Luke 6:46

And why call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

It is not in mere believing, nor in mere profession of faith, nor in the acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord, that salvation is received but it is through doing the things he commanded. This fundamental truth has been compromised and negated by religious theories from the Reformation to the present time; but the scriptures cannot be broken. There is no substitute for doing what Jesus commanded. A similar thought was included in the Sermon on the Mount, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

WHY DO YOUR CALL ME "LORD; LORD" BUT DO NOT OBEY ME?

This question should burn in human hearts until the deeds of men more nearly resemble the faith professed; for this question is not merely an interrogation; it is an indictment, charging men with the unbelievable inconsistency of disobeying him whom they acknowledged as Lord.

Jesus did not here charge his hearers with lack of faith, but with lack of action, there being not the slightest suggestion that any of them were unbelievers. Thus is emphasized the timeless truth that "While unbelievers must be lost, believers may be lost." Ours is a generation which has accepted "faith only" as the "open sesame" of the gate of heaven; but "faith only" was not enough for the first generation that ever tried it; nor is it enough today.

The doctrine of salvation by "faith only" was born during the Reformation when civilization was in the struggle and travail of rebirth from the deadness of the Dark Ages; but, in all ages, the philosophy of merely believing has had its practical adherents. The generation to whom Jesus addressed this question were believers, but they were not doers of the Lord's will. It is to their credit, however, that they had not erected around their disobedience a theological bulwark of justification for it. Today, men not only say, "Lord, Lord, and do not," but they go further and preach that it is not necessary to do anything.

If one of those ancient sinners had been reproached for not being baptized, taking the Lord's Supper, or belonging to the church, he would have been embarrassed and might have made some promise of doing Jesus' will; but today, sinners reject altogether the necessity of obedience on the grounds that they "believe"! Yet, look again at this crowd that heard Jesus. Their everlasting shame sprang not from lack of faith, but from lack of action.

Not only were they believers; they were confessors of his name, calling him Lord, Lord. Theirs was no mere historical faith, but they truly acknowledged him as the Messiah; and in this they were correct. It is wonderful for men to say, Lord, Lord; for with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10). In confessing Christ, those people had joined the ranks of the privileged; and from them Jesus had a right to expect obedience.

Not only were they believers and confessors, they were also religious workers, not idlers in any sense, being, in fact, busy with many things. It was precisely this class of persons Jesus had in mind when he said:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22,23).

From this it is clear that the people reproached by Jesus in this text were: (1) believers; (2) confessing believers; and (3) working believers. What was their fatal sin? It was as simple as it was catastrophic: they did not do the will of the Lord.

Of what did such a failure consist? The question is not merely academic; for the spiritual children of those multitudes are indeed legion: (1) Some do not his will because they are idle, doing nothing of any spiritual import. (2) Others do not his will because they are doing their "own thing." "Walking after their own lusts and denying the promise of his coming" (2 Peter 3:3,4). (3) Multitudes do not his will because they are busy obeying the commandments of men," or as Jesus said, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9).

In a word, it is not enough to believe in Christ, to profess his holy religion, and to be busy here and there with religious activities. To win the everlasting reward, men must do the will of Christ as it is revealed in the New Testament. Even the fullest possible compliance with all Jesus' commands does not earn or merit salvation, which in the last analysis rests upon the gracious mercy of God; but willful disobedience thwarts even that mercy.