Have you ever wondered if simply going through religious motions—attending church, taking communion or the Eucharist, singing the hymns—is enough to secure your place in heaven? That unsettling question haunts many believers.
Jesus’ sobering words in Luke’s Gospel reveal a startling truth: some who shared meals with Him, who listened to His teaching in their streets, will one day hear, “I don’t know you.”
This isn’t meant to terrify us but to awaken us to something profound: authentic relationship with God transcends religious ritual. The door to the kingdom isn’t opened by communion wafers and grape juice, but by genuine faith that transforms our hearts and bears spiritual fruit. Let’s explore this challenging but liberating truth together.
Biblical Insight
In Luke 13:25-27, Jesus delivers one of His most sobering warnings: “Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” This passage parallels Matthew’s account in Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” In both accounts, Jesus emphasizes that proximity to Him through religious activities isn’t sufficient for salvation.
The Greek word for “know” used here is “οἶδα” (oida), which implies inward knowledge and relationship, not merely intellectual awareness. When Jesus says, “I don’t know you,” He’s declaring an absence of genuine relationship. This brings to mind John 15:1-8, where Jesus describes Himself as the vine and His followers as branches that must remain connected to Him to bear fruit. The fruit-bearing isn’t what saves us, but rather evidence of our genuine connection to the vine. Paul reinforces this in Galatians 5:22-23, showing how the Spirit produces fruit in those genuinely connected to God.
The early church understood communion (the Eucharist) as a profound act of remembrance and fellowship, but never as a mechanical ritual that guaranteed salvation. In 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, Paul warns about taking communion unworthily, indicating that the ritual itself isn’t magical but meaningful only when approached with a heart aligned with its spiritual significance. Similarly, in Isaiah 29:13, Yahweh laments, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” The consistency across both testaments is striking: God has always desired authentic relationship over empty ritual.
Practical Wisdom
This biblical truth calls us to honest self-examination. Are we relying on religious activities—Sunday attendance, communion participation, Bible study membership—as our spiritual insurance policy? Or are we cultivating a genuine, daily relationship with Jesus that transforms us from the inside out? The question isn’t whether religious practices are valuable (they absolutely are!), but whether they’re flowing from a heart connected to God through faith or serving as substitutes for that connection.
Faith that saves isn’t merely intellectual assent to theological propositions but trusting surrender to Jesus as Lord. As James 2:19 reminds us, “Even the demons believe—and shudder!” True faith produces fruit because it connects us to the life-giving Holy Spirit who empowers us to walk in obedience. When we genuinely encounter God’s grace through faith, our lives naturally begin to reflect His character and priorities. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), not to earn His favor but because His love has transformed our hearts.
What does this mean practically? It means approaching communion not as a ritual that earns God’s approval but as a profound reminder of what Jesus has done for us—an opportunity to examine our hearts, confess our sins, and renew our dependence on Him. It means recognizing that church attendance doesn’t earn salvation points but provides essential community and teaching that nurtures our relationship with God. Most importantly, it means cultivating daily awareness of God’s presence, studying His Word not just for information but transformation, and remaining open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and empowerment in our lives.
Clearing up misunderstandings
One common misconception is that Jesus’ warning devalues communion or church attendance. That’s not the case at all. These practices are vital expressions of our faith and powerful means of grace through which God shapes us. The problem isn’t with the practices themselves but with trusting in the practices rather than the Person they point to. Jesus isn’t saying, “Don’t take communion”; He’s saying, “Don’t think communion alone will save you.” The practices are meant to nurture our relationship with God, not substitute for it.
Another misconception is thinking that Jesus’ words about not knowing certain people mean that salvation can be lost through insufficient works. This misses the point entirely. Jesus isn’t describing people who once had genuine faith and lost it; He’s describing people who never had genuine faith to begin with—people who went through religious motions without heart transformation. Their lives of “lawlessness” (as Matthew’s account puts it) or “evildoing” (in Luke’s version) reveal that despite their religious activities, they never truly surrendered to Jesus as Lord. As 1 John 2:19 explains about similar cases: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
Finally, some misunderstand Jesus’ emphasis on relationship to mean that doctrine and obedience don’t matter. Scripture teaches the opposite. Genuine relationship with God leads naturally to growing obedience (John 14:15) and sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16). Jesus doesn’t pit relationship against obedience—He shows that authentic relationship produces obedience. The fruit doesn’t save us, but it does reveal whether we’re genuinely connected to the vine.
Conclusion
Jesus’ sobering warning about those who took communion yet won’t enter heaven isn’t meant to terrify but to invite us into something far better than religious ritual—genuine relationship with the living God. The good news is that such relationship is freely available through faith in Jesus the Messiah. His perfect life, sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection have opened the way for us to know God intimately and be transformed by His love.
As you approach the communion table next time, let it be not a religious checkbox but a profound reminder of your dependence on Jesus and His finished work. Let every aspect of your spiritual life flow from a heart that loves God and trusts in His Son. For it’s not religious activity but relationship—genuine, transformative connection to Jesus—that marks those who will hear not “I never knew you” but “Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).
Did you know
In the early church, communion was called “the medicine of immortality” by Ignatius of Antioch in his letters to the Ephesians, reflecting the understanding that while the Eucharist itself didn’t automatically confer salvation, it was a powerful means of grace for believers already in relationship with Jesus.
The early Christians saw communion not as a mere ritual but as a profound mystery through which they encountered the risen Messiah and received spiritual nourishment—but always approached it from a posture of faith rather than viewing it as a mechanical guarantee of heaven.
