvation. If there was not another passage in all the Word of God which dispelled this theory, this one would do it.
Lord, Lord — One of the most hypocritical ideas in religion generally is that one may call Jesus Lord and do something other than what He says. The wordLord means "He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; master, lord" (Thayer, page 365). The Lord is the ruler orthe master. He is the one with the power to decide. When we call Him Lordwhile doing something other than that which He has decided, that is hypocritical. Paul spoke of the Christian confessing "with your mouth the Lord Jesus," but then said, "But they have not all obeyed the gospel" (Romans 10:9, &, 16).
He Who Does — Jesus affirms that calling Him Lord requires our doing something. There are those who argue that if we have to do anything, that takes away from grace and faith. Consider two examples: (1) "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). Noah also was a man of faith (Hebrews 11:7). However, Noah was told to build an ark of gopherwood (Genesis 6:14). Did building an ark take away from God’s grace or Noah’s faith? Absolutely Not!!! The instruction to build it was a product of God’s grace and Noah’s compliance was his work of faith. Baptism is like that for us now (1 Peter 3:21). (2) Naaman was a leper. God told him to dip in the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed. Would dipping in the Jordan take away from God’s grace or Naaman’s faith? Certainly Not!!! The instruction to dip was part of God’s grace and Naaman’s obedience was the result of his faith. It is no less when we are told to "Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins" (Acts 22:16). We cannot escape doing what ourLord teaches us to do.
The Will Of The Father — If we desire to "enter the kingdom of heaven," it is not just anything which we must do. We must do "the will of My Father in heaven." Dear Friend, if you want to go to heaven where God dwells, then you must go there His way. His grace has given us His will. Now it is our responsibility in faith to accept and obey that will. It does not take away from His grace or our faith to do what He tells us to do. It is the logical conclusion of calling Him Lord, Lord!