“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 7:21)
There isn’t a more frightening statement in the New Testament than the one above. Some people who think they are going to heaven…aren’t.
This revelation doesn’t come from a roundtable discussion of religious intellectuals, seminary professors, or denominational leaders. It comes from the mind and lips of the One who will judge every single person (2 Corinthians 5:10). As a matter of fact, in the next verse He references “that day.” Clearly, the day of judgment.
Obviously, if they are calling Jesus “Lord” they started off in the right direction. However, somewhere down the line they made a mistake and either remained deceived for the rest of their lives or they refused to acknowledge their mistake when it was revealed to them.
I’m reminded of Christian and Hopeful in John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress. On their way to the “Celestial City,” the way becomes rocky and tough on their feet. Christian sees a much softer path across the river they are currently following and encourages Hopeful to cross over into “By-Path Meadow” with him. Before they realize their error, they follow the path into Giant Despair’s domain and wind up in his dungeon.
They eventually escape but only after acknowledging their mistake and retracing their steps back to where they first crossed over (into error). So it is with us. Every “mistake” we make leads us away from our goal. “Mistake” equals disobedience.
But our acts of disobedience aren’t always so obvious, which is why it is so important to listen closely to the Holy Spirit and act accordingly. Only willful ignorance and pride can create the Matthew 7:21 scenario.
A couple of things have been biting at my spirit for some time now that I believe have the potential to cause many to cross over into “By-Path Meadow.” You might be surprised at what they are because they are widely accepted in today’s church. On the surface neither is wrong. It’s just that they both have a lot of potential in damaging our quest to hear Jesus say “Well done, good and faithful servant…"(Matthew 25:21) when we stand before Him on Judgment Day.
The Personal Relationship Thing
The first is the phrase that so many preachers use to entice people to answer the altar call and become Christians: “You can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” Now, I’m not saying that is false. God is a very personal God. We all know Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” There are also these words from Psalm 139:1-5:
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.
Add to that what Jesus said “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). Clearly, our God is a very personal God.
Then what is the problem with advocating for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
Every single personal relationship that we have as human beings is founded and centered on both persons being equal. One may be taller, one may be smarter, or one may be wealthier than the other. But each believes that any differences do not make one person better than the other. It is not like a business relationship where there is an employer and an employee or even a familial relationship where there are parents and children. Those relationships have a built-in understanding that one person (or group) is greater than the other.
We aren’t equal to Jesus. And so right from the beginning of our “personal relationship” with Him, we are going to have expectations of Him that are based on our belief of equality with all the rest of our personal relationships. So, for example, if I ask Jesus for help in any given trial I am going through and I believe that He can help but He doesn’t help (in the way that I asked Him to) then I will be offended. In every other personal relationship that I have, I expect the other person to help me if I ask them to and if they have the capacity to help me. If they don’t, I’ll take it personally.
Do you see what I’m saying? We all ask God to do something that He can do (healing for ourselves or a loved one, saving us from financial failure, delivering us from the ravages of a hurricane, tornado, or flooding). He could do those things because He’s God. And it’s easy to think He should do those things that we ask because we’re in a personal relationship with Him.
But unlike all our other personal relationships, we are not His equal. He has complete and perfect knowledge of all things. We do not. Isn’t that what He reminded Job of? So many people are hurt because they treated God like they do everyone else they have a personal relationship with and yet He let them down (from their perspective). Sometimes that hurt transforms into a seething resentment. And before long they find themselves in the domain of Giant Despair.
Search the word “Jesus” in a concordance or BibleGateway.com. Look only in the Gospels. When addressing Him personally hardly anyone called Him Jesus. Not the apostles. Not the broader group known as His disciples. Not Nicodemus or even his peers in the Sanhedrin. They called Him “Master,” “Lord,” and “Rabbi.” Very few people I know use titles when talking to someone they are in a personal relationship with. Because it’s unnecessary since equality is understood. How many people today are comfortable with calling Jesus "Master"?
Even when Jesus Himself advocated friendship with others there was a stipulation:
You are my friends if you do what I command you (John 15:14).
Most people reject the idea that anyone they are in a personal relationship with can or even should command them to do anything. It’s not wrong to say that we can have a personal relationship with God. It’s just that there is a lot of unseen baggage that can weigh us down causing us to look across the river longing for comfort rather than truth.
Kingdom Divorced from Heaven
The second thing that has been bothering me is probably related to the personal relationship thing. It’s how we have summarily dropped “kingdom of” from the word “heaven.”
In the Gospel of Matthew the phrase “kingdom of heaven” is used 31 times. John the Baptist used the phrase in 3:2 and Jesus used it first in 4:17. Luke used “kingdom of God” 31 times in his gospel and 6 times in Acts. Have you noticed that there isn’t much talk today about God’s kingdom?
It’s just “heaven” now. Is that wrong? Not necessarily. Heaven is real and Jesus is its Creator and Architect (John 14:2). But why have so many ditched the ‘kingdom’ from heaven and God? Surely those two additional words (‘kingdom of’) aren’t being deemed unnecessary are they?
Maybe it's because words like “Master,” “Lord,” or even “King” grate against the notion of a personal relationship that is understood to be founded on equality. Maybe it’s also because “a place for you” has been interpreted as “a gift to you” which usually means that it is yours to do with as you wish.
Many people seemed to have lost their vision of God’s majesty and His sovereignty. I frequently hear people talk about heaven without ever mentioning God. Heaven to them is little more than an everlasting family reunion minus the distractions of the black sheep of the family and the frequent inclement weather that pours cold water on the proceedings.
Friends don’t give us commands or give us gifts that have strings attached…right?
Let me close by suggesting that we go to the book of Revelation and pay a little more attention to what is revealed in heaven than on earth. Too many people want to focus on the carnage on earth and the beast and his false prophet. Instead take a look at what those already in heaven are saying and doing.
The four living creatures cry out continuously about God’s holiness (4:8). The twenty-four elders respond by falling down before His throne speaking of His worthiness, His honor, and His power (4:11). They sing together of the Lamb’s worthiness to take the scroll and open its seals (5:9-10). The twenty-four elders give thanks to God after the seventh trumpet is blown for reigning and finally dealing with the wicked nations of the earth (11:17-18). The Tribulation overcomers laud God for His perfect justice calling Him “King of the nations” adding that now all will worship Him (15:3-4). Finally, the song of the great multitude in heaven is recorded in 19.
Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God … Give praise to our God, all you His bong-servants, you who fear Him … Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.
That isn’t the ‘man upstairs’ who is giving the saints an updated Garden of Eden for them to do with as they see fit while He lounges on His throne somewhere else.
Rather, that’s the King of Heaven. Salvation doesn’t make us His equal. The Godhead reigns as the supreme Potentate of all that is. Remember, Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done… If that is what is meant by having a ‘personal relationship with Jesus Christ” then by all means, come forward. But is that what people understand at the altar when encouraged about that relationship? Or is it more like responding to the altar call will make Jesus my co-pilot? You know, just sit there and listen to me and only take control in an emergency.
You were loved by God before you answered the altar call (1 John 4:19). You were known by your Creator before you were even conceived (Jeremiah 1:5).
Salvation is about belonging. Heaven is a kingdom, not a reward.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
