Matt. 7:22-23 confuses me a bit. I understand that these people who will be uttering these statements are non believers, but what doesn’t sink well to me is how can they drive out demons and perform miracles in the name of Jesus Christ if they are not believers?
It’s a mistake to think all miracles come from God and many well intended but uninformed believers have been misled because of this. Groups who emphasize emotional experience over Biblical knowledge are especially vulnerable to manipulation by false teachers who appear to perform miracles, but teach things that aren’t Scriptural.
Jesus said you can’t get good fruit from bad trees, so no matter how gifted in the miracle department someone seems to be, we should always check what he or she says against the only source of truth, the Bible (Acts 17:11). If they say things the Bible does not support, then we can be sure their miracles don’t come from God no matter how real they appear to be. At the end of the age the Lord will call these people evil doers and deny ever knowing them (Matt. 7:23)
Paul said Satan’s servants often masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15) and that Satan himself will deceive the whole post rapture world with his miracles even though Paul called them counterfeit (2 Thes. 2:9).
In these last days, our most powerful defense against false teaching is a comprehensive knowledge of God’s word. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).