On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?” Then I will announce to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!”
Matthew 7:22-23 (CSB)
“That day” is the day when God judges everyone. Jesus speaks as the Judge.
Many people will come to Jesus on that day. They will list what they did for Him. They preached. They did amazing things. They used Jesus’ name.
Jesus will answer, “I never knew you.”
Jesus knows everything about everybody. So “knew” means more than knowing about them. When Jesus says He knows a person, He means that person belongs to Him. A shepherd knows his own sheep that way. The people in these verses did religious things. But they never belonged to Jesus. They never trusted Him, and they never obeyed Him. Jesus calls them “lawbreakers.” They kept living as if God’s commands didn’t matter.
A person can be busy at church and still not know Jesus. Good deeds and religious deeds don’t save anyone.
So what saves us? Jesus does. We come to Him with nothing to offer. We turn from our sin. We trust that Jesus died on the cross for us and rose again. Then we follow Him.
If these verses make us afraid, we should remember who Jesus is talking about. The people in these verses aren’t worried at all. They are sure of themselves. They are trusting a list of good deeds. Are we sorry for our sin? Are we trusting Jesus? Then Jesus is not talking about us. If we aren’t sure we belong to Jesus, we should talk with a pastor we trust.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). Eternal life means life with God forever. Jesus knows His people, and He holds on to them.