21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”
-Matthew 7:21-23, NLT
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
-Exodus 20:14, KJV
Professing to be a Christian is NOT enough to be considered a Christian by God.
These verses lay that bare. A cheater who is professing to love God saying that Jesus is Lord is like those in this passage in Matthew 7. They professed him as Lord but denied him by their actions.
If you are living a lifestyle of lying and committing adultery, these words are pretty clear what will be Jesus’ pronouncement of your eternal destiny!
In other words, professing Christian cheaters are deluding themselves if they think God is okay with their behavior. They are lying to themselves (and to others) suggesting such.
God is not amused.
Jesus demands obedience. It is NOT okay to live a lifestyle of sin!
In fact, I suspect Jesus will be even harsher on those cheaters who try to use Him in justifying their sin. If nothing else, the judgment will be stiffer in the sense that they should have known better.
Another thing to note is that those Jesus rejects in these verses still had ministries.
Just because the cheater continues in a ministry–even a powerful one–does NOT mean God approves of his behavior. Performing miracles in the name of Jesus is not good enough to get into heaven.
You have to have a genuine relationship Jesus as evidenced by obedience to God’s law.
I say this as an encouragement and corrective to what many might see in these situations. We might see a cheater appear to “get away with” cheating and continue in a powerful ministry. He did NOT get away with it.
God sees. God knows. And the cheater ought to be very concerned for his soul.
