Matthew 7:23 reads, “And the will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Matthew 25:12 reads, “But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”

 

Although in Matthew 7 the context is about false workers and in Matthew 25 it is telling a parable of foolish and wise virgins, the point is the same.  In Matthew 7 it tells us that Jesus Christ “never knew” those workers and in Matthew 25 it says that Jesus Christ “know(s) them not.”  Both are negative descriptions of a relationship that was thought otherwise by the workers and the foolish virgins.   Jesus Christ is God and God is omniscient, therefore, Jesus Christ is omniscient. To say that He did not know them does not mean that He does not know everything because He does, so the “never knew” and “know the not” must have a different and correct meaning than would be applied to someone who is not omniscient.  Certainly, God knew them as they were but in context it has to mean that he did not know them in a spiritually intimate way.  John 10:26, 27 reads, “But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  Here, the “I know them” is directly attached to the “my sheep.”  So, Jesus Christ knew them in a spiritually intimate way because they were His sheep.  They did not become His sheep or they were not goats first but they were His sheep and they followed Him because of that.

 

According to Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, the Greek work “knew” in Matthew 7:23 “suggests ‘I have never been in approving connection with you’”, whereas in Matthew 25:12, “I know you not” suggests “you stand in no relation to me.’”  Either way you look at, Jesus Christ in all His omniscience knows everything but the use of the words carries with it a relational knowledge.  The workers and the unwise virgins had no relationship with Jesus Christ, even though, they thought they did. In particular, the workers who thought because they “did something” then they had earned their salvation. The unwise virgins had not prepared themselves for the coming of the Lord.  They had lived as in the days of Noah with no thought of the day of the rapture or of the day of the Lord. Easily understood they were not of the elect of God. Therefore, although they were responsible for the lack of oil in their lamps and were unable of securing oil for the lamps from the wise virgins they were rejected when the “door was shut” (Matthew 25:10).  In Matthew 7:23 He says, “depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  Their door was shut, too. The unwise virgins were equally “departed.”  

 

Without Jesus Christ as Savior by the regenerated work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5), many will have their “door shut” and told to “depart.”