Known by Him
One of the most puzzling verses in the Bible is taught by our Lord Jesus is in Matthew 7:23. And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ If a person drives out demons and performs miracles in Jesus's name. How will our Lord deny that person?
ENGLISH - SALVATION OF SOULS
YTM
4/19/20264 min read
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)
This famous paragraph was recorded by Matthew as part of the Sermon on the Mount. The initial reading of the scripts are very confusing for me. How can people who comes to the Lord and He rejected them? Clearly, these people are not "ordinary" Christians. According to their words, they prophesied in Lord's name, they cast out demons and performed miracles in Jesus's name. Our Lord did not say such claims are false, but rather He said He never knew them and they are evildoers (work iniquity).
Many years ago, when I was still in the traditional church, I was told that such people (many) were those who are from the "charismatic movement" teachings. Because many people claim that they can prophesy, they can cast out demons and perform many miracles. At that time, since I was heavily influenced by the Cessationism, I thought, naively, such "charismatic church people" are in big trouble because they will be rejected by the Lord in the end. As for me, since I did not perform any miracles and could not prophesy, and even could not cast out demons. I must hold the truth. I will make it to the Kingdom of God in the end for sure! You can tell I was in deep bondage by the religious spirit.
To understand why Lord Jesus will reject them, we have three points.
First, the context showed that such people are false prophets. Jesus taught us to know "their fruits", then by their fruits, we will know who are the false prophets. Book of Juda and 2nd Peter Chapter 2 have a lot to say about these people. If we can summarize the teachings from the Book of Juda and 2nd Peter, these people have the following characteristics: (1). They appears to be the believers but are wolves in sheep's skin. Someone, who is atheist or does not know about Jesus, does not belong to this group. (2). They are greedy, lovers of money, and only care about their own benefits, even through making up their stories. (3). They despise the authority, bold and arrogant, even not afraid of slander the celestial beings. (4). They eat the love feasts with the Christians but their hearts are never for the body of the Christ. (5). They follow their sinful desire of their flesh and will not live by the Holy spirit.
Second, they are evildoers, or as said in KJV Bible, "work iniquity" . The Greek word here is "anomia", which means lawlessness; the utter disregard for God's law (His written and living Word). This has to do with someone who knowingly, habitually practices evil, rebellion or lives in hypocrisy. As you can tell, most of these people are so-called teachers or prophets, two of the five offices in the church. If the fivefold ministry/offices are to build the church into maturity, these people's work was to tare down the body of Christ.
Third, our Lord said, He never "know" them. The word "know" in Greek is "ginosko", which is the same meaning as the Hebrew word "yada". This word normally translated as "to know". But they mean much more than simply having facts or information. Both words describe deep, first-hand, experiential knowledge and intimate relationship rather than just intellectual understanding. For example, when angle Gabriel told Mary that she will give birth to Jesus. Mary answered that she is a virgin and has not "ginosko (a man)". Book John 8:32 says, you shall know (ginosko) the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Clearly, such "knowing" is not merely head knowledge or information. It involves in intimate relationship and experiences in life. In Matthew 7:23, I am sure Lord Jesus "knows about" them, and knows what they did or said. But Lord Jesus said He "NEVER GINOSKO" them. This means Lord Jesus has no personal relationship with them at all. When they were performing the "miracles", and giving "prophecies", even in the church settings, Jesus or the Holy Spirit was NEVER BE PART OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING. Or in their daily life, Lord Jesus never had experienced them at all. 2 Timothy 2:19 says, The Lord knoweth (ginosko) them that are his. Under this context, Lord Jesus was saying that these people do not belong to Him.
The key of "belong to Christ" is mentioned in Galatians 5:24: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (NIV) So, these people who can not come into the Kingdom of God are those who had never dealt with their flesh even they had very "famous ministry" in the world's standard. But, as it is written in Galatians 5:19-21, people who practice the works of flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (NKJV)
There is very famous song from Gateway Worship, called" Known By You". The song writers are Mark Harris, Kyle Lee, Matthew Harris, and Jessie Harris. I don't know much about them, and I certainly don't know (ginosko) them, but I do know (ginosko) what they wrote in the song:
I could search all this world
I'd still find, there is no one like You
I could gain everything
In the end, all is lost without You
Oh, Jesus, all that I desire
I wanna know You, I wanna know You
I wanna know You and be known by You
I'm gonna love You, give all my heart to You
I wanna know You and be known by You
...
Amen!