Concerning self-deception

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Nagra 1Jovin Singh NagraMrs. FernandesHRE4M1-411/29/2023Concerning Self DeceptionThe modem world often holds■onto the misguided notion that scripture of thepast can no longer apply to our so-called advanced world. In truth, passages written inscripture such as the Bible still hold unparalleled power and truth today. One such examplecan be found in the passage. "Not everyone who says to me. 'Lord. Lord,' will enter thekingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that daymany will say to me. 'Lord. Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons inyour name, and do many deeds of power in your name?1Then I will declare to them. 'I neverknew you; go away from me. you evildoers.1(_VewRevised Standard Version CatholicEdition Bible,Matthew 7:21-23). By breaking the passage into components and anab.’zingtheir messages, it can be seen how the subtle nuances bring in a complete message to befollowed. By studying the deeper meanings said by Jesus in line 21. unraveling the travestyHe had called out in line 22 and understanding His response in line 23. we can becomeknowledgeable about ourselves as creations of God and our true purpose even as we navigatea modem world far detached to the times the Bible was writtenVerse 21In the first verse, we can anab,-ze the contexts literally and contextually as observedfrom multiple translations such as; "Not everyone who says to me. 'Lord, Lord? will enterthe kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." (_VewRevised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible.Matthew 7:21), "Knowing the correctpassword—saying 'Master. Master.' for instance—isn't going to get you anywhere with me.

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Nagra 2WTiat is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills." (The Message Bible,Matthew 7:21-23). a contextualized translation, and "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 isin heaven.'James Version Bible,Matthew 7:21), a liberalized translation.After we analyze the line from multiple angles, we can break it down, to understandeach individual portion of the text. The first aspect we can observe is what the author iscommunicating. The leading component of the text would be its key words: 'lord master','heaven' and 'will'. With this, it can be inferred that the text is referring to the Divine Lordand His Will, and that this involves hearvea. These key words are consistent betweentranslations.The Message Bibletranslation uses the term 'password' as well. This can be seenas a form of symbolism. It portrays pleading to God as a sort of 'password' that humanityuses as an attempt to attain heaven (SmithSlush' Guide for Matthew).The quote from Jesusattempts to deter us from that misguided perspective. The mam characters of this text are theLord foremost, followed by us. the followers, and Jesus the narrator. Our relationship with theLord is depicted as carriers of His will. God is the judge of who can reach heaven and Jesus isthe Lord's messenger. As such, the passage addresses the human dilemma of whether or notpeople can reach heaven. Our source for this message is Jesus himself, as he is the speaker asobserved by Matthew and written as such. We do not have access to the source, and theoriginal text has been translated by ether authors. In the way the text is organized, the mostemphasis is placed on the start of the line "Not everyone who says to me. "Lord, Lord"'(Matthew 7:21). The writer wants us to picture the phrase foremost before anything, in orderfor us to self-insert ourselves into the situation. It is the most important pan of the verse as itspeaks to us, the reader, and accuses us of wrongdoing that we may be committed to doing.The original author of the bock was Matthew, who was a tax-collector recruited by Jesus to

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Nagra 3be one of His twelve apostles (Britannica St. AttaAffw). Hew a safollower of Jesus' messageand it could be understood that Matthew recognizes the will of the Lord. This line speaks onour socio-cultural norms to an effective degree as it speaks on people who praise God's name,yet neglect God's message. These can be called false disciples. People of this caliber are theones who initiate some of the wars on religion. These people seek or believe that they willreach heaven, but really only use the Lord's name in vain and dishonor. Furthermore, the textspeaks on the fact that such followers exist which are unserious regarding faith and expectthat believing in Gcd is the only condition to reach heaien. Therefore, we can assume thatculturally Jesus has faced this norm to an extent that it needed to be addressed.Next, the text can be analyzed through interpreting what the author is trying toconvey. The first step of this is understanding the political and geographical situation fiomwhen and where the text was originally 'written. At the time, there was the Roman occupationof Israel, which was the main setting for most of the Bible. "God" was a major factcr in thepolitical sphere of Israel as the leaders were all religious figures. God slowly went in tain associety slowly shifted into capitalism, i.e.. the marketplaces that Jesus was unhappy■with andother such things. Despite this, most of the population were theists. but the respect for Godwas slowly getting neglected. For this reason, this was written for God's disciples andaddresses the issue of being a false disciple of God. We can see this by interpreting theliterary contexts of the significant phrases, such as 'Lord. Lord'. Reading this in a literal wayis hard to understand, but contextually it is referring to a person calling out and praisingGod's name for the sake of it; meaninglessly. The main point that the author is trying toaddress is the significance of understanding false and true faith The author is seeking ourrectification cn the basis of seeking God's true mission. Matthew wanted the world to

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Nagra 4understand his faith and Jesus' message, as he was one of Jesus' apostles and a follower ofHis message.Finally, we can move the context and meaning of the message to our modern-day lifeby breaking it down using a hermeneutical lens. The most fundamental step of this isunderstanding the authors purpose. Matthew wanted to inform people that there is more tofaith that grants access to the kingdom of God. In cur modem world, people are meredesensitized to injustice and more neglecting of their faithful duties. Despite this, people stillbelieve that only their faith in God is what truly matters deep down. Therefore, this messagecan still be applied today to an effective degree. It fits with the overall message of the Biblebecause it speaks on the core issue of putting the Lord's name in vain. .After reading thisverse, one must consider what their purpose is as a follower of God. They must understandwhat they believe in. whether their faith is honest or simply misguided. If it is the latter, theymust encourage themselves to practice what the Lard's 'will' is. This will in turn teach themabout their true relationship with God and broaden it. The good news this gives us is that wecan still make it into heaven. In our modem world, it could be explained that this verse istelling us that there is more to faith than just acknowledging its existence. In order to connectour modem selves to this teaching, we must ask ourselves what we think God seeks of us.Then, we must reflect on whether or not we truly act on that, or if we are acting contrary tothat.Verse 22Looking at the second verse, we can continue to look through multiple translations tounravel the meaning behind what Jesus had attempted to call out in this line. Thesetranslations include: "On that day many will say to me. '"Lord. Lord, did we not prophesy inyour name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?"

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