Will He Say 'I Do Not Know You?'
"When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door,
and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying,
‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and he will answer and say to you,
‘I do not know you, where you are from;’
then you will begin to say,
‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
But he will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’"
Luke 13:25-27
He will say ..."I do not know you..."
Being religious does not make you a disciple of Christ. Having grown up in a Christian home doesn't make you a disciple of Christ any more than being born in a barn makes you a cow. The people ate and drank in his presence and he taught in the places where they were, but they were not his. He said he didn't even know them.
There is only one way to be received by the Lord and that is by being born again. Jesus didn't mince words, he said, "You MUST be born again."
"Jesus answered and said to him,
'Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again,
he CANNOT see the Kingdom of God.'”
John 3:3
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born again.’"
John 3:6-7
To be born again takes a true and deep humility. One must know what the Word of God says about the heart of man - that we are fallen sinners, every one of us, and lost. Only when we realize and acknowledge this can we approach God, because before one can approach him he must know and confess the truth about himself. Some people are so impressed with themselves that they could never, ever admit that. The world tells you that you're great and that you "deserve" good. The Bible tells us that we are corrupt and that we "deserve" hell. To be born again into the Kingdom of God one must let go of his pride and come to admit the truth about himself, and only then can he approach God to ask for the forgiveness of his sins and ask for salvation. Only then can he begin to "see the Kingdom of God."
The Word of God says that the heart of man is evil, not good:
"The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked;
Who can know it?"
Jeremiah 17:9
"ALL we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned, every one, to his own way..."
Until we come to admit the truth about ourselves, we will not be able to qualify for the remedy which was accomplished by Jesus Christ who bore in himself the judgment due for sin:
"...the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Isaiah 53:6
You must come to reject what the world says about wonderful you and receive what the Word of God says about the true you. You can't ask for forgiveness until you realize the truth about yourself, and that truth is that your heart is DECEITFUL, your counselors are DECEITFUL, your friends are DECEITFUL, the world is DECEITFUL, and until you admit that, you cannot be saved. You're standing in your own imagined righteousness – and that's the grand deception.
Once you see yourself for what you are, THEN you can approach God in humility and ask for salvation.
To receive you, he must first "KNOW" you. And for you to "KNOW" him, you must first know yourself.