The Timing of Christ's Warning in Matthew 7:23

Matthew 7:23 belongs in a passage that is explicitly works-oriented and tied to entrance into the kingdom of heaven. That alone indicates it does not describe the judgment of those in the body of Christ in the present age of grace, but a judgment connected with the coming earthly kingdom.

In the immediate context, beginning in Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns of false prophets and speaks of trees and fruit:

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

This is not a description of justification by grace through faith apart from works. Rather, it is a description of a kingdom program in which works and fruit are determinative.

That is made unmistakable in Matthew 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."

The issue is explicit: entering the kingdom of heaven, on the basis of doing the Father’s will. Verse 22 continues:

"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?"

The phrase "in that day" is a standard prophetic designation for the day of the Lord, the future day of judgment. It points forward to the time when the king evaluates who will and will not enter the kingdom.

Only then do we reach Matthew 7:23:

"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

The "then" of verse 23 lines up with the "in that day" of verse 22 and the "enter into the kingdom of heaven" of verse 21. It is a kingdom-entrance judgment, based on works, addressed to those standing in a kingdom program, not to members of the body of Christ under the Pauline pattern of salvation by grace through faith.

In the larger prophetic scheme, the time when entrance to the kingdom is formally granted or refused is associated with the second coming of Christ and His subsequent judgment of those on earth. This is often linked with the judgment scene of Matthew 25, where the Son of man comes in His glory and sits upon the throne of His glory, and the nations are gathered before Him and separated on the basis of what they have done:

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

That judgment is explicitly works-based and oriented to participation in the kingdom.

Putting these elements together:

• The passage is thoroughly works-oriented ("ye that work iniquity").
• The context is entrance into the kingdom of heaven, not church-age salvation.
• The time marker is "in that day", the eschatological day of judgment.
• The kingdom of heaven is not presently in existence; it awaits the second coming.

Therefore, the words of Matthew 7:23, "Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity," take place at the post-second-coming judgment associated with entrance into the earthly kingdom of heaven, not at the death of church-age believers, and not at a present-day judgment of the body of Christ.

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