There are five types of people:
- There are those who are saved, and they know that they are saved.
- There are those who are saved but do not (presently) have the assurance of salvation.
- There are those who are not saved, know it, and don’t care.
- There are those who are not saved but wholeheartedly believe that they are saved. They have a false assurance of salvation.
- There are those who are not saved, know it, and are troubled by it. They have heard enough to be convicted but have not yet come to Christ.
If that is you, hear this: conviction is not conversion, but it is often the road to it. Do not settle for being troubled. Come to Christ Himself, today. His own promise is that “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).
The fourth group is a difficult one to deal with because Jesus taught that there are many people in this category who will be beyond shocked on judgment day:
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” – Matthew 7:21-23
Notice what these people were resting on: their performance, impressive religious works done in His name. What was missing was not activity but relationship: “I never knew you.”
God’s true sheep follow Jesus.
They heed the voice of the Shepherd, and when they hear the true Christ and His true gospel proclaimed, will not reject it but embrace it. A stranger (referring to false Christs, false teachers with false gospels), they will not follow (John 10:5).
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” – John 10:27-30
A final word to the believer who trembles at Matthew 7. Notice that the self-deceived in that passage never doubted themselves; they were confident to the very end. Sheep are different. Sheep sometimes doubt, but they cannot leave the Shepherd. If you hear His voice and follow Him, however falteringly, His promise stands: they will never perish.