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Does Jesus Know You?

Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, [Jesus] Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

In this passage, there are people standing before Jesus, who claim to know him (Lord, Lord). They point to the religious good works they do, (prophesied, cast out devils, wonderful works), and claim the name of Christ (in thy name). But Jesus says to them “I NEVER KNEW YOU” and the people in this passage are then going to be cast away into eternal damnation. The point of this passage is to show that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian, is going to have eternal life. You might claim to know him, but the question is, does Jesus know you?

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith;

We should examine ourselves according to the Bible, to make sure that we are in the faith and that Jesus knows us. Allow me to show you what the Bible says about having eternal life:

The 1st thing you must know is that you are a sinner.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Everyone has sinned before. For example some of the Ten Commandments will illustrate this: how many lies have you told in your life? How many times have you stolen things (even small things)? Hopefully you have never murdered anyone, but the Bible says that God sees hatred in the heart as murder; how many times have you hated someone? Hopefully you’ve never committed adultery, but Jesus said if you look on someone and have lust in your heart, you commit adultery in your heart; how many times have you done that? These are only four of the ten, but the point is that you are a sinner and so am I.

The 2nd thing you must realize is the penalty for sin:

Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death;

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Revelation 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

We see here that the wages of sin is spiritual death, and the soul that sins will die spiritual death. Then we see what’s called the great white throne judgment where sinners will be judged according to the sins they have committed (“according to their works”).

The 3rd thing you must realize is that being religious or doing good works cannot take away your sin.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Good works like Baptism, Church Membership, keeping the commandments, etc. cannot save us and take away our sins, because our righteousness (our good works) are like filthy rags in God’s sight!

4th, you must realize that Jesus paid the penalty for your sin:

John 4:9-10 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God loves us, so he sent Jesus to die on the cross and he became the propitiation (the satisfactory payment to appease God’s wrath) for our sins.

5th, you must personally receive Jesus Christ as your savior:

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Now, Let’s see what the Bible says is the way we receive Jesus:

John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

We must believe on Jesus. In today’s world, believing in God means believing he exists, but this is not what it means to believe on Jesus in the Bible. To believe in someone means to trust their abilities or their character, For example, If I said I believe in you to pick me up from school, it would mean I have faith in your abilities. In the same way, we must depend on or have faith or believe in Jesus and his ability to save us; this is another reason why good works or being religious cannot save us—we must have faith in Jesus’ ability and not our own. If you are depending upon your own goodness to save you, then by definition you are not believing on Jesus!

Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

John 10:7-9 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture

John 11:25-26 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

You must make a PERSONAL decision to trust in Christ today. The only way you will not be one of those who Jesus says he never knew, is if you make the personal, one-time decision to receive Christ. This is called “repentance unto life” in the Bible. Have you done this? I am not asking if you were baptized, were confirmed, are a member of a church, have spoken in tongues, have had a religious experience, if you try to be good, or if you are a good Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Baptist, Methodist, Buddhist, etc. I am asking if you have personally received Jesus Christ by repenting of your sin and depending upon Christ to save you. Will you receive Christ today?

Romans 10:9,10,13 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation....For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Today you can pray to God and ask Christ to save you from your sins, tell him you are sorry, ask him to cleanse you from your sins and give you eternal life. Then, and only then, will Jesus know you.

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