Shut Out from God's Mercy

In Matthew 7:23, Jesus solemnly declares, "And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’" This powerful statement from Christ is perhaps one of the most terrifying in all of Scripture. It signifies a complete and absolute rejection, not merely a forgetting or a temporary dismissal. The phrase "I never knew you" means that there was never a relationship, never an intimate connection, despite outward appearances of religious activity or claims of allegiance. It reveals a fundamental disconnect between the individual and the Lord of all creation, pointing to an ultimate and irreversible separation.