The Father’s Will

If Jesus said those that are mine do the will of the Father, and yet it would appear that very few ARE doing the will of the Father, are they in fact truly saved?

Q. I’ve recently listened to a sermon from a well known pastor, and his call on biblical repentance, and holy living. One of his key statements, if you will, is that it isn’t if you know Christ, for even Satan knows him, but if Christ knows YOU, that determines if you are really saved.

This bothers me quite a bit, although he uses Matt 7 to justify his sermon, about those that say Lord, Lord, etc. We have verses like Rom 10:9 that say those that confess with their mouths, and believe in their hearts, that Jesus rose from the dead, they SHALL be saved.

However, to be fair, his call for holy living, and true repentance really struck a chord in my heart. If we examine most “christians” today, we really can’t tell them apart from the world by the way they live.

So, I guess to finally get to my question: how do we compare these two things? If Jesus said those that are mine do the will of the Father, and yet it would appear that very few ARE doing the will of the Father, are they in fact truly saved?

A. The controversy goes away when you understand God’s will. John 6:38-40 explains it clearly.

“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

In Matt. 7 Jesus was saying that it’s who we really believe in that determines whether we’re obeying the will of the Father, regardless of what our external actions might imply, and even those who perform miracles might be found wanting. After all, the devil can perform miracles.