The Rock and a Hot Place

THE ROCK AND A HOT PLACE

The Gospel of Salvation: Part 2

Judgment Day

Matthew 7:21-23 NET  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven — only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  (22)  On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’  (23)  Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

It is not enough to merely refer to Jesus as Lord.  He must be your Lord and you must follow his commandments which is doing the will of the heavenly Father.  Attending church services and performing religious activities doesn’t attain salvation either.  The Gospel of salvation is simple – “Repent and follow Jesus”.  If the Lord requests that one prophesy and cast out demons, then one is doing the will of the Father – otherwise one is performing the will of oneself, maybe for appearances and show.  One cannot be a one-day-of-the-week Christian and be a lawless sinner for the remainder.

These individuals in the above scripture claim to be subjects of the Kingdom, and perform acts pertinent to the Kingdom, but live in a manner revealing they are not citizens.  They must have a personal relationship with the King not a false religious lifestyle.  This represents a dialectic situation concerning individuals claiming to perform works of the Kingdom but are not subjects of the Kingdom.  They claimed to do works in the name of the Lord, but they apparently did not know the Lord in a personal manner.  Works without a personal relationship are as offensive to God as a lack of fruit.  The will of God is both an initial decision and a continuing lifestyle.

Notice that verse 22 states, “On that day”.  This is judgment day – the day of either eternal salvation or the lake of fire.  One’s classification on judgment day is based not simply on believing, but doing the will of the Father.  These individuals are called law breakers or ones who practice lawlessness.  They may have been a sensation at their local church but they did not consistently follow the commandments of Jesus if they followed them at all.  Although not mentioned in these three verses, repentance of committed sins is extremely important and I might state essential. 

The phrase, “Go away from me” or “Depart from me” in the KJV is a present active imperative, or a continuing command which should literally be rendered as “keep on departing from Me!”  The implied translation could be “you have always been going away from Me so just keep on going!”

The word “lawbreakers” or the phrase “you who practice lawlessness” in the KJV implies there are laws that are broken.  The above comment by Jesus is part of the Sermon on the Mount and the laws are everything that Jesus stated.

The Two Houses

Matthew 7:24-27 NET  ”Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.  (25)  The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock.  (26)  Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  (27)  The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!”

The house built on the rock and the house built on sand is a well-known Biblical parable.  The success or failure of the builders involves “hearing the words of Jesus and doing them”.  Wise is the one who follows the commandments of the King.  The trials and tribulations of the world did not destroy his house.  It stood because it was built on the rock which represents the Lord Jesus.  The foolish man was not interested in being a subject of the Kingdom of God and did not live his life by the commandments of the King.  As a matter of fact, he heard the words of the King, but ignored them and did not build his house on the rock but on the sand or the lawlessness of the world.  When trouble and calamities came his way, his house or life collapsed with no salvation.

Salvation involves (1) knowledge; (2) personal response; and (3) a lifestyle of service. The scripture states that both house builders heard the words of Jesus.  It appears as if the context of this parable involves religious or church people who have heard the word of God but responded at different levels.  It is only through persecution and adversity that the true character of “supposed” believers is revealed.  A life of persecution is a real possibility for Christians achieving salvation.  A.T. Robertson stated in Word Pictures in the New Testament, on page 63, “Hearing sermons is a dangerous business if one does not put them into practice”.  Dr. Bob Utley stated in his Commentary, “as is writing and delivering them (i.e., sermons)”.

The Commandments of the Kingdom

What are the commandments of Jesus and the Kingdom?  There is considerable disagreement concerning this subject.  Some claim it is the Ten Commandments, others that it is the entire Mosaic Law possibly omitting animal sacrifices.  I am positive that anything I claim will be rejected by most readers, but I will give it a try.

First of all, a person cannot go wrong following the Mosaic law although there are some things the New Testament considers unnecessary unless something you do or don’t do offends a fellow believer.  It could be said that following the Ten Commandment is a sure thing, but then we get into the Sabbath controversy.  After scanning the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and the Letters, I could find no mention of the Sabbath being a required command for the Church, i.e. the Kingdom.  From a practical standpoint, very few people can actually maintain a Saturday Sabbath, since the Western world is generally based on a Sunday Sabbath, and even that is difficult for many people.  Below are three interesting Sabbath scriptures from the Gospels.  Jesus and his disciples were constantly accused of violating the Sabbath by the Jewish religious leaders.  Jesus stated that He was the “Lord of the Sabbath”.

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on a Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick heads of wheat and eat them.  (Matthew 12:1 NET)

How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”  (Matthew 12:12 NET)

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.  (Mark 2:27 NET)

My preference for understanding the commandments of Jesus is the Sermon on the Mount.  He begins with nine “Blessed are those” statements:  the poor in spirit; the mourners; the meek; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; the merciful; the pure in heart; the peacemakers; those persecuted for righteousness; and those insulted and persecuted for speaking about Jesus.  He compares Kingdom subjects to unadulterated salt and an open light source such as a candle.  Subjects are then told to obey the commands (laws) and teach others to do so.

Jesus then raises the bar (or level) of some of the Mosaic laws.  “Do not murder” becomes:  do not be angry with a brother; do not insult; and do not call someone a “fool”.  “Do not commit adultery” becomes:  do not look at another with desire.  If actually uses the word “woman” as the one looked at, but it should apply to the opposite genders.  “Divorcing a wife with a legal document” becomes:  a divorce for any reason other than immorality causes the wife to commit adultery and the person (man) who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.  “Do not break an oath” becomes:  do not take oaths at all.  “An eye for an eye” becomes:  turn the other cheek.  “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” becomes:  love your enemy and pray for your persecutors.

Matthew chapter six continues the Sermon with more teachings which are closely related to the nine “Blessed” statements with several comments involving “trust”.   Trust the Lord and avoid the allure (desire) of worldly possessions and mammon.

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A complete kindle version of the Revelation articles, the Eschatology of Jesus, and the Life and Times of the Antichrist is available at the following link

Amazon Kindle – Understanding the Revelation

This article and others may be viewed at the following link.          The Rock & a Hot Place

The Gospel of Salvation Part 1  The True Vine & the Branches  

360 Day Year Asteroid                                    The Composite Beast

Ezekiel 38                                                         Ezekiel 39

Garden of Eden Nachash                              Revelation Commentary

Matthew 24                                                                          Who Is The Antichrist

The Theology of Satan: Part 1    The Theology of Satan: Part 2

Joel’s Army: Part 1                                           Joel’s Army: Part 2

The Great Delusion: The Epic Hoax

Why Do The Heathen Rage: Part 1

Why Do The Heathen Rage: Part 2

Angels and the Divine Council: Part 1

Angels and the Divine Council: Part 2

Angels and the Divine Council: Part 3