Matthew 7:21-23, not everyone who says Lord, Lord
7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
(Matt 7:21-23 WEB)
7:22 Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’
7:23 Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’”
Doing the Father’s will
In Jesus’ culture, the doubling up of a word served to emphasise it. However, no matter how emphatic you are about Jesus’ being lord of your life, what matters is whether you do what Jesus’ Heavenly Father wants done. When it comes to satisfying God, lip-service is simply not good enough.
You can emphatically claim Jesus is your Lord and exercise all manner of spiritual gifts using his authority, but if this is done without honouring God’s opinions then it counts for nothing. Those who don't first seek God’s way of righteousness or who fail to love their neighbour as themselves, will find that all their unerringly accurate predictions, miraculous healings, and startling exorcisms, for every one of which they have given Jesus the credit, will nevertheless be considered worse than useless.