They Called Him “LORD,” But Jesus Didn't Know Them

Matthew 7:20-23 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 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. 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? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

This is one of the most intriguing and disturbing passages of Scripture. This group of people called Jesus, “LORD, LORD,” but He knew them not. They were not born-again. That is, they were not saved, and they went to Hell to burn forever in their sins. How did this happen? What did they do wrong? Dear friend, they made the fatal mistake that millions of churchgoers are making in America and the world today—they are serving Christ instead of wholly trusting Christ to get to Heaven! The heresy is commonly known as “Lordship Salvation.”

Evangelist Steve Pettit is in this accursed religious group. Dr. Pettit has been the president of Bob Jones University since 2014. Read what Dr. Pettit foolish says:

“For the real reality of the genuineness of your faith is that you are faithful to run the race!” —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 22:44)

That is not the Gospel of Free Grace dear friend. You don't have to run a race of holiness and serving Christ to prove that you are saved. If that were true, then you could never really know with full confidence that you have been saved. Dr. Pettit further heretically elaborates:

“You can't just speak about getting saved, and you accepted Christ, and then that's it! There is a justification; There is a sanctification; There's ultimately a glorification, and though there are three parts, they are all part of the whole, and you cannot separate them. In order for you to qualify for the award, you have to get into the race, you have to stay in the race, and you have to finish the race. If you want to win, you have to run to the end; and winning in the Christian life is everything, because if you lose—if you don't finish—you lose everything—you lose your SOUL. And so, the Christian race is the life of faith that begins, is run, and is finished when we cross over into Heaven!” [emphasis added] —Dr. Steve Pettit (“What Does It Mean To Run 'The Race'?” - 11:34)

Dear friend, eternal life is a free gift. It is an instantaneous new birth, not a race or a process. Steve Pettit has perverted the new birth into a Marathon Race that must be finished to know for sure that you've qualified for the award. None of that terminology applies to the Gospel. Eternal life is God's free gift (Romans 5:15-18; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9), not an award which you must qualify to obtain as Pettit teaches. 

Kindly said, Dr. Pettit is making the same fatal mistake that the people in Matthew 7:21-23 made. They did “many wonderful works” (like run a Bible college) in Jesus' name. They “prophesied” (like Steve Pettit preaches in BJU chapel) in Jesus' name. They called Jesus “LORD, LORD,” but the Savior firmly stated with these horrifying words: “I NEVER KNEW YOU.” Jesus calls them “ye that work iniquity.” Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again! 

Listen, you don't get saved by running the race friend. You get saved by getting out of the race, and resting wholly in Jesus' name! Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” After six days of creating, God rested on the seventh day. God didn't cease from His sins, God stopped working. John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The way you labour (or work) to enter into God's rest is to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” That is the only thing we are told to DO to be saved in the Bible—“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31b).

I could give you umpteen more examples of Calvinist false prophets today (Ray Comfort, Sam Horn, Marty Herron, John MacArthur, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, Paul Washer, Chip Ingram, William Lane Craig, Stephen Davey; Kevin Bauder, et cetera). Repeatedly in the Holy Bible we are simply taught to BELIEVE to have eternal life. In fact, God authored an entire specific book of the Bible as a Gospel tract, which is the Gospel of John. We read in John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” So if all we had was the Gospel of John, we have enough to be saved. Everything that we need to know to obtain eternal life is contained within the pages of John's Gospel. Not even once does John mention the word “repent.” That is because repentance is automatic when one believes. Repentance and faith are simply two sides of one coin. Repentance is a change of mind. The man who changes his mind has done so by believing on Christ.

Salvation is so simple. The Bible even calls it “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4). God saves a man solely by faith (Galatians 3:26); and then we are sanctified by the Word of God as we walk by faith (John 17:17; 1st Peter 2:2). Becoming a Christian is instantaneous; but becoming Christlike takes a lifetime. The former is salvation (or sonship); the latter is service (or discipleship). Dr. Pettit errantly teaches that sanctification is a package deal with justification, and that you cannot separate the two. So if you aren't being sanctified, Dr. Pettit teaches you've never been justified either. That is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation! Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688) got it 100% correct, who said:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” [emphasis added] —Evangelist John Bunyan

John Bunyan was a wise man concerning the Gospel. Folks, this is a big deal. There are pastors, Bible colleges and churches everywhere today who are taking this doctrinal matter lightly, as if it doesn't really matter; but it DOES MATTER! Right doctrine matters! The horrified people in Matthew 7:21-23 found out just how much doctrine does matter!!! They called Him “LORD, LORD,” but Christ denied knowing them. The $64,000 question then, dear reader, is not whether or not you know Jesus, but does Jesus know you? Are you one of His redeemed sheep, or are you a tare like the Bob Jones crowd today? 

You had better stop trying to be saved, and you had better start trusting to be saved. You had better stop trying to faithfully “run the race” as Steve Pettit heretically teaches, and stop trying to commit your life to serving Christ as John MacArthur foolishly teaches, and stop trying to “turn away from you sin” as Marty Herron errantly teaches, and instead just “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31b). If you are ever saved at all, it will be solely because of GOD'S faithfulness, and not in the least part by YOUR faithfulness. Eternal life is a free gift. Salvation is a take proposition, not a give proposition. Salvation is received, not achieved. To be saved, you simply cease from your own works, as God did from His on the seventh day, and you REST completely in the finished redemptive work of Christ—Who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and bodily resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). That is how you get saved Oh needy sinner!