True & False Disciples

October 5, 2025

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-23

Suspected drug dealer Alfred Acree thought he could escape the police officers by running into a wooded area at night. However, the officers had no difficulty in tracking him as Alfred was wearing a brand-new pair of L.A. Gear New Light tennis shoes. These shoes featured battery-operated lights that flashed every time the heel was depressed. As a result, the officers were able to follow him. Sadly, so many professing Christians deceive themselves and think they will escape God’s judgment.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus tells us that on the day of judgment there will be some who are surprised to find that they are outside of the Kingdom of God. There will be some, who believed true things about Jesus, and who did good things in the name of Jesus, and yet they never truly became His disciples. This reality can be concerning, but we should be thankful for this warning. Many have deceived themselves into believing they belong to God when they are far from Him. Jesus, in his love, warns us about the danger of self-deception. So, let’s look.

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. 

There will be some who think Jesus as their Lord but will not enter heaven. A mere profession of Jesus as Savior is not enough to save! Merely professing belief in Jesus is not enough to save your soul. Self is really the lord of their life. Many professing Christians are like this as they are guilty of making Christ only a figurehead while continuing to do their own selfish will.

Jesus is saying that there will be some who will think they are saved, but they are deceived. They might think this way because someone told them just pray this little prayer and you will be saved. So, you prayed, in a sense signed on the dotted line, so you think you are saved. They are given a false sense of assurance. Yet, in Matthew 13, Jesus makes it clear that the seed, the word is cast on four soils: the path, the rocks, the thorns, and good soil. It was only the seed that fell on the good soil that were saved. So many professing believers have a cheap grace perspective.

Others will be deceived by a fixation on religious activity and good work. They have a works salvation mentality. They trust in their own good work to get them into heaven. This is self-righteousness. The religious leaders suffered from this deception. This sin gives one the illusion that you are doing what is right, true and good before God, yet it is based on your own way to have a right relationship with the Lord, not based on having a relationship with the LORD through Jesus. Belonging to the church, being a good person, doing religious things are all good, but none of them can save the soul!

Another thing that I think lulls people into this deception is a failure of self-examination. They hold onto cheap grace. Since I received Jesus, I am forgiven. Yet, they never really bother to face and deal with their sin. This is an issue today and it was an issue even during Paul’s ministry. He wrote in Romans 6:1,2, What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

So many have the perspective that since I received Jesus, I can live the way I want to. They don’t examine themselves and desire to be obedient to the Lord.

So, Jesus is saying here is that it is not enough to profess Jesus's lordship, if you don't believe that in your heart! What really matters is doing the will of the Heavenly Father.

Jesus set the example for a life devoted to doing the will of God. In John 4:34, Jesus said, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

He said in John 5:30, I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 6:38, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Then when Jesus was facing the horrors of the cross and bearing the sins of humankind, He said, “Not my will, but Yours be done,” Luke 22:42. 

Jesus set the example of doing God’s will. He desires for us to do His will. In the Lord’s prayer he taught us to pray, Thy will be done.

In our text, the one who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter His kingdom. What is God’s will for us. Here I think of John MacArthur’s book, Found God’s Will. He notes several New Testament references that indicate what it means to do God’s will.

1. Doing God’s will begins by being saved. The Lord desires people to repent of their sin and come to a knowledge of the truth in knowing Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior (I Timothy 2:3,4 states, This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (Also note Acts 2:37-40; II Peter 3:9).

1. Doing God’s will is to walk wisely and to be Spirit-filled. Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15-18, So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. In Paul’s parallel passage to Ephesians 5, Paul says in Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Being wise, being Spirit-filled is when we are saturated with God’s truth! God’s word takes hold of our mind! It takes hold of our emotions, and the word takes hold of our will.

1. Doing God’s will is to be sanctified (I Thessalonians 4:3; I Peter 4:2-7). We are to live holy lives. We are to separate ourselves from sinfulness and reflect a Christlike character.

1. Doing God’s will is to put on a submissive attitude (James 4:7; Ephesians 5:21; Romans 13:1-7). We are to have a humble attitude towards the Lord and others.

5.Doing God’s is to be saying thanks (I Thessalonians 5:18). We are to have a grateful heart! So much more could be said about this topic in doing God’s will. I encourage you to research, google, and/or read a book on this topic of the will of God.

Now, if I had to sum what it means to do the will of God is, I would say the will of God is shown through obedience to the LORD! True faith results in obedience. While we are not saved by our works the Scriptures clearly indicates that those who truly know Jesus will live obediently (Note Ephesians 2:8-10; John 4:15-23; John 15:10; I John 5:3).

D.A. Carson stated, It is true that no man enters the kingdom because of his obedience; but it is equally true that no man enters the kingdom who is not obedient. It is true that men are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ; but it is equally true that God’s grace in man’s life inevitably results in obedience.

Principle 1: False disciples will acknowledge Jesus as being Lord, but a true disciple will not only acknowledge Jesus as Lord but will also obey His will, His instructions, His commands.

Now, from my experience, I am not convinced an unsaved person can honestly say the statement Jesus is Lord (I Corinthians 12:3). Even if I am wrong as one does profess Jesus is Lord, they also need to believe this in his/her heart. Romans 10:9 states, If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. If one truly believes in Jesus from the heart, one desires to love the Lord, to honor Him, to obey Him, to serve Him! One makes Jesus Lord of their life, instead of continuing to have self as lord of one’s life.

1. S. Lewis in his book, The Great Divorce, stated, There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.’

Verse 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?’ 

On that day refers to the day when everyone will have to give an account to God. It is judgment day!

You can imagine the scene. The person has just been told that even though you acknowledge Jesus as the Lord, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You didn’t do the Lord’s will. So, this person speaks up and says, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ 

These people are astonished to be standing before the Lord in judgement. They are now trying to justify themselves. They try to make a case for themselves why Jesus should let them into the kingdom of heaven. They not only identify Jesus as Lord, but they also have impressive resumes of things done in the name of Jesus including miraculous things. However, this passage makes it clear that doing miraculous things in the name of Jesus is not necessarily a sign of belonging to Jesus.

Throughout the Scriptures, we find false prophets who can do miracles.

In Deuteronomy 13, Moses warned that there would be those who would come perform supernatural wonders as a test “to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” 

In Philippians 1:15-17 Paul speaks of those that were preaching Christ even from envy and strife and out of selfish ambition, rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. 

In Acts 19:13-17 we find the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who made their living as exorcists. In this passage we find them trying to cast the demons out of man saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” In this case the evil spirit turned on them saying, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” where upon the demon in the man caused him to leap on them and over power them so that they fled the house naked. The fact that they had been doing this from place to place indicates that they had had some success in casting out demons.

Matthew 24:24 states, For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 

Here we find these people standing before the Lord trying to justify themselves because of all the wonderful things they did in the name of Jesus, yet the sad truth is that they were completely self-deceived. These people appealed to their works to save them. Their lives and their words show they loved and trusted themselves and not God. Notice that their whole claim to Heaven rests in what "they" have done!

Principle 2: A false disciple will base their salvation on their own good works, their self-righteousness. A true disciple will base their salvation on what Jesus has done for them.

Listen, it does not matter how many good works you do. Isaiah 64:6 notes this, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.

After these people try to make a case for the Lord to let them into the kingdom, Jesus will respond. Verse 23 states, Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Jesus tells them plainly that he did not know them. They may have claimed to know Jesus, they may have said they were His disciples, they may have done good things “in His name,” but in the end, they never really knew Him and Jesus never knew them.

Listen, it is all about Jesus knowing you and you knowing Jesus! John 10:14, 15 states, I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

Jesus said in John 10:27, 28, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

In John 17:3, Jesus said, Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

II Timothy 2:19 states, Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.

Saul, who became Paul went from a self-righteous perspective to knowing Jesus. He writes in  Philippians 3:4-10a, If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—

One of my core desires is to know Christ even more! Paul goes on in Philippians 3, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. 

My prayer is that each of you will press on in knowing Jesus!

Brother Lawrence in the Practice of the Presence of God wrote, Let us give our thoughts completely to knowing God. The more one knows him, the more one wants to know him, and since love is measured commonly by knowledge, then, the deeper and more extensive knowledge shall be, so love will be the greater, and, if love is great, we shall love him equally in suffering and consolation.

Principle 3: A false disciple is not known by Jesus or knows Jesus. A true disciple is known by Jesus, knows Jesus and desires to know Him even more!

Jesus then says at the end of verse 23, Away/depart from me, you evildoers!

This is a reminder of the awful end for those who don’t belong to the Kingdom of God. Because they have failed to place their faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. They will go to hell because they chose their way over God's way. The real test of a genuine Christian, a person with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, is the fruit of righteousness. Those that are disobedient to God are those who make up their own standard of righteousness. They have their own standard of righteousness and do not want to submit to God’s righteous standard!

These verses from Jesus are a warning and a call for us to examine our hearts. We are not saved by believing true things or by doing good things in the name of Jesus. We are saved by knowing Jesus! It is by grace through faith in Him alone. His amazing grace motivates us to live in obedience to Him. This is what it means to be His disciple.

An engraving on a cathedral in Lubeck, Germany reflects our Lord’s teaching. Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us, You call Me master and obey Me not, you call Me light and see Me not, you call Me the way and walk Me not, you call Me life and live Me not, you call me wise and follow Me not, you call Me fair and love me not, you call Me rich and ask me not, you call me eternal and seek Me not, if I condemn thee, blame Me not.

Let me close with this story. Arthur F. Burns, the former chairperson of the United States Federal Reserve System and ambassador to West Germany, was a man of considerable gravity. Medium in height, distinguished, with wavy silver hair and his signature pipe, he was economic counselor to a number of presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan. When he spoke, his opinions carried weight, and Washington listened. Arthur Burns was also Jewish, so when he began attending an informal White House group for prayer and fellowship in the 1970s. No one in the group knew how to involve him in the group, and, week after week when different people took turns to end the meeting in prayer, Burns was never asked to pray. One week, however, the group was led by a newcomer. As the meeting ended, the newcomer turned to Arthur Burns and asked him to close the time with a prayer. Some of the old-timers glanced at each other in surprise and wondered what would happen. But without missing a beat, Burns reached out, held hands with others in the circle, and prayed this prayer: "Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ. Amen." (Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, (W Publishing, 2003), p. 101).

How about you? Will you make the decision to know Jesus either for the first time or to know Him more and more deeply?