The Will of the Father
Matt 7:21-23 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.
“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?’
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
This is a stern warning!
Why does Christ say that these people who call on His name, cast our demons and do wonders are people he doesn’t know?
These are obviously religious people, but they practice lawlessness. Meaning they do not keep God’s law even though they speak as though they do. What is God’s law? It is the Torah.
He says only those “who do the will of My Father in heaven” will make it. It is not enough to simply “accept Christ as your Savior”. You must be doing something.
So, the question is what is the will of the Father?
Matt 19:17 “…if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
1 John 2:3-4 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
It seems clear from these few scriptures that to know God you must keep his commandments. It is by obeying and keeping the commandments that we learn about God and Christ.
But wait a minute, weren’t the commandments nailed to the cross? If that is the case why are there so many references to the commandments in the New Testament?
What was nailed to the cross are the sacrificial laws instituted when the Israelites left Egypt. When Christ died as our Savior, He was the ultimate sacrifice which made animal sacrifices no longer necessary. But that did not nullify the rest of the law, or another word for the law is the Torah.
Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Christ Himself said He did not come to do away with the law. He came to fulfill the prophecies about Him—to be our Savior.
John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
We may think we are obeying God by going to Church, saying a few memorized prayers or reading the Bible, but are we really? Are we keeping His commandments? There is a lot of disagreement among Christians as to what that really means.
Most people in the western world would agree that the 10 commandments are the basis of our society. We know it is wrong to lie, steal and murder. But what about the rest of the ten?
The main reason God was angry with the Israelites is because they kept deviating from obeying God and would go after other pagan gods.
The first commandment says: You shall have no other gods before me.
Do we put God first in our lives? Anything that we value more is a god to us.
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
This doesn’t mean you are to literally hate your family members. It is saying in contrast to how you regard and love God it would seem that you hate them.
This was Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden when Eve gave him the forbidden fruit. We are told that Adam was not deceived, but Eve was. Adam chose his wife Eve over God.
1 Tim 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
God must come first in all that we do. I have known people that professed to be Christian and yet would cheat and lie when it came to their business dealings saying, “that’s just business”. Sorry it doesn’t work that way. Following God should permeate all aspects of our lives.
#2 We are not to take God’s name in vain. Do we swear using God’s name? We hear all the time people swearing, “Oh God” or “Christ”.
Jas 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
#3 We are not to have carved images (or statues) of gods for purposes of worship.
#4 We are to keep the seventh day Sabbath. (See my article on the Sabbath)
#5 We are to honor our mother and father. This commandment has a promise that we will live a long life if we do this.
#6 Do not murder.
#7 Do not commit adultery.
#8 Do not steal
#9 Do not provide false witness (or lie).
#10 Do not covet.
These ten commandments are a great start but they are not the only commands we are to follow.
He also wants us to worship Him by keeping His appointed times—His holy festivals. (See Lev 23 for a listing and check out my article on God’s Festivals)
There are certain foods He has deemed unfit to eat such as pork listed in Lev 11 (also see my article on Eating a Biblical diet for more detail)
So, what is the will of God? Simply that we obey him and follow His commandments.
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
Mic 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
We cannot walk with God unless we agree with Him. If we are walking humbly with Him then we are obeying Him. We need to continually learn how to please God.
2 Pet 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
How can we be a part of God’s Kingdom if we do not want to obey Him.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
When we obey God, we can have confidence that He loves us and we will be in His Kingdom.
We also need to be careful that we are not like the unwise virgins who let things slip and put off doing the right thing until it was too late and were not ready for the return of Christ.
Matt 25:11-13 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us! But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
Matt 24:46 “Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.”
Luke 18:8 “…Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
God just wants us to do as He says. He doesn’t want us to make up our own way of worshiping Him, as so many Christians do.
For example, when Saul didn’t follow the Lord’s instructions after attacking the Amalekites, God was very upset with him. God said to destroy everything but Saul did not. Instead, he decided to use some of the animals as an offering to God. Sounds noble but what was God’s response? He took the kingship away from Saul.
1 Sam 15:22-23 “What is more pleasing to the LORD:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”
So, what do many Christians do today? They decide to worship God in their own way. Is that any different than what the Israelites did when they went astray? God made it clear to the Israelites that they were not to adopt the practices of other nations.
Deut 18:9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.
Many holidays that Christians celebrate today such as: Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween all have pagan origins. This is the same as following the ancient pagan practices of the foreign nations God warned the Israelites against. Do you really think that God wants us to worship Him by mixing pagan practices into our religion?
Deut 12:32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
Christ also condemned the Pharisees for adding to the law.
Matt 15:9 “And in vain they worship Me, teachingas doctrines the commandments of men.’
We have to be careful not to add or subtract anything from God’s law.
Matt 5:18 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
We need to have the mind of David, who was a man after God’s heart.
Psa 119:97 “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
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