I dont like how you twisted scripture here. Let me outline something about what you said, that actually proves my point. I am not going to take small parts of scripture, but cite the entire story:
First, the entire quote:
Matthew 7:21-23
King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]21 [/SUP]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.
[SUP]22 [/SUP]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?
[SUP]23 [/SUP]And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
In this quote it is evident that they prophesied and cast out devils, what does this mean? Lets read Mark 16:16-18
King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]16 [/SUP]He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
[SUP]17 [/SUP]And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
[SUP]18 [/SUP]They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Basically, these people were real Christians. They can cast out devils. They were not disobeying the commandments. So then, why were they kicked out? How did Jesus not know them so to speak? Well, knowing that Jesus is God, and that God knows everyone, logic states he is not talking about knowing who they are. That is silly. However, when you read this Bible verse, it becomes evident:
Matthew 25:31-46
King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]31 [/SUP]When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
[SUP]32 [/SUP]And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
[SUP]33 [/SUP]And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
[SUP]34 [/SUP]Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
[SUP]35 [/SUP]For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
[SUP]36 [/SUP]Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
[SUP]37 [/SUP]Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
[SUP]38 [/SUP]When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
[SUP]39 [/SUP]Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
[SUP]40 [/SUP]And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
[SUP]41 [/SUP]Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
[SUP]42 [/SUP]For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
[SUP]43 [/SUP]I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
[SUP]44 [/SUP]Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
[SUP]45 [/SUP]Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
[SUP]46 [/SUP]And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
There he is saying that he was with or you could say, within those stranges, and they did not help him. It is that simple. He did not know him, means, when he was a stranger they did not help him.
Need more proof? Okay, let me show you what works really are.
1 John 3:8
King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]8 [/SUP]He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
That says right there that sin is a work of the devil. A work. Lastly, let me quote this:
Titus 1:16
King James Version (KJV)
[SUP]16 [/SUP]They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
So what do all these quotes show? In addition to the quotes I showed before that say that works = faith? That works decide where you go. There are good works and bad works, bad works are sins. Also, works can send you to Heaven or Hell as shown in the Matthew quotes, and they also show your faith as shown previously in James and Titus, and once again I showed another quote from Titus.
Also to add, it is NOT saying faith produces good works. It has never said that. It says that you can claim to have faith, but your works justify it. It does not say anywhere what you claim.
Its very simple. There isn't an argument here. I just showed you a ton of scripture, and scripture before. Is there any way that you can refute all of this scripture?
- David
P.S
That snow comment, I don't know if its an insult or not :/