Luke 6:46-49
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
This statement of Jesus is one of hundreds that you never hear mentioned in so-called churches today. This one passage alone stands against most false teaching called “Christianity” today. Sadly the plethora of verses in the New Covenant containing the word “do” are avoided like a plague by false teachers and false believers, because they veil anything to do with the works that are the foundation of the salvation that Jesus presents.
Look at it! “Why would you call Me your Lord, yet refuse to do what I command you, in order to be worthy of My salvation???” It’s a sobering question, yet the masses who associated themselves with being a “follower of Christ” turn the hearts, eyes, and ears away from His Words, as if the Redeemer merely suggests these things, but they are not contingent upon being a true follower of Him. Terrifying and heartbreaking. Yes, masses who call themselves believers are going to Hell. Sound harsh? Read it again….
Luke 6:46-49
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
Jesus continues with these words…..
Matthew 7:24-29
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine AND DOES THEM will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and DOES NOT DO THEM will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
How often do people hear or read Jesus’ words, and gloss over them, never believing them, only to attend some form of church gathering weekly, never DOING what He says, yet identifying themselves with Him? Very often!! God calls it, “taking His name in vain.” You know, declaring one’s self as a believer, yet not being a DOER OF THE WORD/ (WORK).
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:25
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a DOER OF THE WORK, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Notice how Jesus’ half-brother James vacillates between the terms “word” and “work?” That is because the term translated as “faith” hails from the Hebrew word emunah, meaning FAITHFULNESS/ FIDELITY. Works and faith are two sides of the same coin, folks. That is why James says……
James 2:20-23
But DO YOU WANT TO KNOW, O foolish man, that FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD? Was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and BY WORKS faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, and IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” And he was called the friend of God.
You see? Let’s break this down a bit. First off, this question: “DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?” That is a slap in the face by James to everyone who plays church, never reads their Bible, and yet identifies themselves as a disciple/ follower of Jesus. The answer being implied is: “PROBABLY NOT, but I’m going to tell you anyway.” Then he says, “what you call faith is not faith, because you do not do what Jesus said to do in order to be worthy to be called His disciple. You see, this is an indictment to us all when we love our lives and this world, and refuse to die to our desires, and obey the Truth. How does James say Abraham was JUSTIFIED? Did Abraham get a T-shirt that says “JUSTIFIED: Just-If-I’d Never Sinned!” written on it? No, Abraham would have never blasphemed like people today, in wearing a false doctrine that justifies one’s sinful self. No Abraham was justified to God, by obeying God in doing the thing God commanded of Him. How was Abraham’s righteousness achieved? Was it because Jesus’ righteousness was imparted upon him? Well that is what the heretical Reformers brought to the minds of people; a message that self-justifies people of their sins and doesn’t demand a departure from sin in order to be saved. Nope, Abe was called righteous by God for BELIEVING GOD, by obeying God’s commands. Remember what Paul said?
Romans 6:16
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience LEADING TO RIGHTEOUSNESS?
How did the Apostle Paul, Jesus, and every other Apostle say we are righteous? BY OBEYING THE COMMANDS OF JESUS CHRIST. THAT is called DOING THE WORD, DOING THE WORK, OBEDIENCE LEADING TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, etc.. A.K.A., SALVATION. It is called “The Love of God.”
John 14:23-24
Jesus answered and said to him, “IF anyone loves Me, HE WILL KEEP MY WORD; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who DOES NOT LOVE ME DOES NOT KEEP MY WORDS; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
Do you keep His Words? How you or I answer that question in all aspects of His Word, and our lives, is the insight into where we truly stand with Jesus. No prayer changes that. We can’t say, “God forgive me” and not change our course. Those kinds of prayers stink in His nostrils.
Isaiah 1:12-16
When you enter my presence,
do you actually think I want this –
animals trampling on my courtyards?
Do not bring any more meaningless offerings;
I consider your incense (prayers) detestable!
You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,
but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations!
I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;
they are a burden
that I am tired of carrying.
When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I LOOK THE OTHER WAY;
when you offer your many prayers,
I DO NOT LISTEN,
because your hands are covered with blood.
Wash! Cleanse yourselves!
Remove your sinful deeds
from my sight.
Stop sinning!
The unchanging God said this to Israel. They went to “church” and did all the “church things”, but they wouldn’t stop sinning. They self-justified their sin through their false piety and religious ceremonies. Notice that God says to them, “STOP SINNING!” Oh how the world needs to hear those words, especially those in churches claiming Christ. But they don’t. They are being corralled by ravening wolves, with false teaching that kills the soul. So how much more accountable are we in the New Covenant to cease from sin, when Jesus died to give the Holy Spirit of grace to empower His people to defeat their sin issues? You’d better believe it!! Jesus Paid it All, when it comes to our faithful service in keeping His commands, is a LIE!
Luke 14:26-27
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate (love less) his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE.
Is it clear enough??? Can we choose any human relationship over obeying Jesus? Can we date rebellious people, who won’t depart from what God hates? Can we date or marry sinners? No. Can we be career focused and compromise Jesus’ commands, in order to obtain promotions? No. Can we uphold children in the wrong and be right with God? No. Can we refuse to suffer personally, lose a job, or relationship for God and be saved? No. We must be willing to give up anything for Jesus at a moment’s notice, so as not to compromise and deny Him before men. That means job, money, security, home, car, freedom, etc.. How many do you see do this? Hardly any! Most have been taught so much heresy that they cannot even see the error anymore. So then, how many really love Jesus? Few in the world, just like Jesus declared, when He said: “Few will enter in.”. I’ve had people tell me they will take the COVID vaccine, so as not to lose “everything” they’ve worked for in this life. To those folks, this life is everything. Whether they realize it or not, they have verbally declared that their pension or job means more to them than Christ. It’s a testimony against their own soul. Why even make any effort to be part of some “church?” What did Jesus say?
Matthew 10:28-33
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Arenʼt two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Fatherʼs will. Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. So do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
“Whoever, then, acknowledges me (upholds His teaching in deed) before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.
I had a man, who professes Jesus, mock the scripture to me recently, when correcting his threat to sue me in court. 1 Corinthians 6 is an indictment to professing believers against public courts of the world system. (Go read it.) Jesus said, “If a man takes your coat, give him your scarf too.” You will know people by the fruit they yield. Is he a faithful follower of Jesus? Not at all. I too asked him how he sleeps around with all his partners yet claims Jesus. He didn’t deny it. He said, “Now you’re judging me!” I said, “Are you saying you’re a believer?” He said, “yes.” Then I read him the previous chapter, 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, where we are commanded to remove such a sexually immoral person from the church, and from fellowship with us, and shun them into shame in hopes that they will repent. This “believer” shrugged and scoffed at the scripture. I wasn’t surprised. I knew his fruit stunk thoroughly. I just wanted him to see himself in God’s eyes. It did no good. So be it.
So do WE keep His word? That is the important question. Do we give financially to the church and our teachers, who feed us the unadulterated truth, and that we PERSONALLY KNOW, or know someone we are confident in who does know them? Do we give ABOVE and beyond the tithe (tenth of our gross income), which is the New Covenant law? Do we refuse to compromise sexually, sleeping around out of marital law? Do we help others in need and live in a way to be ready to meet their need? Do we put greed to death and learn to trust God? Do we honor God with stewarding our physical health? Do we forgive when asked for forgiveness? (You cannot forgive someone who doesn’t repent. Does Jesus?) Do we put to death the desires of the flesh? Do we refuse to sit on big savings accounts in our bank accounts? Jesus said that was a guarantee to Hell! It testifies of our heart focus: ourselves and this life. How can we be dependent on God, and do His work in giving, if we hoard to ourselves for personal “security?” Isn’t that what Cain did? He made sure he had enough for himself before he was willing to offer to God of the leftovers. HE WAS REJECTED!!
I had a man working at my home recently. He professed to be a Christian. We were discussing materialism and how we are to strive to condescend like Jesus did, and live modestly in this life, though the world teaches to obtain more. He said something very spiritually mature, which would have surprised me to hear from anyone. He said, “We got to ask ourselves: What are we living for? This life or the next?” He nailed it. Sadly, few aren’t living for here.
People need to heed Jesus’ words. In them you will find true eternal life.
John 12:25-26
Whoever loves his life here loses it in the life to come, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
John 10:17
“This is why the Father loves me – BECAUSE I LAY DOWN MY LIFE, so that I may take it back again.”
And the same goes for ALL who profess to follow Him. To have eternal life and be raised again, glorified, WE MUST lay down OUR life too. Compromise equals Hell.
Revelation 2:5-6
“Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent! DO THE RIGHTEOUS DEEDS YOU DID AT FIRST; if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place – that is, if you do not repent……”