Jesus discusses what he expects of those who believe in him:
The Judgment
31“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35‘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; 36naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45“Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
Lengthy discussion on this very passage a week or so ago. Naturally, the Cstholics try to justify themselves by “works” and ignore “faith.” Etc.
Reading the scripture not for what you want it to say..but for what it does say is important
This like other parables makes much of the separation of the saved and the unsaved.... Like the wheat and the tares , the corn and the chaff on the floor, the good fish and the bad fish at the shore, Notice the sheep were rewarded for their ministry to the BRETHREN..
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.
Kindness to the other of the children of God (the sheep) .. taking care of their physical needs..
Mat 25:34 — Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Notice that the sheep INHERIT the Kingdom.. ..an inheritance is not an earned wage.. no one EARNS an inheritance ..it is a freely given love gift..
Children inherit from their Fathers..
The Goats were without rewards for not doing works.. Does that mean they never did a good deed in their existence? Even avid avowed atheists do kindnesses to other men.. give to charities and so on ...was this just an especially unkind group?
Well note this..
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.
Notice.. the word brethren is not there.. because they were never the brethren of God or the sheep, they did not have a freely given love gift from God, because they were not His children. They were not the brethren of Christ or the children of God.. The unsaved can never do a "good work" in the eyes of God (heb 11:16) ... notice they are dismissed with a curse.. no reward due them for any kindness they may have done in this life..
Also note that the sheep DID NOT DO WORKS TO BE SAVED.. they had not even considered the rewards of their good works
Mat 25:37-39 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.
No where in scripture does it tell you good works save you..it does say that our good works are the FRUIT of our salvation..they are the work of God IN US AND THROUGH US
The Goats are condemned , not because they did not work, but because that work was not done to the glory of God.. They did the works of the natural man..... they had never repented and believed..and scripture tells us that what is not of Faith IS SIN, so this was a sin judgement for the goats and a reward judgement for the sheep
The God pleasing works were not self serving works to earn or secure their salvation or for the approval of men ..They flowed out of the heart of Christ as works HE HAD ORDAINED for them before the foundation of the world
Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
They were not sheep because they did the work that God had ordained for them, they did the work because they were the sheep.
Gal. 2:16: "[T]hat we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified
Hear Jesus teaching on salvation by works
but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
The goats brought forth fruit..but it was not God pleasing work..
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
The goats could never do works pleasing to God no matter what they did
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
A judgement of works..... but that judgemen actually happened before the works, because they were not good "trees" to begin with (sheep)
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
So the works do not make one good..but they tell us the condition of the the relationship with God
Mat 7:21
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Christ NEVER knew them, they were never saved then lost.. HE NEVER knew them , They pleaded their case on works.. BUT their fruit was rotten to the core, because its roots were not in Christ
No doubt we will have the insane posse breathlessly inform us that the Judgement does not apply to them. The Judgement apparently does not apply to those who self declare their own salvation. Jesus is now legally held to their self declaration, according to them.