Why does God sound condemning in Matthew 7:21-23

version2.0!

A brother asked:
"Kuya, what do you think of Matthew 7:21-23? It says:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'"

Does this mean if we do wrong, we go to hell right away? I wish it was so easy to be good in the eyes of God! Why does God sound like a condemning God in these verses?"

My reply:
This is what I think...
1. During our time here on earth, God is a very forgiving God. And though we stray many times, he forgives us in as many times. But when our judgment day comes - like a thief in the night - that's it. If you are a good fruit and you have borne good fruit, God welcomes you to heaven. Otherwise, the gates remain closed.

And God cannot forever remain forgiving - or evil will only thrive!

We should look at his forgiveness as a blessing, as a gift from God. God forgives us because he loves us. He wants to give us second, third, fourth, etc. chances. He knows very well that following his will is difficult. We should not expect forgiveness from him nor should we demand it from him. It is his choice to forgive, and more often than not he will choose to forgive us. And he will do so also as an example on how much we should forgive others.

If judgment day comes and we still expect God to forgive us - we are mistaken! Again, by then, how many chances he must have already forgiven us?

2. We should also look at the context of the verse. In some Bibles, like the one I have, it is as if it is a different topic from the paragraph before it, which appears to be a different topic from that before it, and so on. But it may be that it is a continuation of that previous paragraph, the one about false prophets.

He may be talking about 'false prophets.' People who may be doing his work in his name, but at the very core of their being, are evildoers. In front of many (of us), they may personify a totally different person from that the Father sees. Saying "I love you, God," singing his praises, praying the Rosary, prophesying, doing miracles, and everything else "for God's glory," is all good. But that is not enough to get into heaven without a focus on Christ, a foundation of faith in him and love for him and others.

Matthew 7:15-20 suggests if we look closely enough at the fruit, we will see what type of tree they come from. Good fruit comes from good trees. Bad fruits come from rotten trees. It cannot happen the other way around. Do some of the "prophets" around us love others and are good Christian examples? How does their flock turn out? Or are they just merely worship leaders who say and do so many things but, really, who are they at the core of their beings?

Anyway, if we know of any such people, let us just pray for them and let us try to avoid the one thing that only God can do: judging.

God bless you, brother.