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Final Judgment: Works vs. Faith Alone: 12 Passages

Final Judgment: Works vs. Faith Alone: 12 Passages

Last updated on: May 2, 2026 at 2:16 pm by Dave Armstrong

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Final Judgment: Works vs. Faith Alone: 12 Passages 2026-05-02T14:16:48-04:00 Dave Armstrong

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Photo credit: Gila National Forest, New Mexico (May 2012). Photo by Kari Greer [Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 license]

1 Samuel 28:18-19 (RSV) Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD, and did not carry out his fierce wrath against Am’alek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. [19] Moreover the LORD will give Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me; the LORD will give the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.”

2 Kings 22:13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” (cf. 2 Chron 34:21)

Psalm 7:8-9 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. [9] O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous, thou who triest the minds and hearts, thou righteous God. My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.

Psalm 58:11 Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Ezekiel 7:3 Now the end is upon you, and I will let loose my anger upon you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will punish you for all your abominations. (cf. 7:8; 33:20)

Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 25:22-30 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, `Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’
[23] His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ [24] He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, `Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; [25] so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ [26] But his master answered him, `You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? [27] Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. [28] So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. [29] For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. [30] And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’

Luke 21:34-36 But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a snare; [35] for it will come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. [36] But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Hebrews 6:7-8 For land which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. [8] But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed; its end is to be burned.

Jude 8-13 Yet in like manner these men in their dreamings defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile the glorious ones. [9] But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” [10] But these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed. [11] Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error, and perish in Korah’s rebellion. [12] These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; [13] wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved for ever.

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

***

[see also related passages in other collections: Mic 5:15; Zeph 2:3; Mt 7:16-27; 10:22; 16:27; 25:31-46 [sheep & the goats]; Lk 3:9; Jn 5:28-29; Rom 2:5-13; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Thess 3:12-13; 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 1:7-8; 1 Pet 1:17; 4:13; 2 Pet 3:10-14; Rev 20:13; 22:12]

*****

Photo credit: Gila National Forest, New Mexico (May 2012). Photo by Kari Greer [Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0 license]

Summary: Twelve passages from the Bible prove how good and bad works — faith barely being mentioned — are always a central determination as to who is damned and who is saved.

[3 pages]

Salvation & Justification

works and the final judgment

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