‘Lord, Lord,’ and Doing the Will of Our Father

[newton3005]

Anyone who works at a job for a living might appreciate that any job worth doing is a job worth working hard at. Working hard is not meant as toiling for hours on end, especially when you can cut down the time spent on a task by working smart...working hard is meant in terms of dedication to achieving the goal that the work requires, to the exclusion of spending time on things that run counter to that goal. Nothing wrong with taking breaks periodically, but to spend half of a working day on breaks puts a strain on your goal, to say the least; but that’s off-topic. How does this apply to our Father?

Jesus in Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” To be sure, that doesn’t mean that everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven; what it means is that those saying ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter God’s Kingdom if they do His Will. It also infers that those who don’t say ‘Lord, Lord,’ but who do His Will, will enter His Kingdom also.

There is another Passage in the Bible, Luke 20:46, which Jesus says “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts...” This can apply to anyone who spends their time impressing others with the way they worship our Father, and how they make sure everyone knows that. And one can question the worship of those who try to make such an impression while holding a hastily acquired Bible from someone nearby and holding it upside- down so the crowd they’re addressing can see. Anyone questioning that person’s devotion to God might have a legitimate question to be answered.

On the other hand, there are people who might question clergymen riding around in Cadillacs so their congregants, many of whom might not be able to afford such luxury, can see them. But do ALL such clergymen go around in ‘Lord, Lord’ fashion without doing God’s Will? What if they also spend their time working to get aid for the needy who are in their midst, doing things like lobbying leaders and being active leaders in the communities themselves toward that end? Such clergymen put riding around in Cadillacs in a different context; doing so draws attention they may need to get the aid to the needy, if that’s what their goals is and they’ve been trying to do.

What is “the will of the father” referred to in Matthew 7:21? Jesus in John 6:40 says, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” What does Jesus ask? Among the things he asks is to help the needy, and in doing so we have a chance to enter the Father’s Kingdom. This is spelled out and implied in Matthew 25:31-46. And in fact, in the purview of the Bible, you can say ‘Lord, Lord’ all you want as long as you also do His Will, if you want to gain entrance into His Kingdom.

Who was Jesus speaking to? He was probably speaking to those who are in a position to help the needy. Maybe he was speaking to the rest. For both the not so needy as well as the needy, at the end of the day the admittance into His Kingdom is a matter of His Grace. It remains a mystery as to whom He will confer His Grace upon, and each of us will not know if we are the lucky ones until our time above ground on earth comes to an end. But our Father, as it says in Jeremiah 29:11, says He has Plans for all of us for a future and a hope, and it says in Romans 8:28 that for those who love God all things turn out for good for those who are called according to His Purpose.

So for those who spend their time saying ‘Lord, Lord,’ it helps that they have something to show for it whether they be of the clergy or of the gallery of the rich and famous and powerful, or whether they are everyday people scratching out a buck.

 

[Soyeong]

Anyone who works at a job for a living might appreciate that any job worth doing is a job worth working hard at. Working hard is not meant as toiling for hours on end, especially when you can cut down the time spent on a task by working smart...working hard is meant in terms of dedication to achieving the goal that the work requires, to the exclusion of spending time on things that run counter to that goal. Nothing wrong with taking breaks periodically, but to spend half of a working day on breaks puts a strain on your goal, to say the least; but that’s off-topic. How does this apply to our Father?

Jesus in Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” To be sure, that doesn’t mean that everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven; what it means is that those saying ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter God’s Kingdom if they do His Will. It also infers that those who don’t say ‘Lord, Lord,’ but who do His Will, will enter His Kingdom also.

There is another Passage in the Bible, Luke 20:46, which Jesus says “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts...” This can apply to anyone who spends their time impressing others with the way they worship our Father, and how they make sure everyone knows that. And one can question the worship of those who try to make such an impression while holding a hastily acquired Bible from someone nearby and holding it upside- down so the crowd they’re addressing can see. Anyone questioning that person’s devotion to God might have a legitimate question to be answered.

On the other hand, there are people who might question clergymen riding around in Cadillacs so their congregants, many of whom might not be able to afford such luxury, can see them. But do ALL such clergymen go around in ‘Lord, Lord’ fashion without doing God’s Will? What if they also spend their time working to get aid for the needy who are in their midst, doing things like lobbying leaders and being active leaders in the communities themselves toward that end? Such clergymen put riding around in Cadillacs in a different context; doing so draws attention they may need to get the aid to the needy, if that’s what their goals is and they’ve been trying to do.

What is “the will of the father” referred to in Matthew 7:21? Jesus in John 6:40 says, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” What does Jesus ask? Among the things he asks is to help the needy, and in doing so we have a chance to enter the Father’s Kingdom. This is spelled out and implied in Matthew 25:31-46. And in fact, in the purview of the Bible, you can say ‘Lord, Lord’ all you want as long as you also do His Will, if you want to gain entrance into His Kingdom.

Who was Jesus speaking to? He was probably speaking to those who are in a position to help the needy. Maybe he was speaking to the rest. For both the not so needy as well as the needy, at the end of the day the admittance into His Kingdom is a matter of His Grace. It remains a mystery as to whom He will confer His Grace upon, and each of us will not know if we are the lucky ones until our time above ground on earth comes to an end. But our Father, as it says in Jeremiah 29:11, says He has Plans for all of us for a future and a hope, and it says in Romans 8:28 that for those who love God all things turn out for good for those who are called according to His Purpose.

So for those who spend their time saying ‘Lord, Lord,’ it helps that they have something to show for it whether they be of the clergy or of the gallery of the rich and famous and powerful, or whether they are everyday people scratching out a buck.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in contrast with saying that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so there is need to jump to a different book in order to determine that the will of the Father is for us to know Him by being a worker of lawfulness, though it is also straightforward that the Father has made His will known through what He has commanded (Psalms 40:8). This is in accordance with believing the Son because God's word is His instructions for how to believe in God's word made flesh and believing in the Son being the way to eternal life is in accordance with obeying God's law being the way to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-28).