Scared and Uneasy

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” Matthew 7:21-23

This scares me. It really does.

I was listening to a podcast of an apologist that I really respect a few days ago. I agreed with most of what he said, but there were key things that I felt were totally off base according to scripture. I won’t get into that here, but when I listen to someone I respect like him and they teach things contrary to what I believe is clear in scripture, I’m left feeling very uneasy, questioning whether I am the one who’s wrong. And I know this isn’t a bad thing to an extent because we always need to be questioning so we can be sure we are following the truth, but it gets to the point where I almost want to throw up my hands and quit. How could someone like him be wrong and I be right? Maybe we’re both wrong. Maybe we’re both right, but that can’t be true because we would be contradicting each other.

At the end of the day, I just have to do the best I can and remember that God will be the judge. I have to make God right above and beyond any man. I have to test my beliefs against the truth of the bible. It’s all I can do to do my best not to practice lawlessness. And if I am practicing lawlessness, I pray God will show me His will more clearly as I seek Him daily.

For never do I want to be the person who does things in the name of the Lord, who thinks they are doing God’s will but in the end hears the words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”

How about you?