Matthew 7:21 – 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.
For some, this is a difficult passage to understand. Many activities are done in the name of the Lord. Few are direct initiations of His will. I have known over the years many that accepted the Bible’s testimony of Jesus as Lord, but their lifestyle did not demonstrate that they had received Him as Lord. Saying that Jesus is Lord and doing things in His name, even supernatural activities, does not qualify one for the kingdom of heaven, only doing the Father’s and His will is rooted in Jesus Christ through the work of the cross.
The Father sent Jesus to be the one and only sacrifice for sin. The first issue of the kingdom of God is rooted in repentance regarding our views and actions. Changing my mind and exchanging it for His perfect view. I am undone, He is fully complete. I am wrong and He is right. I have nothing left to defend. When I stand before Him, I have nothing to say, only listen and obey.
As Jesus teaches on the Mount, He has all of Israel in mind. They had chosen a broad way, as the Law of God had been distorted by their religious leaders. Jesus came as the fulfillment of the Law. He also had appeared as the “stumbling block that the builders rejected” (Psalm 118:22). The Father had made Him the “head of the corner.”
The practice of lawlessness is rooted in pride, false religion, self-effort, and anything else that does not come from the moral law of God. God’s law was established in the garden when He said “do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17). The narrow way had been set. Only what God permits! There is no other way to life, but through Jesus, the Christ. This makes the world crazy. Jesus is the offense. Anything but this, please.
Let the cross of Jesus be your filter. Measure everything up against the old rugged cross. The Holy Spirit is committed to honor the cross. Satan and his kingdom are committed to making it an offense. Lord, Lord only resonates with the cross. Anything else is a deception.
Father, I choose to cling to the old rugged cross. I choose Jesus, the narrow way to life. The One who is the complete fulfillment of Your heart’s desire. Holy Spirit, lead me daily through the narrow gate.