We live in a world where the common message is, “Just believe. Believe in God, believe He’s real and you’re good.”

But that’s wrong. It’s a lie. “Just believing” is not enough.

Matthew 7:21-23

““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. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

There’s two things I want to highlight here.

1. Just because you call Him “Lord” doesn’t mean you get into the kingdom of heaven. And
2. Just because you claim His name while you do these works doesn’t mean you know Him.

If “just believing” was enough then #1 would not be true. But they’re Jesus’s words, so of course it’s true.

And #2 illustrates another misconception of today’s society. “If I just do enough, I’ll be good. If I do the “churchy” things, I’ll get to heaven.” But we’re not saved by works. We’re saved by His grace.

Ephesians 2:8-10

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So not your own doing and not a result of works.

But the next thing he says circles back to the verse in Matthew.

Who is it that gets to enter the kingdom of heaven?

“The one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Now look again at the last verse from Ephesians.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

But what about prophesying and casting out demons and doing miraculous things? Aren’t these all “good works”?

I would say they are.

So why would Jesus tell the people doing these things to depart from Him?

Well, what does He say right before that?

“I never knew you.”

Just because they’re good things doesn’t mean it’s God’s will for you to be the one to do them.

We’re all different. If we’re all different, it doesn’t make sense for all of us to do the exact same things. God created us different for a reason.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

God has a purpose for everyone. He prepared good works that each person is designed for according to His will.

So how do you know what your purpose is?

This is why you have to know God.

Because only God can tell you.

To know someone is to have an active relationship with them. To have an active relationship is to have active communication with them. You can’t know someone and never talk to them. To know someone means you know what they like, what they dislike, what makes them happy, what makes them sad, what makes them angry…

To put in the time and effort to really know someone, you have to care about them, you have to love them.

What is the greatest of all the commandments?

Matthew 22:37-38

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

He wants your love. He wants to know you and for you to know Him. So much so, that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us and rise from the grave three days later.

By doing this, He opened the door. He opened the door so anyone anywhere can come to Him.

You simply have to walk through it.

Walk through the door. Get to know our Father. And then you will know what His will is for you.