(Dave Snoke)
Matthew 25:31-46 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, saying, ‘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?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
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This passage is a famous one, on a topic we often don’t like to hear about: the separation of the “sheep and the goats” on the final day of Judgment. This is one of many passages in the Bible that portray Jesus as the Judge of all humanity, who will be resurrected to life, some to eternal life in heaven, and some to eternal judgment in hell. Other passages on this include Revelation 20:11-15, Isaiah 66:15-24, and Romans 2:12-16. Most of what we know about hell, though, comes from Jesus himself—there are at least sixteen references to the final judgment and hell in the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew alone. Theologian R.C. Sproul used to say that we wouldn’t accept that much teaching about hell from anyone else’s lips!
We don’t like to hear about hell, but this teaching of Jesus shows that God’s judgment is not capricious. People are not condemned for minor faults; they are condemned for hard hearts opposed to God. What we see here, though, is that our hearts are revealed by our actions. This is not teaching a “works righteousness.” Jesus is not saying that we have to amass a certain number of religious good deeds to be welcomed into heaven. Rather, he is saying that those who have soft hearts toward God find themselves automatically doing good for others, to such a degree that they don’t even keep track of it, and are surprised when God calls it to their attention. By contrast, in an earlier parallel passage in Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says that many people who think of themselves as religious will be found to have hard hearts on the day of judgment, because their “fruit” (actions) testify against them.
The connection between faith, repentance, and good deeds is a large topic, and many Christians have gone off the rails. At one extreme, some would say that God is not concerned about our deeds at all, that we just have to have the right type of religious beliefs or feelings. That view seems to run straight up against Jesus’ teaching here, which so clearly says that our actions matter. At the other extreme, some branches of Christianity have viewed good deeds like a points system, in which we can trade off negative points for evil deeds against positive points for good deeds, and hope we come out ahead. That can lead to a constant sense of anxiety that we are not doing enough, and no certainty of hope of going to heaven.
The Reformed confessions of our historical tradition are quite good on this topic, and are worth taking time to read. (You can find them at https://cityreformed.org/papers/what-we-believe/ —see especially the Westminster Confession of Faith, Sections 13-18). In a nutshell, good deeds do not add to our salvation, but rather, flow out of our salvation, as the Holy Spirit leads us to desire to love others and do good (Romans 8:1-11). Seeing the work of the Spirit in our lives to change us to greater holiness and love can increase our sense of assurance that we will go to heaven, and that we are not hypocrites. As Jesus taught in Matthew 7, the fruits of the tree don’t create the roots, but instead are the evidence and outworking of the nature of the roots. This outflow is so strongly tied to the heart that James could say “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17), and Paul could say, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7-8).
The application of this passage to our lives is not to live in a state of fear of hell—just the opposite, we should be comforted to know that when we do good, God does not ignore it or forget it. On the other hand, if my life’s goal is merely to feather my own nest and avoid any things or people that make me uncomfortable, I should be convicted by this passage to let my Christianity have an outward face, to love people in practical and tangible ways.
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An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.