What this is about
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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:21–23
These verses are often preached as a test for everyone in church: lots of people who think they are Christians will be turned away, so don’t assume you’re safe — look hard at yourself until you’re sure. This page asks whether that is what the passage is for. There are two ways of reading it:
Reading one: a warning to the over-confident
The passage exposes people who are sure of themselves because of what they have doneIt applies to everyone in the sense that saying “Lord” without doing God’s will is empty. But the people it describes are prophets and miracle-workers, and its purpose is to take away false confidence, not to frighten people who are already struggling. This is what the page holds.Reading two: a test for every churchgoer
The passage is meant to shake everyone’s assurance until they find enough evidence in themselvesMany will be surprised on the last day, so nobody should feel safe. Those who read it this way usually mean well: they want to wake up careless people. This is the reading the page tests.Both readings agree that there will be a judgment and that empty religion saves no one. The difference is about who the warning is aimed at, and where a worried Christian is meant to look.
What this page is not doing
It doesn’t discuss whether miracles still happen, whether a Christian can lose his salvation, or predestination. Earlier dossiers cover the nearby ground: Dead Rituals?, When Were You Born Again? and How to Make a Child Anxious. It names no living person and no church. It says nothing about whether anyone is a Christian.
The short answer
- The people turned away are high achievers. They prophesied, cast out demons and did miracles in Jesus’ name. Most Christians have never done any of those things. This is a list of ministry achievements.
- The paragraph is about false prophets. It begins, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing” (7:15), and tells you to know them “by their fruits”. Verses 21–23 show that group found out on the last day. One of the earliest Christian writings, the Didache (around 100), used the same test on visiting preachers, not on church members.
- Gifts aren’t proof of anything. The Bible is full of people who prophesied or did wonders and weren’t God’s: Balaam, King Saul, Caiaphas, even Judas, who was sent out with the Twelve to cast out demons. Around 400, Jerome wrote that such gifts are “often not of his deserts who performs the works”. In 1555 Calvin said Christ speaks here not only of false prophets but of “hirelings, who insinuate themselves, under fair appearances, as pastors”.
- The word “iniquity” points the same way. In Matthew it describes the Pharisees, who “outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within … are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (23:28), and the age of “many false prophets” (24:11–12). Religion that looks good on the outside.
- Jesus is quoting a prayer of the weak. “Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity” comes from Psalm 6. There, it’s said by a man who is weak, afraid and crying all night, and who can say it only because “the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.” The anxious believer’s line in this sentence is the psalmist’s.
- They’re confident, not doubting. They argue with Jesus. In Greek, their questions are the kind that expect the answer “yes”. In Luke’s version they point to having been close to him: “We have eaten and drunk in thy presence” (13:26). Either way, they are sure.
- Jesus rebukes the confident and receives the weak. He told the story of the proud Pharisee and the tax collector who could only say “God be merciful to me a sinner” — and the tax collector “went down to his house justified”. He caught Peter when he sank. He sent out disciples of whom “some doubted”. He will not break “a bruised reed” (Matthew 12:20).
- The cure for false confidence is not more looking inward. The men in Matthew 7 point to what they did. The Church has always pointed troubled Christians to what God did and promised: his word, and above all baptism, where his name is put on us. Luther taught the troubled to say, “Nevertheless I am baptized.” Calvin: “as often as we fall, we must recall the remembrance of our baptism.”
The first exercise: is it in the text?
Seven statements about the people in Matthew 7:22–23. For each, decide whether the text says it, doesn’t say it, or says something different. Commit before you read the answer.
0 of 7 answered.
Whose line is “Depart from me”?
When Jesus says “depart from me, ye that work iniquity”, he is quoting Psalm 6. Read the psalm, and notice who is speaking:
O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger … Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak … I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears … Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
Psalm 6:1–8
The man who says “Depart from me” has nothing to show. He is frightened that God is angry with him. His only reason to be heard is “for I am weak”. And his confidence doesn’t come from anything inside him. It comes from outside: God has heard.
That’s the opposite of the people in Matthew 7, who come with a list. When Jesus uses the psalm’s words, he stands where the weeping man stood. If you are anxious about your faith, that is your place in this sentence: not with the people being sent away, but with the one whose tears were heard.
The second exercise: rebuked or received?
Six scenes from the Gospels. For each, decide whether Jesus rebukes the person’s confidence in themselves or receives them in their weakness.
0 of 6 answered.
Where confidence rests
Listen to how the rejected talk: “have we not prophesied in thy name?” Jesus’ name is there three times, but always as a tool they used. Their confidence is in their own record.
At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the name appears again, the other way round: “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (28:19). Here the person doesn’t use the name. The name is put on him.
That’s the difference between two kinds of confidence. One says, “Lord, didn’t we…?” The other says, “Lord, didn’t you…?” The Bible warns that our own hearts are unreliable — they can wrongly let us off, and they can wrongly condemn us. So John writes: “if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart” (1 John 3:20). For centuries the Church answered a troubled Christian by pointing him outside himself, to what Christ has given: his word, baptism, forgiveness and the Lord’s Supper. (The dossier Dead Rituals? goes into this.)
Can baptism be treated as a lucky charm? Yes, and Paul warns against it: Israel was “baptized unto Moses” and still fell, so “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10). But he warns the over-confident, and in the next breath he comforts the struggling: “God is faithful.” Holding on to God’s promise isn’t the same as showing off a record. Faith says “you promised”. Presumption says “we did”.
Even the Puritans, who were famous for self-examination, agreed that confidence proves nothing. In The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), the man turned away at the very gate of heaven is called Ignorance, and when he is asked why he is so sure, he says: “My heart tells me so.”
The third exercise: what does it rest on?
Six statements of assurance. Some are from history; some are made up by this page (labelled). For each, decide what the confidence rests on: me, or God.
0 of 6 answered.
Check it yourself
Six things, all short, nearly all free.
- 1. Matthew 7:13–27, in one sitting. Do this one. Ten minutes. Ignore the headings your Bible adds. Where does the part about false prophets begin and end?
- 2. Psalm 6, then Matthew 7:23. Five minutes. Who says “Depart from me” in the psalm, and how is he feeling?
- 3. Luke 18:9–14. Three minutes. The Pharisee and the tax collector. Who went home justified?
- 4. Matthew 12:20; 14:28–31; 28:16–20. Five minutes. How Jesus treats the weak and the doubting.
- 5. Luther’s Large Catechism on baptism, and Calvin’s Institutes 4.15.3. Fifteen minutes, both free online. Where the Reformers sent troubled Christians.
- 6. One question, put to whoever taught you. Do this one too. If you’ve heard this passage used to make believers doubt, ask politely: in verse 22, what had those people been doing, and were they sure or unsure of themselves? And: where would you send someone who is already afraid?
Want the whole thing?
The full dossier walks through Matthew 7:13–27 step by step, looks at every use of “iniquity” in Matthew, reads Psalm 6 verse by verse, compares Luke’s version side by side, quotes the early Church, Luther, Calvin, Trent, Westminster, Bunyan and Edwards, publishes the prompt that produced it, and ends with a seven-question check that shows you which way the passage is facing you.
Read the full dossier → Simple English →