And he’s absolutely right.

The setting is the final judgment. The peoples of the world appear before the Lord of glory to give an account of their lives. A troop appears insisting that they had done all manner of good works in the name of Jesus. “Look at all we have done in Your name, Lord!” And, of course, they are fully expecting some kind of gold star and a seat in the front row of heaven.

Instead, Jesus condemns them because their practices were not such as He expects of those who have made the Kingdom turn. They were self-serving, self-vaunting, and probably undertaken with the maximum amount of convenience and the minimum amount of sacrifice. Good works they may have been, but Jesus saw them as lacking in love for God and neighbor. And He condemned those who boasted in their good works and expected to be honored and blessed because of them.

It’s possible to undertake all kinds of efforts that we might consider to be good works, only to discover – surprise, surprise – that they’re not at all what our King and Savior commends.

Lawlessness

Jesus condemned the “good works” of these appellants because they were not in line with the teaching of God’s Law. Instead of being law-like their works were lawless. Their works were not consistent with the teaching of the Law of God but merely schemes and projects invented by human minds. The motive behind them was to provide those doing them with some semblance of wellbeing – some “Jack Horner” view of their so-called Christian lives: “My, what a good Christian am I!”

But they had no love. No love for God, so that they learned, loved, and lived His Law with all their souls and strength. And no love for their neighbors, except insofar as doing something for their neighbors could make them feel good about themselves or look good before their friends.

Jesus said that people who neglect the Law of God will find their love growing colder and colder (Matt. 24.12). They may do all kinds of good and important and impressive things, but there will be no love in them because they are undertaken as the best efforts of men rather than the prescribed practices of God.

This way to the Kingdom turn

Jesus does not share the attitude of many contemporary believers toward the Law of God. Too many Christians today avoid the Law of God, fearful either of being broken to pieces on the rocks of works salvation, or sucked into the whirlpool of Pharisaic legalism. They may know the Ten Commandments, and bluster about how wrong it is for these not to be posted in our schools and court houses. But they are not hiding the Law of God in their hearts, and the result is they are unable to practice the life of faith working by love which Jesus and the Apostles commend (Ps. 119.9-11).

The Kingdom turn begins by turning away from the path you walked before coming to know Jesus Christ, and beginning to walk the new path that He walks – the path of God’s Law (1 Jn. 2.1-6). The Kingdom turn holds the potential for Kingdom greatness to all who enter into it, but that way can only be realized through the Law of God (Matt. 5.17-19).

By the Law of God we mean the Law in two senses, first, the commandments and statutes given through Moses, and interpreted as to their spirit through Spirit of God today; and second, the Law as it is unfolded in all the rest of Scripture – the prophets, writings, gospels, epistles, and all the rest. If we’ve made the Kingdom turn we’ll hunger to walk the Kingdom way, and this means desiring to know Jesus Christ through His Word.

When the Word of God is the joy and rejoicing of our hearts, the practices of Jesus – words and works of love for God and neighbors – will be the practices that define us as people in whom all things are being made new. And then the scariest verse in the Bible will hold no terror for us.

Have you made the Kingdom turn? Really made it? And, having made it, are you following Jesus along the path of His Law and Word into Kingdom greatness and glory?

Next steps

What is your view of the Law of God? What has been your practice in “hiding” the Law in your heart? How might you improve on this? Ask a pastor or church leader to help you think through these questions.

Additional Resources

Download this week’s study, The Kingdom Turn.

T. M. has written two books to complement this eight-part series. You can order The Kingship of Jesus by clicking here, and The Gospel of the Kingdom by clicking here.For a brief study of what it means to pursue culture every day for the glory of God, order T. M.’s book, Christians on the Front Lines of the Culture Wars by clicking here.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.