35‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’41“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45“Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
But here's the deal: we can choose to do, or not do, those things. That's the key to the discussion of faith vs. works.
Jesus didn't say that it is sufficient to believe; when He gathers people, He says "follow me." Faith is tested; and the true test of our faith, is our willingness to "follow" -- to actually act on our faith.
To act according to our faith, is often called "an outward sign of an inward grace." But we how often do we keep that light under the bushel instead? I certainly do so a lot more often than I care to admit.
It's interesting to note how often follow appears in the Gospels, and in what context.
Jesus gives people a choice; hence, we have the disciples who choose to follow (and still fail to do so on the night He was betrayed); and by contrast we have the Rich Young Man, who wants to follow but cannot manage to make the choice.
We have Nicodemus, who hid his faith while Jesus lived; and who revealed it on the day He died.