Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 2/10/2009

Question
In Matthew 25:31-46, the bible explains that people will be sent to heaven or hell based what they did during their lifetime (to the least of the brothers of His).  There is no mention of the necessity to accepting Jesus as saviour for entering heaven?  Please explain what Jesus wants to teach us based on this.

Sincerely,
Lenin

Answer
Dear Lenin,

Good to hear from you again. This text seems to play right into the hands of those who think that they can earn heaven on their own—without having to deal with Jesus, etc.

But we must remember that this text was not written in a vacuum. It is written in the context of what Jesus said, and we need to include what the apostles said as well.

The clearest statement that Jesus made as to the way we receive eternal life is:

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

You’ll notice that the requirement for receiving eternal life is belief in Jesus. That means, as he states in vs. 17, that we believe that Jesus came to save the world, not to condemn it. Vs. 18 points out that if we believe in Jesus we will not be condemned, but if we do not believe in Him we, in effect, condemn ourselves.

Notice another text by the Apostle Paul:

Eph 2:8  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
Eph 2:9  not by works, so that no one can boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Paul points out that we are saved by grace, and we receive grace by faith. Grace is a gift of God, and we cannot earn it no matter what we do. So this puts an end to the hopes of those who want to work their way to heaven. There is no way that we can earn heaven, because heaven is a free gift. And How do we get the gift? We get it by faith.

But notice what the affect the free gift of grace has upon those who believe and receive it: They do the good works that God created them to do. So the affect of Grace upon a person is to cause him/her to want to do those things that God wants them to do.

What kind of works does God want us to do?

Micah 6:8  He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To ACT JUSTLY and to LOVE MERCY and to WALK HUMBLY with your God.

When we follow God’s requirements, then we come back to your text:

Mat 25:31  "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.
Mat 25:32  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.
Mat 25:33  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Mat 25:34  "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.
Mat 25:35  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,
Mat 25:36  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.'
Mat 25:37  "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
Mat 25:38  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
Mat 25:39  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
Mat 25:40  "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Mat 25:41  "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.
Mat 25:42  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
Mat 25:43  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.'
Mat 25:44  "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?'
Mat 25:45  "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
Mat 25:46  "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

We are saved by believing in Jesus, the Son of God, who died for our sins on the cross of Calvary. And our belief in Jesus causes us to do good works. We are not saved by our works, but God uses our works as a barometer to discover if our faith is real, and rewards us for the expression of genuine faith.

There is a lot more to it than this—an enormous amount—but this is the short version that answers your particular question. If you want to know more about it, I’ll be glad to share it with you. (Working via e-mail is much easier for me. Mine is listed below.)

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.
petty@hyperusa.com
www.PettyPress.com (an e-library of 18 of my books; 40 Bible study guides; and a whole lot more)