Matthew 7:21-23 - I never knew you, ones working lawlessness?
Does Matthew 7:21-23 have conditions?
Matthew 7:21: "“Not everyone saying (to) Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will-enter into the kingdom (of) the heavens, but the (one) DOING the will (of) My Father in the heavens."
Matthew 7:22: "Many will-say (to) Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did-we not prophesy (in) Your name, and cast-out demons (in) Your name, and do many miracles (in) Your name?’"
Matthew 7:23: "And then I-will-declare (to) them that ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, (ones) working LAWLESSNESS’."
Conditions:
Jesus said: "Not everyone saying (to) Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will-enter into the kingdom (of) the heavens, but the (one) DOING THE WILL (of) My FATHER in the heavens" (Matthew 7:21).
The "(one) DOING THE WILL (of) My FATHER in the heavens" (Matthew 7:21) could be interchangeable with one DOING the things which Jesus says, as in the parallel account in Luke it is written: "why are-you-calling Me ‘Lord, Lord’, and you-are not DOING (the things) which I-say?" (Luke 6:46).
5 chapters later in Matthew, Jesus said again: "whoever DOES THE WILL (of) My FATHER in (the) heavens — he is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50). In the parallel account of that passage in Luke, Jesus said: "My mother and My brothers are these — the (ones) hearing and DOING the word (of) God" (Luke 8:21).
Jesus concluded 4 verses after mentioning "the (one) DOING THE WILL (of) My FATHER in the heavens" (Matthew 7:21) that "THEREFORE everyone who hears these words (of) Mine and IS-DOING them will-be-like (a) wise man" (Matthew 7:24).
Lawlessness?
Jesus said: "Many will-say (to) Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did-we not prophesy (in) Your name, and cast-out demons (in) Your name, and do many miracles (in) Your name?’ And then I-will-declare (to) them that ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, (ones) working LAWLESSNESS" (Matthew 7:22-23).
People are not "working LAWLESSNESS" (Matthew 7:23) when they "cast-out demons" (Matthew 7:22) for example, as Jesus did that and He wasn't a worker of LAWLESSNESS.
People are said to be "working LAWLESSNESS" (Matthew 7:23) when they work things that are contrary to the law. The Greek word for "LAWLESSNESS" (anomia 458 in Greek, noun) comes from the Greek word for "lawless" (anomos 459 in Greek, adjective), which comes from the opposite of the Greek word for "law" (nomos 3551 in Greek, noun). It is a noun describing the opposite of the law. Someone working "LAWLESSNESS" would be working the opposite of the law.
There is a law in the new covenant, as Paul wrote that he was "not being without(-the)-Law (of) God, but within(-the)-law (of) Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:21) in the new covenant.
Jesus said "I never KNEW you" (Matthew 7:23) to the ones "working LAWLESSNESS" (Matthew 7:23), as the ones working LAWLESSNESS would be working against the law of Christ, breaking His commandments. This could be consistent for example with what is written in 1 John about "Jesus Christ" (1 John 2:1) that "in this we-know that WE-HAVE-KNOWN Him: if we-are-keeping His commandments" (1 John 2:3).
Comments
Post a Comment