Matthew 7:21-23, NLT

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will go into the holy nation of heaven. The one who does the things My Father in heaven wants him to do will go into the holy nation of heaven. Many people will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not preach in Your Name? Did we not put out demons in Your Name? Did we not do many powerful works in Your Name?’ Then I will say to them in plain words, ‘I never knew you. Go away from Me, you who do wrong!’”

The salvation that is offered through the blood of Christ is free for all mankind and it covers every sin. There is nothing that we can do to earn it and there is nothing that we can do that it cannot wash away. We cannot perform acts or deeds and claim to be saved while at the same time we cannot simply profess with our mouth that we believe and be saved. The truth is that the salvation, and ultimately the Lordship, of Christ in our lives comes down to our hearts. The word of God tells us that God does not look at the outward appearance, but He looks upon the heart. We can say all the right words, or we could try to perform all the good deeds we can think of, but at the end of the day unless we have given out hearts to the Lord then we receive a response like that in today’s bible verse, “I never knew you. Go away from Me, you who do wrong!” (Mathew 7:23)

What I plainly want to say today is that a person cannot simply say some words and recite a prayer and can then move on with their lives giving no more thought to God and be genuinely saved. Salvation is offered to us freely and we do not need to do anything to earn it, but do not mistake this gift for something to be taken without sincerity. When it comes to sin and forgiveness of sin God is entirely sincere and does not take it lightly. When a person genuinely believes in God, believes that they have sinned and fallen short, believes that Jesus came to pay for their sins, and accepts the salvation of Christ, then their lives should never ever be the same again. If we truly believe and have accepted, then our belief in Christ and our faith in the Lord should change our lives day by day and that change should be evident to those around us.

‘What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.’ (James 2:14-24, NIV)

God did not make this ambiguous or unclear, true faith produces real works. If one proclaims to believe and have faith and yet they live their lives as though they do not believe then they are lying to themselves and worst of all, to God. Today, review your life, does your life tell the world that you believe in Jesus?