Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?
- KJV And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
- NKJV “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
- NASB “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
- NLT “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus confronts those who profess Him as Lord yet do not obey Him. True discipleship unites confession with obedience.
Overview
This pointed question exposes empty profession that lacks corresponding action. Calling Jesus 'Lord' demands genuine submission to His word, not mere words. While salvation is by grace, true faith is never idle; it bears the fruit of obedience to the Lord it confesses, as the following parable illustrates.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gal 6:7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Matt 7:21–23Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
- Mal 1:6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
- Luke 13:25–27After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
- Matt 25:44And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
- John 13:13–17You call Me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, because I am.
- Matt 25:24Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
- Matt 25:11Later the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us!’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 6:46 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.