The Judgment Seat of Christ

Jim ButlerMatthew 7:21–23

Matthew 7:21–23 confronts the reader with Christ's own words at the final judgment: 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.' The sermon argues that this passage is not a call to more good works but a stark exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith alone — the false professors are condemned not for lack of works but for resting upon their works as the ground of their acceptance with God. Self-righteousness is identified as a species of lawlessness, as damning as any gross immorality. The believer's only refuge is the doing, dying, and rising of Christ, received by faith alone, and it is to Christ — not to personal performance — that all assurance must be anchored.