Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 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?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The Pharisees were stewards of the law that was given to Moses from God and should have been the very ones to teach all of humanity about God’s high standards (Matthew 23:2). Jesus accused the Pharisees of following the letter of the law while finding ways to circumvent the spirit of the law (Matthew 23:23); basically, of going through the motions. This is what Jesus references when He tells us “that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20) We can’t just go through the works and motions of Christianity and expect that to get us into Heaven. There will be people who proclaimed the word better than us, handed out more Bible tracks than us, and did many wonderful works more often than us who will still go to Hell. If we are trusting in the same thing they are, what chance do we have? As Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, only those who do the will of the Father will get into Heaven. What is His will? “That ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
A Tried Stone 