Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
I said in the post before that it is not enough to simply believe Jesus is the Son of God to be saved, you have to rely upon Jesus to save you. And that is what this passage is showing.
Many religious groups believe Jesus is the Son of God. The Catholics believe this, they really do. But they do not depend upon Jesus to save them, they depend upon the sacrements. They depend on their own works. And this is what you see in verse 22. Notice how these people claimed good works, they prophesied in Jesus's name, they cast out devils and did many good works. But Jesus said he never knew them.
Then Jesus explains what truly believing on him is. It is like the foundation of a house. The whole weight of the house is supported by the foundation. If the foundation is weak, then the house will collapse when a storm comes. But if the foundation is strong, the house will hold.
And notice how Jesus shows those who truly trust as those who not only hear his words, but perform them.
When the Jews asked Jesus what work they could do to do the work of God, Jesus told them to believe on him.
John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
The one work Jesus told us we must do is believe on him. This means to trust or rely upon him to save us. We have to give up all self-effort to save ourselves and cast ourselves upon him, depending upon him to save us. Jesus has to be our foundation. We must put the entire weight of our salvation in his hands and depend upon him to save us.
But we are trusting, we will not actually know we are saved until we arrive in heaven.
And Jesus placed his spirit in his Father's hands and depended upon him to raise him from the dead.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
I cannot fully understand the trinity, no one can. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one. There is one God. But at the same time they seem to have individual identities. I cannot explain this, but this is what the scriptures show.
Did you realize Jesus did not have the Holy Ghost until he was baptized by John the Baptist?
Luke 3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
The scriptures say it is impossible to please God without faith. Here the Father says he was well pleased with Jesus. So obviously Jesus had faith.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Up until this time, Jesus would have appeared to be an ordinary man. There is no record of him performing any miracles until after the Holy Spirit descended upon him. So, it would seem that the Holy Ghost is what gave him his power to do miracles. I can't be dogmatic about this, but there is no record of him performing any miraculous works until after this.
He did however have knowledge of who he was. John the Baptist recognized him as the Christ, and Jesus himself knew himself to be the Christ. Jesus knew he was the Son of God when he was a young boy.
Luke 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
Jesus was twelve when he said this, and he knew exactly who he was, and what he had to do. But he perfomed no miracles until after the Holy Spirit came upon him.
So, while the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, they also seem to act as individuals and have different responsibilities as well. It was the Father who raised Jesus, but he used the Holy Spirit to do so.
Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead ; )
So, it was the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus entrusted his spirit into his Father's hands, and depended upon him to raise him.
And not only that, the scriptures say Jesus received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father. So here they act like individuals, and the Father made a promise to Jesus. This takes trust. When someone promises you something, you trust them to perform that promise.
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
So obviously our Father had promised Jesus the Holy Ghost and he received it. So Jesus trusted or relied upon his Father to perform his promise.
Not saying I understand all this, but this is what the scriptures say.
