John Zain
Member
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven (*)
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven … I will declare to them,
‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matt 7:21-23)
We see from the passage above:
• those who do the will of Father God shall enter the kingdom of heaven (*)
• those who refuse to do the will of Father God are practicing lawlessness
(*) Note-A substantiates that Matt 7:21-23 is talking about eternal life!
God has given humans free will … they have the choice to follow and obey Him (or not)!
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today
to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes,
and His judgments … I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;
therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the
Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him …” (Deut 30:15-20)
More NT Scriptures about doing God’s will
• “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)
• “… as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart …” (Eph 6:6)
• “… that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12)
• “For this is the will of God, your sanctification … each of you should know how to possess
his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not
know God … For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this
does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thes 4:1-8)
• “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God,
you may receive the promise: ‘… the just shall live by faith …’ ” (Heb 10:36-38)
• “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;
but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:17)
The amazing thing is … Because the Scriptures are all inspired by God, ALL commands
and instructions given to believers in the NT are obviously about doing the will of God.
Examples of God’s will for believers – and doing them is necessary for eternal life
All Scriptures below refer specifically to the gaining (or losing) of eternal life!
• Believe in Jesus Christ and His gospel ... John 3:16, John 3:36, John 5:24, Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31, Rom 10:9-10
• Repent of your sins … Luke 13:3-5, 2 Pet 3:9
• Know God, follow God, be led by the Spirit … John 17:3, John 10:27-28, Rom 8:13-14, Luke 9:23-25
• Obey Jesus’ commandments … Matt 19:16-17, Rom 6:16, Heb 5:9, Rev 22:14-15
• Practice righteousness, i.e. to be righteous in God’s eyes …
Matt 25:45-46, 1 Cor 6:9-10, Rom 6:12-16, Rom 2:5-11, Rom 14:17-18
• Forgive men’s sins and tresspasses against you … Matt 6:14-15, Mark 11:25-26, Matt 18:21-35
• Do not be a slave of sin, do not sin … Rom 6:16, James 1:14-16, Rev 21:8, Mark 9:43-48, 1 Cor 6:9-10,
Gal 5:19-21, Eph 5:3-6, 2 Pet 2:20-22, Rev 21:27, Rev 22:14-15
• Do not be carnally minded, do not live according to the flesh, crucify the flesh …
Rom 8:6-8, Rom 8:13-14, Gal 6:7-8, Gal 5:19-21
• Lose your worldly life, hate your life in this world, deny yourself …
John 12:25, Mark 8:34-37, Luke 9:23-25, Matt 16:24-26, Luke 14:26-33
• Confess your continuing sins, and repent of them … 2 Cor 7:8-10, 1 John 1:9
• Be holy … Heb 12:14-15, Matt 5:8, Col 1:22-23
• Do not desire to be rich, do not love money … 1 Tim 6:9-10, 1 Tim 6:17-19
• Be an overcomer … Rev 2:10-11, Rev 3:5, Rev 21:7-8
• Endure in your faith until the end of your life … Matt 10:22, Rev 2:10-11, 1 Tim 4:16,
1 Cor 15:1-2, Jude 1:20-21, Heb 10:36-39, 1 Tim 6:9-12, Phil 2:12-16, 1 Pet 1:5-9, Heb 2:1-4
Please note: For Rev 3:5 and Rev 21:27 see Note-B,
and for Rev 3:12 and Rev 22:14-15 see Note-C.
Obviously, there are multitudes of other Scriptures that reveal God’s will for us,
which do not specifically allude to eternal life or death.
Note-A
Entering the kingdom of God appears to be the opposite of being cast into hell …
• “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom
of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire” (Mark 9:47)
Inheriting the kingdom appears to be for the righteous who gain eternal life …
• “Come, you (righteous) blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world … inasmuch as you (unrighteous) did not do it to one
of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.And these (unrighteous) will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt 25:34-46)
So bottom line, we consider entering the kingdom of God/heaven as gaining eternal life.
Note-B
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:15)
Note-C
“But there shall by no means enter it (the New Jerusalem) anything that defiles, or causes
an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev 21:27)
Interesting note
3 of the many “sin list” passages in the NT contain murder in their long lists of sins.
The following condemnation of murder just serves as an example for all of the sins in the lists.
“… you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15)
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven … I will declare to them,
‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (Matt 7:21-23)
We see from the passage above:
• those who do the will of Father God shall enter the kingdom of heaven (*)
• those who refuse to do the will of Father God are practicing lawlessness
(*) Note-A substantiates that Matt 7:21-23 is talking about eternal life!
God has given humans free will … they have the choice to follow and obey Him (or not)!
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today
to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes,
and His judgments … I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;
therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the
Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him …” (Deut 30:15-20)
More NT Scriptures about doing God’s will
• “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)
• “… as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart …” (Eph 6:6)
• “… that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” (Col 4:12)
• “For this is the will of God, your sanctification … each of you should know how to possess
his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not
know God … For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this
does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.” (1 Thes 4:1-8)
• “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God,
you may receive the promise: ‘… the just shall live by faith …’ ” (Heb 10:36-38)
• “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;
but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:17)
The amazing thing is … Because the Scriptures are all inspired by God, ALL commands
and instructions given to believers in the NT are obviously about doing the will of God.
Examples of God’s will for believers – and doing them is necessary for eternal life
All Scriptures below refer specifically to the gaining (or losing) of eternal life!
• Believe in Jesus Christ and His gospel ... John 3:16, John 3:36, John 5:24, Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31, Rom 10:9-10
• Repent of your sins … Luke 13:3-5, 2 Pet 3:9
• Know God, follow God, be led by the Spirit … John 17:3, John 10:27-28, Rom 8:13-14, Luke 9:23-25
• Obey Jesus’ commandments … Matt 19:16-17, Rom 6:16, Heb 5:9, Rev 22:14-15
• Practice righteousness, i.e. to be righteous in God’s eyes …
Matt 25:45-46, 1 Cor 6:9-10, Rom 6:12-16, Rom 2:5-11, Rom 14:17-18
• Forgive men’s sins and tresspasses against you … Matt 6:14-15, Mark 11:25-26, Matt 18:21-35
• Do not be a slave of sin, do not sin … Rom 6:16, James 1:14-16, Rev 21:8, Mark 9:43-48, 1 Cor 6:9-10,
Gal 5:19-21, Eph 5:3-6, 2 Pet 2:20-22, Rev 21:27, Rev 22:14-15
• Do not be carnally minded, do not live according to the flesh, crucify the flesh …
Rom 8:6-8, Rom 8:13-14, Gal 6:7-8, Gal 5:19-21
• Lose your worldly life, hate your life in this world, deny yourself …
John 12:25, Mark 8:34-37, Luke 9:23-25, Matt 16:24-26, Luke 14:26-33
• Confess your continuing sins, and repent of them … 2 Cor 7:8-10, 1 John 1:9
• Be holy … Heb 12:14-15, Matt 5:8, Col 1:22-23
• Do not desire to be rich, do not love money … 1 Tim 6:9-10, 1 Tim 6:17-19
• Be an overcomer … Rev 2:10-11, Rev 3:5, Rev 21:7-8
• Endure in your faith until the end of your life … Matt 10:22, Rev 2:10-11, 1 Tim 4:16,
1 Cor 15:1-2, Jude 1:20-21, Heb 10:36-39, 1 Tim 6:9-12, Phil 2:12-16, 1 Pet 1:5-9, Heb 2:1-4
Please note: For Rev 3:5 and Rev 21:27 see Note-B,
and for Rev 3:12 and Rev 22:14-15 see Note-C.
Obviously, there are multitudes of other Scriptures that reveal God’s will for us,
which do not specifically allude to eternal life or death.
Note-A
Entering the kingdom of God appears to be the opposite of being cast into hell …
• “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom
of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire” (Mark 9:47)
Inheriting the kingdom appears to be for the righteous who gain eternal life …
• “Come, you (righteous) blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world … inasmuch as you (unrighteous) did not do it to one
of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.And these (unrighteous) will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt 25:34-46)
So bottom line, we consider entering the kingdom of God/heaven as gaining eternal life.
Note-B
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:15)
Note-C
“But there shall by no means enter it (the New Jerusalem) anything that defiles, or causes
an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev 21:27)
Interesting note
3 of the many “sin list” passages in the NT contain murder in their long lists of sins.
The following condemnation of murder just serves as an example for all of the sins in the lists.
“… you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15)