Lie #2: God Will Tell Some Believers, "Depart from Me!"

And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23)

Perhaps no other statement has struck more fear into the minds of believers than this one: “Depart from Me!” Jesus saying this to one of His own would be the ultimate rejection. Even imagining the possibility causes many to quake in their boots, wondering, “Might I be one of the people in Matthew 7? Could it be me?”

Some have framed this passage as being about a Christian who loses salvation. On closer inspection, however, there is no way this is talking about believers who’ve sinned so much that Jesus gets rid of them.

It clearly says these are people whom Jesus never knew. This means that they never had any relationship with Jesus. Why did they not? Jesus tells us why many are unable to enter through the narrow gate of grace to enjoy a relationship with God: 

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?” (Matthew 7:22)

People then—and today—can be consumed with their own religious works. So consumed, in fact, that they have no interest in the finished work of Christ. Instead, these religious zealots exclaim, “Look at the preaching I did in Your name. Look at the exorcisms I performed in Your name. And look at all the miracles I did in Your name.” In defending their perceived “right” to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, their focus is on what they’ve done rather than on what Jesus did for them. And how does Jesus respond? He never knew them. They are unbelievers, not believers who somehow lost their salvation.

In their bragging, they express the opposite of what the Gospel calls us to. The Gospel would have us look not to ourselves but to our Savior. People who place their confidence in their own works to justify themselves before God seek to enter through the “wide and popular gate” of performance-based religion. That type of person is not a true believer. That gate can never lead to life.

This is why Jesus sees these people as “false prophets” (v.15) who “practice lawlessness” (v.23), as “bad trees” (v.17), and as those who are “foolish” and build their house on the wrong foundation (v.26). In contrast, true believers “have come to know God, or rather to be known by God” (Galatians 4:9). We are clearly known by God. We cannot be those whom He “never knew” (Matthew 7:23).

And why would we as genuine believers end up bragging about some sort of religious achievement? Think about it. At the final judgment, are you going to brag about what you did for God or are you going to brag about what Jesus did for you? Authentic believers are marked by a confidence in Jesus and in Him alone.

Paul said, “May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). There’s a place for bragging, but it’s bragging about all that Jesus accomplished through the cross. It’s not about what we think we’ve accomplished for Jesus. It’s not about us, at all. It’s all about Him!

Reflector: What does it mean to you to realize that Jesus knows you and that He will never depart from you?