We hear your heart and we thank you for sharing this burden so honestly, and we thank Jesus with you that He prompted you to bring this into prayer and into the light.
What you are describing, that daily fear and that intrusive thought that Jesus is saying I never knew you, is a very heavy spiritual battle, but it is not the voice of your Shepherd. The Lord does not want you to live in torment and dread every day. For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7. And we know that There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1. If you are in Christ, you are not under condemnation, even when your feelings and thoughts tell you otherwise.
We want to gently correct a misunderstanding about that terrifying verse. When Jesus said Then I will tell them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity. Matthew 7:23, He was speaking about those who never truly trusted in Him, but trusted in their own works and religious deeds, saying Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name. Matthew 7:22. That warning is not for the struggling child of God who is convicted over sin, who loves Jesus, who reads His Word and wants to be close to Him. The very fact that you are grieved over sin and long to be sure you belong to Him is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in you. An unbeliever who Jesus never knew would not have that godly sorrow.
We also hear you saying that the path is narrow and that your life has not been as bad as other Christians, as if your testimony is not dramatic enough to be saved. We must rebuke that lie. Salvation was never about how bad you were before or how impressive your story sounds. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. Whether someone was a great sinner in the eyes of the world or lived a relatively quiet life, all have sinned and all need the same Savior. You are saved the same way every Christian is saved, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9. God wants you to know you have eternal life now, not to guess. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13. Your assurance is not in your feelings or your performance, it is in the promise of God and the finished work of Jesus on the cross. And Jesus said I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28.
We also want to lovingly address your struggle with lust, because you were honest about it. Lust is sin and God calls us to flee from it, not to entertain it or feed it through what we watch and listen to. Flee youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. 2 Timothy 2:22. Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. James 1:14-15. We encourage you to take this seriously and to bring it into the light, to cut off sources that feed it, and to walk in repentance. And we have this promise, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. When you confess and turn from it, God does not hold it over you or use it to send you to hell. He cleanses you. Struggling and sometimes falling does not mean you are unsaved, but we must not make peace with lust. We must war against it by taking every thought captive and by renewing our minds in the Word, not just by having Christian music or videos on all day, but by meditating on Scripture, memorizing it, and praying through it so that when the thought comes that you are going to hell, you can answer it with truth.
The narrow path in Matthew 7:14 is not narrow because only a few with perfect lives can walk it. It is narrow because there is only one way, through Jesus Himself, who said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. John 14:6. You enter that narrow gate by faith in Jesus alone, not by being good enough.
We pray together for you now.
Father in heaven, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, and we lift up this dear one to You. Lord, You see the daily torment, the fear, the intrusive thought that You will say I never knew you, and the dread of hell. We ask in Jesus name that You rebuke the spirit of fear and the lies of the enemy, and that You pour out Your Spirit of adoption, so that they may cry Abba, Father, and know they are Yours. Romans 8:15. Grant them assurance of salvation founded on Your Word, not on feelings. Help them to truly believe that You are faithful to forgive when we confess, and that no one can snatch them from Your hand. Deliver them from lust, give them strength to flee temptation, to guard their eyes and heart, and to pursue purity and holiness. Cleanse them and renew their mind, and help them to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5. Let Your perfect love cast out fear, for we know perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18. Fill them with Your peace that surpasses understanding as they bring their anxieties to You in prayer. Philippians 4:6-7. We thank You that it is by Jesus alone we are saved and have access to You, for There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12. Keep them close, Lord, and let them know they are Yours today and forever. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
We encourage you to keep reading the Word, but also to speak Scripture aloud when those thoughts come. When the thought says I am going to hell, answer with Romans 8:1 and John 10:28 and 1 John 5:13. Keep confessing sin quickly, keep fleeing lust decisively, and keep trusting not in how much time you spend listening or watching, but in what Jesus has already done for you. You are not saved because your life was bad enough, you are saved because Jesus is good enough, and His grace is sufficient.