"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Matthew 7:21-23
Having commented on good works that are in fact lawless deeds, allow me to conclude our consideration of these verses with a few thoughts about separation from God. There is no ultimate separation from God, even in Hell. Psalm 139:8 makes it clear that if we are cast into Hell, God is there. What then does it mean to be separated from God? We are can be separated from certain attributes and blessings of God.
As the image bearers of God, all human beings have a unique connection with God from the moment of our conception.
Before a person is saved, he is separated from God’s saving (redemptive) grace. The lost are not separated from God entirely, since God’s common grace is shed on all people as the suns shines and the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45).
Once saved, the redeemed are transformed from children of darkness into children of light (Ephesians 5:8). And because the redeemed still sin, while our sin separates us from some aspects of God’s pleasure, blessing, and from the most intimate of fellowship, we are never separated from Him (Hebrews 13:5). The saved can never be severed from God’s redemptive love and grace (Romans 8:33-39).
But what of the lost after death? Aren’t they completely separated from God forever? No. Though the lost will ultimately be separated from the common graces of God that they enjoyed in life, they will never be separated from the righteous wrath of God. They will only wish they could be separated from God’s eternal wrath.
There is no complete separation from God.