Mt. 7:21-23 "Not all who say Lord, Lord".

[BrianK]

Mt. 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?"
23 And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."


Could this not be construed as Jesus giving an illustration of people seeking to gain Kingdom entrance based on their works/merit/performance? Along the lines of, "But what about all the doors we knocked on handing out Watch Tower literature?" And Jesus saying, "not that or even going as far as casting out demons and performing wonders, will gain you entrance into My Kingdom"... "But rather complete trust in Me and My Blood I shed for you as an atonement alone, will you come to the Father, into the Kingdom."
The will of the Father being, putting trust in Jesus alone for Salvation?

[Jacob]

I don't think the point here is works v. faith. I think what he is trying to point out is that even if you have these gifts given to you, and you even perform miracles, it doesn't mean anything if you aren't obeying God. God's will is what is important, not even good works. There are many good works you can do, but only one God is calling you to do right now.

[Paidion]

Thanks Jacob. I was going to write something similar, but now I don't need to do so.