Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Parallel translations
- WEB who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
- BSB God “will repay each one 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 62:12Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
- Jer 32:19Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
- Matt 16:27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
- Jer 17:10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
- Rev 22:12And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
- Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- Job 34:11For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways.
- Isa 3:10–11Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
- 1 Cor 3:8Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
- Rev 2:23And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
- Ezek 18:30Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
- Gal 6:7–8Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
- Matt 25:34–46Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
- Prov 24:12If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
- Rom 14:22Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
- Prov 24:2For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
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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
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