The Parable of the Final Judgment

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

(TNIV, Matthew 25:31-46)

In this parable Jesus gives us the amazing idea that whatever we do to help people in need, we do for Jesus, Himself! Conversely, when we fail to help those in need, we also fail in our duty to Jesus.

Jesus makes it crystal clear that unselfish acts of charity are a requirement for salvation. Works of kindness for anyone in need are the true evidence of our faith.

Some Christians feel uneasy about this parable because they have been taught that salvation is by faith alone, not by good works. As a result, there have been a number of alternate interpretations proposed which restrict the meaning of "all the nations" or "the least of these brothers and sisters of mine" such that there is no requirement to help anyone alive today.

The doctrine of salvation by faith alone originated with Martin Luther (1483-1546), a Catholic monk and professor of Scripture at the University of Wittenberg in Germany. Luther taught that we can be justified (made acceptable to God) only by faith.

But Luther did not deny the importance of good works. He wrote, "For grace and faith are infused apart from our work, and when they are infused, then the works follow." In other words, when one is saved by the grace of God, he or she will practice good works as a result of that transformation.

Most Christian churches of today, both Catholic and Protestant, believe that faith and good works are inseparable aspects of salvation. Many churches, following the lead of Luther, teach that salvation is by faith alone, but good works follow as the necessary result and evidence of that salvation.

In his commentary on this parable, Presbyterian pastor James Montgomery Boice writes,

Does this mean that we are saved by works after all? Does it mean that the theology of the reformation is wrong? No, but it is a statement of the necessity of works following faith - if we are truly regenerate. ... We are not justified by works. But if we do not have works, we are not justified. We are not Christians. (Boice, p. 204)

So, there is no real conflict between mainstream Christian beliefs and the plain meaning of this parable. A person who has truly experienced God's saving grace will willingly, unselfishly and joyously do what he or she can to help others in need.

Different people have different amounts of wealth and different abilities to help others. It does not matter that some people do more that others. It does matter that we diligently do what we can (Luke 12:48).

Related verses: Leviticus 19:9-10, 25:35, Deuteronomy 14:28-29, Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Isaiah 58:6-7, Psalms 41:1-3, Proverbs 11:25, 14:21, 19:17, 22:9, 28:27, Isaiah 58:10-11, Matthew 5:42, 6:1-4, 19:21, Luke 3:10-11, 6:38, 11:41, 12:33-34, 21:1-4, Acts 20:35, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 13:1-13, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Galatians 2:10, 1 Timothy 5:16, 6:17-19, Hebrews 13:3, 13:16, James 1:27, 2:2-9, 2:15-16, 1 John 3:17-18

Related articles:
What Does the Bible Say About Generosity and Duty to the Poor?
What does the Bible say about Salvation?
Matthew 25:31-46 - The Judgment of the Nations

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