Scripture

“All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.”

Observation

When the Son of Man comes in glory with the angels – at the end of the world – Jesus will judge all people (“all the nations”).

People will be separated into goats and sheep. The sheep are those people who, motivated by Christ’s love, cared for the hungry, thirsty, prisoners, orphans, and so on. When they did something for the least of his brothers, it was as if they did it directly for Christ.

The goats, on the other hand, are rejected because they ignored the needs of the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters.

The goats will go into eternal punishment, while the sheep will go to eternal life.

Application

In this passage, Jesus clearly shows that judgement will be on the basis of our works, that is, deeds done to serve christian brothers and sisters.

But what about salvation by faith? Yes, we are saved by our faith in Christ, but we are saved to do good works in Him (Ephesians 2:10).

It is not enough to declare that we have asked for God’s forgiveness. The reality of the new birth comes out in a changed lifestyle. Anybody who professes Christ but is still living for themselves is not a true Christian.

We will be judged by our actions, because our actions reveal the true state of our heart.

To be born again means that our whole life is surrendered to Christ. We see ourselves no longer as masters of our own destiny, but as slaves to Christ.

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for dying for me. Please show me the “least of these” whom you are asking me to serve. Amen.