Why will not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” be saved (Matthew 7:21)?

Answer

In Matthew 5—7, Matthew documents Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In this significant message, Jesus urges His audience to reconsider how they can participate in His kingdom, stating at one point that not everyone who declares, “Lord, Lord,” will be saved “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”, (Matthew 7:21). Up to that moment, many believed that merely being descendants of Abraham and Moses and following the Law of Moses guaranteed their position in God’s kingdom. Jesus directly challenges that belief.

In Matthew 7:21, Jesus states, “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 who is in heaven.” Prior to this declaration, He had clarified that His listeners’ righteousness must surpass even the righteousness of those most diligently adhering to the external aspects of the Law of Moses “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”, (Matthew 5:20). He further emphasized that righteousness is not achieved through mere external compliance with laws and that, due to their internal thoughts violating those laws, they were all culpable (Matthew 5:21-47). In essence, Jesus presented them with a new standard: they must strive for perfection as their heavenly Father is perfect “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”, (Matthew 5:48).

:48). Living up to that standard is impossible. That is why Jesus proclaimed that people need to repent— to change their minds— about how they could be part of God’s kingdom. They thought they simply needed to be of a certain bloodline and obey a set of laws. Jesus debunked those ideas, pointing them to the actual standard: perfection.

Jesus further explains that the only way to achieve this perfection (since no one can do it on his own) is to have it provided. Ultimately, Jesus would go to the cross to pay for the imperfection of all of us (1 Corinthians 15:1-3) so that by believing in Him we can have life in His name «but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.», (John 20:31). Jesus was clear— and the apostles after Him— that to be declared righteous by God is to receive grace through faith; righteousness does not come by works or human effort (John 3:16; John 6:47; Ephesians 2:8-9).

The recipe is so simple, but we still want to do things our own way. People still want to justify themselves by their own efforts. If we could do that, we would have reason to boast, and we all, it seems, want to have reason to boast in ourselves. In Matthew 7:15–20 Jesus warns His audience about false prophets who will teach deceitfully about righteousness and bear the fruits of that falsehood. Jesus explains that these false prophets can be recognized by their fruits, even if their words are deceptive. Their words may come across as words of righteousness, but they aren’t faithful to the recipe that God provided. In fact, Jesus says, many of them will even call Him “Lord,” but their teachings and their deedsDo not align with the will of God. Not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter His kingdom « Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. », (Matthew 7:21). That honor is reserved for those who actually do His will. What is the will of God? That people change their minds (i.e., repent) about how they become righteous before God and come to Him with faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God «But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. », (Hebrews 11:6).

Simply saying the right things doesn’t grant us God’s righteousness. Not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter His kingdom « Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. », (Matthew 7:21). In Genesis 15:6, we discover that belief in the Lord is credited as righteousness. This is a magnificent and liberating truth. We can’t be perfect on our own, but He is perfect and has sacrificed and paid the penalty so that we can have forgiveness of sin and His righteousness. When we receive these by faith in Him, we are at that moment transferred to His kingdom «who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: », (Colossians 1:13), and we look forward to the arrival of that kingdom on earth (Colossians 3:1-4).