To profess Jesus Christ as Lord is beyond any doubt the greatest confession a person can ever make in his life. Upon such a confession, we find Jesus making the promise to build His church (Matt. 16:18) and the eunuch declaring his saving faith (Acts 8:36-39). This confession is necessary for all men seeking to be saved from their sins that they might go to heaven (Rom. 10:9-10). Yea, no greater confession can be heard from mortal tongue!

Yet, Jesus tells us that this great confession alone is not enough to secure our home in heaven. That’s right! This confession, as powerful as it may be, in and of itself does not have the power to save our souls. Yes, it is the first necessary step in the right direction, but not the only step.

In fact, Jesus tells us that many will make such a confession, but still He will not know them. He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:21-23).

As you can see, saying “Lord, Lord” does not guarantee entrance into the heavenly kingdom. Rather, the kingdom belongs to those who do the will of the Father. Luke recounts the Lord’s words this way, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Indeed, any honest soul cannot help but to be challenged by such a question!

For instance, those who say all one needs to do to be saved is believe in Jesus, or accept Jesus into their hearts, find themselves in condemnation based on these passages. Jesus says salvation belongs to those who do “the will of My father who is in heaven.” Salvation is about doing, not saying! Jesus tells us, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), yet these same people deny the necessity of baptism in God’s plan of salvation. I fear such will hear the words, “depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (sin — 1 John 3:4)!

In like fashion, there are many people who go about doing a lot of good for mankind while professing the name of the Lord. Indeed, such is commendable and necessary. As a matter of fact, we read that we were created for such good works (Eph. 2:10) and that without such good works we shall fall short of heaven (Matt. 25:31:46). However, too often, such people “establish their own righteousness” by not sanctifying the Lord God in their hearts. Such find themselves accomplishing good works in their own ways instead of God’s ways. For example, many churches have organized some man-made institution, bought and paid for with the Lord’s money, to do the work God has ordained for His church or individual Christians to do (i.e., orphan homes, nursing homes, and various other “named” ministries). Such is going beyond God’s word and thereby practicing lawlessness (1 John 3:4).

Additionally, the “many wonderful works” accomplished by such people are rendered vain because of various other lawless practices. They worship God, but not as the first century saints did. Rather, they worship in whatever way makes them feel good (cf. John 4:23-24). Paul wrote, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord…” (Col. 3:17). This obviously does not mean that we simply say, “Lord, Lord” to render our deeds acceptable. Such is clearly exposed as inadequate in Matthew 7:21. Rather it teaches us to do things with the Lord’s authority! We must worship with His authority. We must teach with His authority (cf. 1 Pet. 4:11). Everything we say and do, must be done with His authority! Therefore, professing allegiance to Christ while doing many wonderful works is insufficient, unless of course, it is done as the Lord would have us to do it—that is, by His standard (the Law of Christ – Gal 6:2) or with His authority (Matt. 28:18; Col. 3:17).

Another aspect of such thinking is seen in those who say, “Lord, Lord,” while professing that they have been filled with some miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit, including the miraculous gifts of the Spirit. You see, if God were still miraculously revealing His will through prophesy, and demons were still miraculously being cast out, such souls would still find themselves condemned because of their lawlessness (Matt. 7:21-23). Why? The truth is that many of these same souls teach and practice things contrary to the word of God.

One such example is found in the idea that unless one speaks in tongues today, he cannot have the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot be saved. What this fails to take into account is that the Holy Spirit is no longer administered miraculously today. We know this because there are no longer any apostles to administer the Holy Spirit miraculously (i.e., through the laying on of the apostles’ hands – cf. Acts 8:14ff), Furthermore, we know this because God has revealed that the miraculous would cease, while faith, hope and love would remain (1 Cor. 13:8-13). The truth is that we receive the Holy Spirit through the medium of the word. The apostles received it by inspiration (John 14:25-26; 16:12-13) and wrote it down (2 Thess. 2:15; Eph. 3:1-7) so that we could receive it by perspiration (i.e., study, reading, learning – 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Tim. 4:13, 15-16; Eph. 3:4).

Indeed, when we consider the impact of our Lord’s teaching toward the close of the Sermon On The Mount, we can come to understand the importance of living by faith, which comes by hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17). To say “Lord, Lord” means nothing! To live “Lord, Lord” means everything! Thus, let us strive in every way to serve the Lord God acceptably in reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:28). Let us purpose to not only say “Lord, Lord,” but also to do the will of our Father who is in heaven!