One of the saddest and most tragic passages in the Bible is found in the Book of Matthew.“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)
Think of how tragic it will be for “MANY” who thought they were on their way to Heaven only to find out too late that they never truly had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and thus must spend eternity in Hell!
The Bible plainly tells us that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone – but it also tells us that WHEN we TRULY trust in Jesus Christ, our lives will be changed, we will seek to grow in our relationship with Him, and we will obey His commandments. Jesus Himself put it quite simply in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Thousands of people claim to know Jesus Christ, they go to church, even preach and teach in the church, and live lives that fool everyone around them, yet their claims are “empty words” because they have no fruit in their life to prove they have a real relationship with the ONE and ONLY Savior – Jesus Christ.
Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” He told them LOOK AT YOUR LIFE! To TRULY KNOW Jesus Christ means we must DENY ourselves and follow Him. Too many people who claim to know Him focus most of their attention on THEMSELVES and their own desires, dreams, and lusts.
How tragic it would be to spend our life THINKING we were on our way to heaven only to find out we’re hopelessly lost. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13 and 14, “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. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Sure, we’re saved simply by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior who died for our sins. But if we TRULY trust Him, we have to admit we are sinners and hopeless without Him, we have to die to self and claim HIM ALONE as our hope and salvation, and we will in turn repent of and turn from our sins to follow Him. Yes, we will still sin and fail in this life, but we WILL not continually live in the sin and wickedness of this world. No – we will HATE the sin and wickedness.
Is your life running on empty words? Or do you pass the test? Empty words come from empty hearts. If your heart TRULY belongs to Jesus Christ, your life will show it, and you WILL obey Him! That’s the TEST – do you OBEY? It’s not about what we CLAIM or SAY, it’s about WHAT WE DO! That’s what Paul meant when he said “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) IF we have genuine TRUE faith in God – it will be followed by OBEDIENCE! If we don’t OBEY, we don’t really have TRUE faith – just EMPTY WORDS!