Judgment, The final

The final judgment is the climactic eschatological event in biblical theology in which God calls all humanity to account before his tribunal at the end of history. In both testaments the Day of the Lord is presented as a day of reckoning when the deeds of every person are weighed and the destinies of the righteous and the wicked are determined. Jesus's discourse in Matthew 25 portrays the Son of Man as judge separating the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, with the criterion being how the nations treated "the least of these my brothers."

Paul writes that all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ, and that judgment will begin with the household of God. The book of Revelation depicts the great white throne judgment before which the dead are raised and judged according to their works recorded in the books.