don't do what you think is good, do God's will
September 8, 2012
Many commentaries say that from this passage, we can see that Jesus didn't know those people who had driven out demons or performed miracles in His name because they did it with evil intentions, seeking attention for themselves and not glorifying God. I agree that this is true - one who seeks attention and glory for himself is a false disciple of Christ.
But I believe this is not the whole picture presented in this passage and it is misleading to leave it at that. If we look at vs 22 in the context of it following after verse 21:
This is of utmost importance: KNOWING the will of God & then DOING it (how can we do what we do not know?)
I don't see this passage clearly referring to the intentions of the people but rather to the fact that those who Jesus knows, those who will enter the kingdom of Heaven are those who do the will of God (which would indicate that they also knew what the will of God was for them).
This is so very important & challenging because from this passage, I believe it would indicate that even if we had good intentions, but it wasn't what God has called us to do or willed for us to do, we are doing evil, for anything done apart from the will of God must be seen as such - evil.
Driving out demons? performing miracles? These are all really good things from our perspective, and the people who do these things may have the best intentions to help people, to preach the Gospel, to release people from their bondage, but were they called to do that? Did they know it was God's will for them to do that?
There are countless stories and examples of people who neglect their homes, their children, their family, their jobs & run off to serving in the church - all with good intentions & a passionate zeal for God. But what exactly is God calling them to? Is it His will to for them to neglect their families & perform terribly at work and yet run at every ministry opportunity open in the church? Is this what the life of a disciple looks like? When we run after what we desire or believe is good & beneficial for the kingdom of God apart from it actually being God's will for us to do so, we will always be neglecting what it is that God has actually called us to do.
Jesus only picked 12 disciples. Why? Jesus' ministry did not start until he was 30 & it lasted only about 3 years. Why? Why not start earlier when he was 12 years old and knew His calling (as we can interpret from the temple incident with his earthly parents)? Why not have a longer, more extensive ministry with more disciples, with more teaching, with more miracles, and expand His ministry into even the Gentile nations? Because He knew the Father's will & He came to do that only. (John 5:30, ESV&NASB) He knew the will of God in regards to how many disciples, in regards to when his ministry starts, in regards to how long the ministry would be, and, ultimately, in regards to what the purpose of His becoming flesh was - to die on the cross.
And that in itself is a huge stumbling block for us by worldly standards. By our standards, whatever looks good, must be good to do right? We would see a successful ministry as one that has many disciples, is extensive & long, is filled with healings, miracles, demon exorcisms, etc. But by God's standards, the one who is the true disciple of Christ is not the one who does a lot of 'good' or even helpful things, but the one who does the will of God, even if it makes absolutely no sense to other Christians and is even ridiculous by the world's standards. For does not the world regard the death of Christ as ridiculous? By worldly standards, his ministry was cut short by his death, his disciples all left him when trouble came (one even betrayed him!), he wasted 30 years of his life doing who knows what (carpentry?) when he could have began preaching. And so on.
But God has made foolish the wisdom of this world. Christ's death is the greatest victory there ever was & that will ever be; it has brought forth God's purposes in redeeming the world, in making us sons & daughters of Him, in releasing people from bondage to sin & the flesh. Christ's death was the will of God and it accomplished His purposes &is in reality, a success because God's purposes stand & have been accomplished.
And so it is for us. We must die to ourselves - our every idea, inclination or 'discernment' of what is bad, but even more so to what we think is good & right &helpful to bringing others to Christ. For what we think is good & right in ministering to others may not be what God has called us to do &will bring us &them much trouble without us even realizing it.
We really must consider & believe that just because something is good & right & you have good intentions does not mean you ought to do it to minister to others. What we are called to do is the will of God &so let us seek to truly know what God's will for us is in every situation - dying to our every idea of what is good/bad, wise/unwise, beneficial/unbeneficial and purpose to not know anything or do anything outside the will of God as He has revealed it to us - for this is the mark of a true disciple of Christ.
21 “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. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible, because it speaks of what is of utmost importance to a true disciple of Christ and gives us both a very clear warning & an exhortation to do what is important.
Many commentaries say that from this passage, we can see that Jesus didn't know those people who had driven out demons or performed miracles in His name because they did it with evil intentions, seeking attention for themselves and not glorifying God. I agree that this is true - one who seeks attention and glory for himself is a false disciple of Christ.
But I believe this is not the whole picture presented in this passage and it is misleading to leave it at that. If we look at vs 22 in the context of it following after verse 21:
“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.we can see that contextually, those who in verse 22 Jesus states He never knew (&so could not enter the kingdom of heaven) are those who do not do the will of the Father (as stated in the 2nd part of vs 21, sandwiched between the two same warnings that Jesus does not know these people).
This is of utmost importance: KNOWING the will of God & then DOING it (how can we do what we do not know?)
I don't see this passage clearly referring to the intentions of the people but rather to the fact that those who Jesus knows, those who will enter the kingdom of Heaven are those who do the will of God (which would indicate that they also knew what the will of God was for them).
This is so very important & challenging because from this passage, I believe it would indicate that even if we had good intentions, but it wasn't what God has called us to do or willed for us to do, we are doing evil, for anything done apart from the will of God must be seen as such - evil.
Driving out demons? performing miracles? These are all really good things from our perspective, and the people who do these things may have the best intentions to help people, to preach the Gospel, to release people from their bondage, but were they called to do that? Did they know it was God's will for them to do that?
There are countless stories and examples of people who neglect their homes, their children, their family, their jobs & run off to serving in the church - all with good intentions & a passionate zeal for God. But what exactly is God calling them to? Is it His will to for them to neglect their families & perform terribly at work and yet run at every ministry opportunity open in the church? Is this what the life of a disciple looks like? When we run after what we desire or believe is good & beneficial for the kingdom of God apart from it actually being God's will for us to do so, we will always be neglecting what it is that God has actually called us to do.
Jesus only picked 12 disciples. Why? Jesus' ministry did not start until he was 30 & it lasted only about 3 years. Why? Why not start earlier when he was 12 years old and knew His calling (as we can interpret from the temple incident with his earthly parents)? Why not have a longer, more extensive ministry with more disciples, with more teaching, with more miracles, and expand His ministry into even the Gentile nations? Because He knew the Father's will & He came to do that only. (John 5:30, ESV&NASB) He knew the will of God in regards to how many disciples, in regards to when his ministry starts, in regards to how long the ministry would be, and, ultimately, in regards to what the purpose of His becoming flesh was - to die on the cross.
And that in itself is a huge stumbling block for us by worldly standards. By our standards, whatever looks good, must be good to do right? We would see a successful ministry as one that has many disciples, is extensive & long, is filled with healings, miracles, demon exorcisms, etc. But by God's standards, the one who is the true disciple of Christ is not the one who does a lot of 'good' or even helpful things, but the one who does the will of God, even if it makes absolutely no sense to other Christians and is even ridiculous by the world's standards. For does not the world regard the death of Christ as ridiculous? By worldly standards, his ministry was cut short by his death, his disciples all left him when trouble came (one even betrayed him!), he wasted 30 years of his life doing who knows what (carpentry?) when he could have began preaching. And so on.
But God has made foolish the wisdom of this world. Christ's death is the greatest victory there ever was & that will ever be; it has brought forth God's purposes in redeeming the world, in making us sons & daughters of Him, in releasing people from bondage to sin & the flesh. Christ's death was the will of God and it accomplished His purposes &is in reality, a success because God's purposes stand & have been accomplished.
And so it is for us. We must die to ourselves - our every idea, inclination or 'discernment' of what is bad, but even more so to what we think is good & right &helpful to bringing others to Christ. For what we think is good & right in ministering to others may not be what God has called us to do &will bring us &them much trouble without us even realizing it.
We really must consider & believe that just because something is good & right & you have good intentions does not mean you ought to do it to minister to others. What we are called to do is the will of God &so let us seek to truly know what God's will for us is in every situation - dying to our every idea of what is good/bad, wise/unwise, beneficial/unbeneficial and purpose to not know anything or do anything outside the will of God as He has revealed it to us - for this is the mark of a true disciple of Christ.
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