The September 2026 DMW’s Monthly Website Update

This September 2026 Website Update for DMWs Website is going to be a Bible Study on what some say is the “…Scariest Passage in the Bible.” Matthew 7:21 which I mentioned in the August Website Update. Matthew 7:21 ESV “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.” I did a lot of research and found only one discussion that made complete sense of this passage. I was in fact amazed that people writing on this subject could go so far from giving a clear answer to what Jesus was talking about in this passage that is so near to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. And of course what makes this passage so scary is that Jesus goes on to say, “On that day Many will say to me, “Lord, Lord,’…And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ This sounds like what Jesus would say to the many who use the wide gate and perish rather than the narrow gate and flourish with Jesus.

Let’s concentrate on what Jesus said about those who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those, “…who do the will of my Father.” And to do that I will quote from a fantastic article I found by Joseph Prince, the founder of Grace Revolution Church and GRC Online in the Dallas Ft Worth area. The title of his article is:

Matthew 7:21-23 says only those who do the will of my Father will enter the kingdom of heaven? Does this mean that if you are not doing the will of my Father, you can lose your salvation? July 3, 2024

“Note inn Matthew 7:21-23 our Lord Jesus said, “I never knew you.” Obviously, this cannot be applied to believers who have been born again and who have a relationship with the Lord. It is clearly referring to people who never had a personal relationship with the Lord. That is why Jesus could say too the latter group, “I never knew you.” This passage is to be used as a warning only to professors of the Christian faith, not to those who have genuinely accepted Jesus as their Lord.

It is important that the Bible interpret the Bible. If you study the Bible, you will see that the will of the Father is that you believe in the One Whom He has sent and recieve eternal life. Jesus said, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who upholds the son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40 NASB). And in John 6:29 (NLT) he tells us plainly, “This is the only work that God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” That is the gospel. That is doing the will of the Father.

So what Jesus was saying in Matthew 7 is this: “Not all who call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ in that day are saved, but only those who fulfill /my Father’s will, which is to believe in Me.” He is not saying that the moment you make a mistake in thought or deed, He denies you and you have lost your salvation.

Why am I sharing all this with you? It is so you will be established in our Lord Jesus, and not be easily swayed and tossed and turned by every wind of doctrine (see Eph. 4:14). You are His precious child and your heavenly Father wants you to have a strong foundation built on your secure salvation in Christ. Instead of being confused by obscure passages in the Bible, I want to encourage you to be anchored on certain and clear passages like this one found in John 10:

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither will anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” -John 10:27-30

Now, doesn’t simply reading this promise in God’s Word impart to you confidence, assurance, and security in your salvation in Christ? Let me draw your attention to the word “never.” This is going to bless you. The word “never’ here is translated from the Greek particle ou me, which is a double negative, strongly emphasizing the meaning of “never, certainly not, not at all, by no means.” In other words, once you are saved, you will never, by no means, ever perish.

The Bible tells me in no uncertain terms that “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). the Bible tells me, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begoyyen Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:16 & 17). That’s what the Bible says!”

This is the end of the Joseph Prince article.

Back to the question asked in the title to his article. Does this mean that if you're not doing the will of your Father, you can lose your salvation? Well, I think that if you are not doing the will of the Father, which is to uphold the Son and believe in Him, you will not be saved in the first place.

I was very reassured by the Joseph Prince article. But I still have a lingering question as to how the Christians Jesus referred to in Matthew 7:21 could find themselves not fulfilling the Father’s will but at the same time they were supposedly engaged in doing prophesy, casting out demons and doing many mighty works all in Jesus’s name. It seems they forgot the simple requirement of Romans 10:9 ESV, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

I have had a past experience as an elder of a denominational church where our churches governing body had apparently stopped believing in Jesus. I would have no problem believing the members of that governing body were doing Satan’s will and not doing God’s will.

One aspect of our salvation is God’s foreknowledge. When we come to Christ, I suspect our hearts are not always close to where Jesus would want them, but with his ability to see our total lives into the future he knows where our hearts will be and he knows how we will react to the Holy Spirit’s working to sanctify us.

Questions:

1. Try googling (or ChatGBT) this question: Are there those who profess to be Christians that try to make Salvation more complicated than it actually is? The answer you will get is Yes! When you research responses, you will learn there are some who “add extra rules, rituals, performance requirements to the core message of Salvation” I really like John 6:29 NLT Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” I also really like Romans 10:9 ESV “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

2. Have you run into people or situations where you were concerned about having your Salvation becoming complicated?

3. To me the best example of Salvation only requiring belief in Jesus has to be the thief on the cross next to Jesus at his crucifixtion! Luke 23:42 & 43 ESV And the thief said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Why would our Salvation need to be any more complicated than that of the thief on the cross?

4. Beware of people like those Jesus described in Matthew 7:21-23, people who have not followed the will of the Father in believing in Jesus. Who knows what they think that Salvation requires, but it must not be simply believing in the one who the Father sent.