The title comes from words in Matthew 7. On the last day some people will say to Jesus, “Lord, Lord, did we not do great things in your name?” And Jesus will answer, “I never knew you.”
What is this page about?
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’
Matthew 7:21–23 · World English Bible
In simple words: Not everyone who calls me “Lord, Lord” will come into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants will come in. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord! We spoke God’s messages in your name. In your name we sent away evil spirits and did many great works.” Then I will tell them, “I never knew you. Go away from me, you who do evil.”
People often preach these verses as a test for everyone in church. “Many who think that they are Christians will be sent away. So do not think that you are safe. Look hard at yourself until you are sure.”
Is the passage for that? There are two ways to read it.
Reading one
A warning to people who are too sure of themselves.The passage shows people who are sure because of what they have done. It speaks to everyone in one way: to say “Lord” and not do God’s will is empty. But the people in it are prophets and miracle workers. Its purpose is to take away false confidence. It is not there to frighten people who already struggle. This page agrees with this reading.
Reading two
A test for every church member.The passage should shake everyone until each person finds enough evidence in himself. Many will be surprised on the last day, so nobody should feel safe. People who read it this way usually mean well. They want to wake up careless people. This page tests this reading.
Both readings agree that there will be a judgement, and that empty religion saves nobody. The difference is this: who is the warning for? And where should a worried Christian look?
The short answer
1. The people who are sent away have done great things. They spoke God’s messages, sent away evil spirits and did miracles in the name of Jesus. Most Christians have never done any of these things. It is a list of successes in ministry.
2. The paragraph is about false prophets. It begins: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15). It says that we will know them by their fruits. Verses 21 to 23 show what happens to that group on the last day. One of the oldest Christian books, from about the year 100, used the same test on travelling preachers. It did not use it on church members.
3. Gifts do not prove anything. The Bible has many people who spoke God’s messages or did wonders and did not belong to God. Balaam is one. King Saul is one. Judas is one: Jesus sent him out with the twelve to send away evil spirits. About the year 400 a church teacher wrote that such gifts often do not come from the goodness of the person who does them. John Calvin said in 1555 that Christ speaks here also of false pastors who look good on the outside.
4. The word “iniquity” points the same way. It means doing wrong against God’s law. In Matthew, Jesus uses it for the Pharisees: “you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:28). It is the word for religion that looks good only on the outside.
5. Jesus uses the words of a weak man’s prayer. See Part 3.
6. These people are sure. They do not doubt. They argue with Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel they say: “We ate and drank in your presence” (Luke 13:26). They point to how close they were to him. In both Gospels, they are sure.
7. Jesus corrects sure people and receives weak people. See Part 4.
8. The cure for false confidence is not to look inside yourself more. See Part 5.
This is my opinion. Matthew 7:21-23 is aimed at people who are sure. It is usually fired at people who are unsure. It describes people with a stage. It is usually preached from a stage to people who have none.
The warning is real, and it is for everyone. But think of the person in the back seat who asks if God could love someone like him. He is not the person in this passage. The person in this passage has never asked that question. He has a list.
Is it in the text?
Here are some sentences about the people in Matthew 7:22-23. Does the text say each one?
- “They called Jesus Lord.” Yes, two times.
- “They had a public ministry.” Yes. They spoke God’s messages, sent away evil spirits and did miracles in his name.
- “They were ordinary church members who came every Sunday.” The text does not say this. Everything it says describes a public ministry.
- “They had always worried about whether they were saved.” The text says the opposite. They argue with Jesus. They expect him to say yes.
- “Jesus knew them once, and later they fell away.” The text says something different: “I never knew you.” Not even when they were doing their great works.
- “The passage comes right after a warning about false prophets.” Yes (Matthew 7:15-20).
Who first said “Depart from me”?
When Jesus says “Depart from me, you who work iniquity”, he is using words from Psalm 6. Read the psalm and see who is speaking.
Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am faint.
Psalm 6:2 · World English Bible
In simple words: Have mercy on me, Lord, because I am weak.
I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears.
Psalm 6:6 · World English Bible
In simple words: I am tired from my crying. Every night my bed is wet with my tears.
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for Yahweh has heard the voice of my weeping.
Psalm 6:8 · World English Bible
In simple words: Go away from me, all you who do evil. The Lord has heard my crying.
The man who says “Depart from me” has nothing to show. He is afraid that God is angry with him. His only reason for asking is “I am weak”. And his confidence does not come from inside him. It comes from outside: God has heard.
This is the opposite of the people in Matthew 7, who come with a list. When Jesus uses the words of this psalm, he stands where the crying man stood.
Are you worried about your faith? Then this is your place in the sentence. You are not with the people who are sent away. You are with the man whose tears were heard.
Corrected or received?
Look at how Jesus acts in the Gospels.
Jesus corrects people who trust in themselves:
- A Pharisee prayed in the temple: “God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men” (Luke 18:11). Jesus told this story for people who were sure of their own goodness.
- Peter said: “Even if all will be made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.” (Matthew 26:33) Jesus told him that he would deny him three times that same night.
Jesus receives people in their weakness:
- A tax collector prayed: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13) Jesus said that this man went home right with God.
- Peter began to sink in the water and cried: “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30) At once Jesus put out his hand and caught him.
- A father cried: “I believe. Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Jesus healed his child.
- After Jesus rose, his followers bowed down to him on the mountain, “but some doubted” (Matthew 28:17). He sent them all out, the doubting ones too, to teach and to baptize.
The Bible says this about Jesus: “He won’t break a bruised reed.” (Matthew 12:20) A bruised reed is a thin plant that is bent and hurt. It is a picture of a weak person.
Where does confidence rest?
Listen to the words of the people who are sent away: “Did we not prophesy in your name?” The name of Jesus is there three times. But each time it is a tool that they used. Their confidence is in their own record.
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the name comes again, in the opposite way. Jesus tells his followers to baptize “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Here the person does not use the name. The name is put on him.
This is the difference between two kinds of confidence. One says, “Lord, did we not…?” The other says, “Lord, did you not…?”
The Bible warns that we cannot fully trust our own hearts. Our heart can wrongly call us innocent, and it can wrongly call us guilty. So John writes:
if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things
1 John 3:20 · World English Bible
In simple words: If our heart tells us that we are guilty, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
For hundreds of years the church answered a troubled Christian in the same way. It pointed him outside himself, to what Christ has given: his Word, baptism, forgiveness and the Lord’s Supper. Luther taught troubled people to say: “Nevertheless I am baptized”. In simple words: “But I am baptized.” Calvin wrote that when we fall, we must remember our baptism.
Can a person use baptism like a lucky sign? Yes, and Paul warns against it. The people of Israel all passed through the sea with Moses, and many still fell. So Paul says: “let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). But notice two things. He warns people who are too sure. And in the next verse he comforts people who struggle: “God is faithful” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
To hold on to God’s promise is not the same as to show off your own record.
Faith says, “You promised.”
False confidence says, “We did.”
Even the strict English Christians of the 1600s agreed that feeling sure proves nothing. They were famous for looking closely at themselves. A well-known story from 1678 tells of a man who is sent away at the very gate of heaven. His name is Ignorance. People ask him why he is so sure. He answers: “My heart tells me so.”
Now look at some sentences. What does each one rest on: on me, or on God?
- “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?” On me.
- “But I am baptized. And if I am baptized, I have God’s promise that I will be saved.” On God. Something was done to me, and God’s promise is joined to it.
“I know that I am saved because I remember the night when I decided.”
On me. It rests on a memory of my own act. What about a day when I am not sure of the memory?
“I do not feel very spiritual this week. But Christ’s body was given for me, and he said so.”
On God.
- In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus sends away proud people who point to their great works.
- The paragraph is a warning about false prophets.
- Jesus corrects people who trust in themselves. He receives weak and doubting people.
- A worried Christian should look at what God has done and promised, not at his own record.
Check it yourself
- Do this one. Read Matthew 7:13-27 in one sitting. Where does the part about false prophets begin and end?
- Read Psalm 6, and then Matthew 7:23. Who says “Depart from me” in the psalm, and how does he feel?
- Read Luke 18:9-14. Who went home right with God?
- Read Matthew 12:20, Matthew 14:28-31 and Matthew 28:16-20. How does Jesus treat weak and doubting people?
- Have you heard this passage used to make believers doubt? Then ask the teacher politely: “In verse 22, what had those people done? Were they sure or unsure of themselves? And where would you send a person who is already afraid?”
The Bible words on this page come from the World English Bible. It is a modern translation, and anyone may copy it. The quick version and the full dossier use the King James Version, which is older and harder to read. The words are different, but the meaning is the same.
Want to read more?
The quick version says the same things in ordinary English and adds short exercises. The full dossier gives all the evidence and names every source.
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