God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
Parallel translations
- WEB who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
- KJV Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
- NKJV who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:
- NASB who will repay each person according to his deeds:
- NLT He will judge everyone according to what they have done.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will repay each person according to his works. Final judgment will be just and will take deeds into account.
Overview
Quoting Psalm 62:12 / Proverbs 24:12, Paul affirms that God judges according to works. This does not contradict justification by faith; rather, works are the evidence and fruit that reveal the heart's true state. Genuine faith produces a life of perseverance in good, while unbelief shows itself in self-seeking rebellion. Judgment is according to works, but salvation is by grace through faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Ps 62:12and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
- Jer 32:19the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men, to reward each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.
- Matt 16:27For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Jer 17:10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Rev 22:12“Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.
- Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Job 34:11For according to a man’s deeds He repays him; according to a man’s ways He brings consequences.
- Isa 3:10–11Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- 1 Cor 3:8He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
- Rev 2:23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
- Ezek 18:30Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.
- Gal 6:7–8Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Matt 25:34–46Then 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.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
- Prov 24:12If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?
- Rom 14:22Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
- Prov 24:2for their hearts devise violence, and their lips declare trouble.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 2:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.