Author: Jay Lehman

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 11

“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’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23).

I write with great sadness at how many times this passage has been used to put believers on shaky ground.  Let me assure you as clearly as I can.  If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, you are NOT part of this group of lost souls.  Jesus is not talking to believers.  He is talking to the lost.  How do we know that?

One clue is His declaration. “I never knew you.”  If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, HE KNOWS YOU !!!  Jesus proclaimed in John chapter 17 that eternal life is knowing Him and Jesus knowing you.  This is the most intimate knowing possible.  And what have we learned about how we obtain this eternal life?  We have learned over and over that eternal life is promised to us on the basis of our faith in Jesus.  Once you have trusted Jesus, it is impossible for Him to NOT know you.

Jesus also says in this passage that only the one who “does the will of My Father” will enter the kingdom of heaven.  This is where teachers love to add a weight of condemnation on believer’s shoulders.  “Are you sure you are ‘doing’ the will of God?  Are you ‘doing’ the right disciplines and activities to keep you in the will of God?  Are you studying to ‘know’ the will of God?”

Let’s jump to the answer to all these questions.  “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life” (John 6:40).  The “will of God” is that simple; believe in Jesus.

Here is one last indication of who Jesus is talking about.  Lawlessness is one of the most core definitions of sin.  Lawlessness is sin to the core.  The one who “practices lawlessness” (vs 23) is the one whose identity is sin to the core.  This is a lost person who is still in Adam.  This is not us.  How do we know that?  “Every one who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness … The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning … No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (I John 3:4,8,9).

Do believers sin?  Yes, but it is not our core identity.  Our core identity is saint.  Your core identity is child of God.  And as a child of God, you NEVER have to worry that Jesus will say to you, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 10

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.  For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

How many times have you heard the straight and narrow way described as a way of life?  We are taught all kinds of sin management ideas for staying on the straight and narrow or how to keep our fellow believers in line on the straight and narrow way.

I don’t believe that Jesus is describing a way OF life at all.  This passage is a picture of the way TO life.  Legalists like to focus on what it takes to stay on the straight and narrow; what rules must be followed to keep on this path of right living; what man-made traditions will keep us on the straight and narrow.

Let me give you this assurance.  When you believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ you entered into the narrow way.  When you believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, you entered through the narrow gate.  How do I know that?  Jesus is the narrow way.  Jesus is the narrow gate.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’ “ (John 14:6).  Jesus is the narrow way.  And entering by this way, entering by faith in Jesus, puts us on the path to life.

“I am the gate; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:9-10).  Jesus is the narrow gate.  And entering by this gate, entering by faith in Jesus, puts us on the path to life.  When we enter the narrow way by the narrow gate through faith in Jesus, we receive the promise of life eternal and life abundant.  This promise is yours today.

The narrow way is not a lifestyle of rules to follow.  It is the path TO life; promised to all who believe in Jesus.  Please, don’t worry if you are doing enough to stay on the straight and narrow.  Please, do not carry an angst about whether or not you are on the straight and narrow.  Please, do not let shame-inducers make you question your salvation and suggest that you are on the broad way leading to destruction if you are not doing well enough in your righteous efforts.

Is righteous living important?  Yes, and it is grace that teaches us to deny ungodliness and live righteous lives.  “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12).  Christ living His life through us is how we experience this grace to live righteously.  This is a large topic for another day, but back to our main point.

You can rest in the assurance that if you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, you have entered by the narrow gate and you are firmly and safely and eternally on the narrow way.  Your path is secure.

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 9

People today are asking for bread.  Folks today are looking for life.  And that life is only found in Jesus.  Jesus is the bread of life.  Let’s never forget the “OF LIFE” part of Jesus’ declaration.  He is the bread that gives us life.

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’ “ (John 6:35).  “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (John 6:51).

Bread is a picture of the new covenant.  Life is the promise of the new covenant.  How are we answering the request of people seeking life?  Are we offering bread or are we giving them stones?

When we preach the new covenant, we offer the bread of life.  When we preach the new arrangement between us and God whereby we are completely forgiven by Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we preach life.  When we teach Christ’s life now fused with ours to live the Christian life, we offer the power of Christ in us.

But when we preach that the old covenant is still part of our new life in Christ, we are offering cold hard stones in place of soft life-giving bread.  Stone is a picture of the old covenant.  The ten commandments were written on tablets of stone (Exodus 24:12).  Our old covenant heart was described as a “heart of stone” (Ezekiel 36:26).  The apostle Paul referred to the old covenant as “the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones” (II Corinthians 3:7).

Is Jesus making a subtle reference to the two covenants in Matthew chapter 7?  “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9).

When seekers are asking for bread, are we delivering stones; old covenant precepts to follow and obey?  Our friend David Moss calls them “stone sandwiches”; preaching the bread of grace on the outside, but a big fat stone of old covenant law-abiding requirements when people take a bite.  Are we adding law, rules, and regulations to the message of grace?

May we always offer the bread of life; unadulterated, unchanged, and without additives.