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Articles
Unauthorized
In Matthew 7:21-23 we read from the King James version, "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."These verses indicate that some folks are going to be lost, rejected of the Lord, at the Day of Judgment, but why?
Now a lot of people I’m afraid, read these verses and fail to understand just exactly why Jesus is going to reject these folks. Notice the King James said, "depart from me, ye that work iniquity" is the reason why they are rejected. But to a lot of people’s minds just exactly what is "iniquity"? I’m afraid they have no real understanding.
Notice from the New Living Translation "But I will reply, I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized." This is just a wonderful translation that helps us to understand reason why the Lord rejected these people. Notice, the Lord says, "the things you did were unauthorized." Doing things that are unauthorized, acting without authority from the Lord, not being able to back up what we do in religion with "book, chapter, and verse." May we cite a few of the many examples of such.
The use of "holy water", the counting of beads, wearing religious titles, the use of denominational names, mechanical instruments of music in worship, are things that are "unauthorized." Church ball teams, church gymnasiums, religious dancing, lighting of candles in worship, religious celebrations of Christmas and Easter, a separate priesthood, women preachers, clergy-laity distinctions, etc., are all things that are "unauthorized." Now if anyone can find book, chapter and verse, Biblical authority for any of these things above I would love for you to point this out to me. "Not all people who sound religious are really godly. they may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven," Matthew 7:21 NLT.
