What Are You Trusting In?

Jesus warns that saying the right things, doing Christian things, and even having impressive spiritual experiences cannot replace actually knowing Him. The question is not whether we look Christian. It is what our confidence is resting on.

Jesus has already warned us about being fooled by appearances in other people.

Now He turns the warning around.

He puts the mirror in front of us.

The people Jesus describes in Matthew 7 are not atheists.

They are not people who want nothing to do with God.

They call Jesus “Lord.”

They use His name.

They point to spiritual things they have done.

From the outside, they look like the kind of people we would expect to belong to Him.

And yet Jesus says something that should make every one of us pay attention.

The question is not simply:

“Do I look like a Christian?”

The deeper question is:

“What am I trusting in?”

Saying the Right Things Is Not Enough

Jesus begins by saying:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

These people know who Jesus is.

They use the right language.

They sound sincere.

They sound convinced.

But Jesus says something is still missing.

That matters because it is easy to confuse what we say about Jesus with whether we actually belong to Jesus.

Christian Activity Can Give Us False Confidence

We live in a world that constantly teaches us to evaluate ourselves by performance.

If we do well at work, we assume we are doing fine.

If we meet expectations, we feel secure.

If we produce the right results, we think we must be on the right track.

That same way of thinking can quietly work its way into our faith.

I go to church.

I serve.

I give.

I know the songs.

I know the Bible.

I know what Christians say.

I know when to say amen.

And before long, we can begin to assume that because we do Christian things, everything must be right between us and God.

Jesus does not let us make that assumption.

Doing Christian Things and Being a Christian Are Not the Same Thing

Good works matter.

Obedience matters.

A changed life matters.

But none of those things can replace faith.

Good works are evidence of faith, but they are not a substitute for faith.

Jesus is not teaching that obedience is unimportant.

He says the one who does the will of His Father enters the kingdom.

Genuine faith changes the way we live.

A real relationship with Jesus produces obedience.

But obedience is not the price we pay to get into the kingdom.

It is the fruit that grows from belonging to the King.

Religion Cannot Give You New Life

Nicodemus was one of the most religious men of his day.

He was a Pharisee.

A member of the Jewish ruling council.

He knew the Scriptures.

He understood religious tradition.

If anyone looked like he had his spiritual life together, Nicodemus would have been near the top of the list.

But when he came to Jesus, Jesus did not congratulate him on his knowledge.

He did not tell him to work harder.

He told him:

“You must be born again.”

Nicodemus had religion.

Jesus told him he needed new life.

Morality Cannot Save You Either

Then there is the rich young ruler.

He looked very different from Nicodemus.

He was not introduced as a religious leader.

He was simply a man who had lived a moral life and had done many of the right things.

When Jesus reminded him of the commandments, he said he had kept them from his youth.

By outward standards, he looked like a good man.

But Jesus exposed what still had control of his heart.

Jesus called him to surrender and follow.

He walked away sad.

Two very different men.

One religious.

One moral.

Both needed the same thing.

Jesus.

Jesus Is the Qualifying Factor

Religion could not save Nicodemus.

Morality could not save the rich young ruler.

Neither one could point to what they had done and say:

“This qualifies me.”

The issue was not whether they had done some good things.

The issue was whether their confidence was actually resting in Christ.

A person can look spiritual.

Live a respectable life.

Know the right answers.

And still be trusting in the wrong thing.

Spiritual Accomplishments Can Become a Trap

Jesus continues by describing people who say:

“Did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”

These are not small accomplishments.

If we saw someone involved in those kinds of things, most of us would probably assume that person must be spiritually mature and close to God.

But notice what they point to.

They do not say:

“We trusted You.”

They point to what they did.

Their confidence is resting in their spiritual résumé.

The Problem Is Not That They Failed to Do Enough

Jesus does not reject them because they did too little.

Their problem is that their confidence is in the wrong place.

Paul explains this clearly:

We are saved by grace through faith.

Not by works.

Then that salvation begins to produce good works in our lives.

The order matters.

We are not saved because of our works.

We are saved by grace.

And then grace begins changing the way we live.

The works matter, but they are the fruit of what God has already done in us. They were never meant to become the thing we trust in.

When the Order Gets Reversed, Christianity Becomes Exhausting

If I believe my standing with God depends on how well I perform, I will always wonder whether I have done enough.

Did I pray enough?

Read enough?

Serve enough?

Give enough?

Obey enough?

Do enough good?

There will always be something else I could point to and say:

“I should have done better.”

That kind of Christianity becomes exhausting.

But when our confidence rests in Christ, we are free to serve from gratitude instead of fear.

We obey because we belong to Him.

We do not obey to convince Him to accept us.

“I Never Knew You”

Then Jesus gives the hardest words in the passage:

“I never knew you.”

He is not saying He did not know who these people were.

He is exposing the fact that there was never a genuine relationship.

They knew His name.

Used His name.

Did things in His name.

But none of those things could replace actually knowing Him.

That is why this passage reaches deeper than outward activity.

Jesus is getting to the heart of the matter.

Christianity Is More Than a Spiritual Résumé

A relationship with Jesus is not built on how impressive our spiritual résumé looks.

Church attendance matters.

Bible reading matters.

Prayer matters.

Giving matters.

Serving matters.

Obedience matters.

But none of those things become the foundation of our salvation.

Jesus is not looking for people who simply know how to look Christian.

He is calling us to know Him.

Trust Him.

Belong to Him.

And allow that relationship to shape the way we live.

Obedience Grows Out of Relationship

Jesus says:

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.”

Notice the order.

He does not say:

“Obey enough and maybe I will finally accept you.”

He describes obedience as something that grows from love and relationship.

That means obedience is important.

But it is not a way of purchasing salvation.

It is evidence that the relationship is real.

What Are You Actually Trusting In?

This is where the passage turns the mirror toward us.

Maybe you have been in church for years.

Maybe you serve faithfully.

Maybe you give.

Read your Bible.

Pray.

Know the right answers.

Those are good things.

They should be part of a growing Christian life.

But none of them can become the foundation of your assurance.

That foundation has to be Christ.

This Passage Is Not Meant to Create Constant Fear

This is important.

Jesus is not trying to make every sincere believer walk away wondering whether they are saved.

He is not trying to create constant fear in people who genuinely trust Him.

He is exposing false confidence so that our assurance can rest in the right place.

The question is not:

“Have I done enough for Jesus?”

The better question is:

“Do I know Jesus, and does my life show that I belong to Him?”

Spiritual Busyness Is Not the Same as Spiritual Health

It is possible to be busy with church and still avoid the deeper question.

We can fill our schedules.

Serve on teams.

Attend meetings.

Participate in ministry.

Listen to sermons.

And still place our confidence in what we are doing instead of in Christ.

Spiritual activity can be good.

But spiritual busyness is not the same thing as spiritual health.

The question is still:

What am I trusting in?

There Is Freedom in This Warning

At first, this passage feels heavy.

But there is tremendous freedom in it.

If salvation does not depend on our ability to perform well enough, then we do not have to live under constant pressure to prove ourselves to God.

We do not have to save ourselves.

We cannot.

And we were never asked to.

Jesus Says, “Come to Me”

Jesus does not say:

“Work harder until you finally become acceptable.”

He says:

“Come to me.”

That is the Gospel.

Salvation does not depend on our ability to perform well enough.

It rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ.

He lived the righteous life we could not live.

He went to the cross and paid the price for our sin.

He rose again.

Eternal life is given to those who trust Him.

I Do Not Serve So Jesus Will Accept Me

Understanding grace changes the way we see obedience.

I do not serve Jesus so that He will finally accept me.

I serve because I have been accepted in Christ.

I do not obey in an attempt to purchase salvation.

I obey because I belong to Him.

I want my life to reflect the relationship He has already given me.

That is freedom.

You Do Not Have to Carry the Weight of Saving Yourself

If salvation depended on your ability to measure up, there would never be peace.

There would always be another failure.

Another weakness.

Another place where you could say:

“I should have done better.”

But the Gospel says the work necessary for salvation has already been accomplished by Christ.

You do not have to carry the weight of saving yourself.

Jesus already carried it.

The Warning Is Serious

We should not soften what Jesus says.

He will not allow us to build our confidence on religion.

Morality.

Ministry.

Good works.

Church attendance.

Spiritual experiences.

None of those things can save us.

That is the warning.

The Freedom Is Just as Real

The freedom is that you do not have to save yourself.

You do not have to qualify yourself.

You do not have to build a spiritual résumé impressive enough for God.

You do not have to perform your way into grace.

Jesus has already done what you could never do for yourself.

Stop Trusting in What You Have Done

Maybe your confidence has been resting in the fact that you are a good person.

Maybe it is how long you have attended church.

The ministries you have served in.

The people you have helped.

Your knowledge of Scripture.

A prayer you prayed years ago.

Your spiritual experiences.

Those things may tell us something about our lives.

But none of them can take the place of Jesus.

If your confidence has been resting in what you have done instead of what Christ has done, Jesus is inviting you to stop trying to qualify yourself and trust Him.

Salvation Rests on What Jesus Has Finished

Salvation does not rest on your ability to measure up.

It rests on what Jesus has already finished at the cross.

That is where assurance is found.

Not in:

“How good have I been?”

“How much have I done?”

“How spiritual do I look?”

The question is:

“Am I trusting Christ?”

What Are You Trusting In?

Take an honest look at what your confidence is resting on.

If it is your goodness, it is not enough.

If it is your church background, it is not enough.

If it is your service, it is not enough.

If it is your morality, it is not enough.

If it is spiritual activity, it is not enough.

None of those things can do what only Jesus can do.

And the good news is that you do not have to leave trying harder.

You do not have to make yourself worthy of salvation.

Jesus has already done the work you could never do for yourself.

You receive salvation by trusting Him.

And when you belong to Him, obedience and a changed life begin to grow from that relationship.

So do not ask:

“Have I done enough?”

Ask the deeper question:

“What am I trusting in?”

And if the answer is anything other than Jesus, place your trust fully in Him.

Want to Keep Exploring Jesus’ Teaching?

Continue through our Kingdom Living series, watch the message, or join us this Sunday at Victory Christian Center in Phillips, Wisconsin.