Doing Enough

Ruth D. – Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.'” These verses make me fearful, how do you know if you are giving enough denial of self? Should we also ask God to show us our sinful nature when we ask him to forgive us of our sins?

Dave – Do not fear these verses. You are not a person who “practices lawlessness” (willfully doing wrong with no conscience convicting you and no willingness to change). These verses apply to evil people who may fool humans but not God. But did these evil ones actually do those powerful things? Although these examples can be real and done by folks abiding in Jesus, they can also be faked by charlatans. Also, we do not need to know if we are denying our self enough for salvation because no one does. God’s mercy and grace are sufficient for you. If you walk with Him via this, you actually will be denying yourself more than if you sat around fretting about whether or not it’s enough. We walk by faith in His grace, not by sight (or mentally thinking we are perfect). Therefore, do not “set the bar so high” that it exacerbates you so much that you walk around under condemnation (Romans 8:1-2). In other words, do not strive to be good enough to please Him, but live life loving Him and others, feeding on His Word and you will be pleasing to Him. If your love for Him begins to fade, repent, meditate on his crucifixion, and ask Him to fill you with His love. Again, do not strive to “get in love with Him.” Remember – In Christ we are no longer condemned by The Law.