Beware The False Prophets
Matthew 7:22-23:
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Have you had other Christians tell you that this Scripture is about your need to not sin in order to be truly saved? And that “work iniquity” in this Scripture means SIN – ALL TYPES of SIN?
The Gospel of the GRACE of God is Faith in the atonement provided by Jesus the Christ PLUS NOTHING. That is to say.. NEVER add good works as a requirement for God to forgive you FULLY and to accept you as one of the Bride of Christ.
And such people trying to tell people that their sin, even after becoming born again in the Spirit, will mean they will loose their salvation are taking this verse out of context. They leave out the preceding verses and WHO Jesus is talking about. Let’s look at this Scripture in context.
Matthew 7:15-23 King James Version (KJV):
“15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
VERSE 15!
Jesus is talking about FALSE PROPHETS. They come to you as sheep, as “Christians”. They come with various verses of Scripture, all taken out of context by the way, to tell you it is your WORKS that matters. They teach about Jesus but it is false teaching. In fact, many of them are sincere because they have not grasped what Paul taught about the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.
It is these false prophets who are the verse 23 “YE THAT WORK INIQUITY”. Jesus speaks about the false prophets, and what they are doing wrong?
They are thinking and telling others that it is WHAT THEY DO that qualifies them for salvation in Jesus. Verse 22 makes it clear, “22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
Do you See it? They are saying have not WE, and in thine name WE, WE done many WORKS. WE WE WE! They rely on their own ability to please God and by doing such think they are saved.
This is false prophets speaking! And these are the same ones that use verse 22 and 23 to claim that works are required for salvation. If they would only read the previous verses in context. And some have but are deceiving others on purpose – which is even worse right?
“16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16-20 KJV)
These verses have confused many when not seen in the proper context of Matthew 7. Some believers today are mistaking these “fruits” with the “fruit bearing” of John 15 which is about being a disciple bearing good fruit and not about salvation.
However,that is NOT the context here in Matthew 7. It simply cannot be so because Jesus had just previously said that the FALSE PROPHETS come in “sheep’s clothing”. They look like they have good works and people would assume that because such a person has good works that they must be a born again believer. That is actually a completely FALSE STATEMENT! Our works have NOTHING to do with how we are justified in salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). These false prophets are teaching externals, even while using Jesus’ name in doing so. They have missed the Gospel message entirely which is not about good works for righteousness but only faith and belief on Christ alone.
WHAT IS THE FRUIT IN MATTHEW 7 THEN?
So the ‘fruit’ in Matthew 7 is not a person’s WORKS. It is the WORDS these false prophets are teaching! As soon as a teacher is preaching good works for salvation or good works required to remain saved, they are the false teachers being spoken of here by Jesus. They are relying on their works for righteousness or accepting God’s grace but thinking they then need to work to remain saved.
These two false beliefs are actually UNBELIEF. Either a person is BELIEVING and trusting in Christ and HIS FINISHED work having paid for all sins of the world (1 John 2:2) or they are in UNBELIEF and UNSAVED. The unsaved followers of Jesus in Matthew 7 know nothing about the cross Christ will end up upon and I am stating this with passages after the cross for our understanding and application of Matthew 7. Yet, before the cross the Jews did know, and were looking for the appearance of the foretold Messiah, who would become the final payment for the sins of the people. The Pharisees just rejected He is the Messiah but it is true regardless.
Take notice that I am not saying good works after salvation are wrong. NO! Good works after salvation are ‘…UNTO GOOD WORKS..’ but they only come from our NEW SPIRIT and the indwelling Holy Spirit moving outward in our lives in love towards others (Ephesians 2:10). But the works NEVER SAVE ANYONE! Only belief on Christ saves (John 3:14-18, John 6:37-40, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, Eph. 2:8-9, Eph. 1:13-14 etc).
Keep Your Assurance On Faith In Jesus the Christ And The Gospel
Here are Scriptures to give you assurance of your Salvation by FAITH, not by works, nor by the Law (Ten Commandments):
“For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE through the redemption that is IN Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a PROPITIATION THROUGH FAITH in HIS blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by THE LAW OF FAITH. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith WITHOUT the deeds of the law.”(Romans 3:23-29 KJV)
“For by GRACE are ye saved through FAITH; and that NOT of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God: NOT OF WORKS, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, NOT by works of righteousness which WE have done, but according to HIS mercy HE saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7 KJV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world THROUGH HIM might be saved. He that believeth ON HIM is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:16-18 KJV)
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt BELIEVE in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”(Romans 10:9 KJV)
Search the Scriptures In Context, Especially Romans for the truth!
Anyone who teaches the Gospel PLUS ANYTHING else that is required above faith and believing on Christs atonement is a FALSE teacher. Also, those that teach belief in Christ as your personal Savior as not being required is also a FALSE teacher. And if you search YouTube® you will be surprised HOW MANY well known preachers are in one of these two groups of teachers. It may even shock you!
They are the very false prophet teachings that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7.