"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.' Matthew 7:21-23

These passages bring out a disturbing implication: There are some who profess Jesus as their Lord and even do miracles, but nevertheless on Judgement Day He would disown them. This brings to mind another question: Will there be people who think they are save (and other people would think that they are too) but in the end, end up going to hell? "The implications", as I like to say, "are clear."

Many have said that we have underestimated the size of the church. That the church is "bigger than we think". That there are more people saved than we could imagine. Perhaps so. But what if we have overestimated the size of the church? What if the church is even smaller than we think? Perhaps it would be time again to reconsider what Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Phil Johnson blogs on the ongoing conversation between the definition of essential and unessential doctrines. I think the more important thing is between heresy and orthodoxy. I've not really thought about this issue in detail, but perhaps I'd sometime address it. Until then, I point to you an article written by Blomberg. I haven't read it in detail, but since its written by a great scholar, its worth a read.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 at 4:02 PM. |