Let’s read Matthew 12:36-37: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Notice, we read in verse 37 that by our words men are either JUSTIFIED or CONDEMNED. You may be thinking, “But I thought men are “JUSTIFIED by FAITH” or “CONDEMNED by UNBELIEF?” You are right and here are some verses that prove men are justified by faith: “Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was accounted to him for RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but BELIEVES on Him who JUSTIFIES the ungodly, his FAITH is accounted for RIGHTEOUSNESS…. Therefore, having been JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 4:3-5; 5:1).

The moment a person BELIEVES on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, God sees the faith in their heart and He JUSTIFIES them. Romans 10:8-10 brings this out clearly, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the WORD OF FAITH, which we preach): that if you CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH the Lord Jesus and BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For WITH THE HEART one believes unto righteousness, and WITH THE MOUTH confession is made unto salvation.” Notice the order here: 1) one hears the Word of the gospel preached to them; 2) with their HEART they believe it; and 3) with their MOUTH they confess their faith in Christ before men. Their WORDS manifest their FAITH by which they have been JUSTIFIED.

Here is a verse which proves men are condemned by unbelief: “He who BELIEVES in Him is NOT CONDEMNED; but he who does NOT BELIEVE IS CONDEMNED already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). This is clear, is it not? Faith justified and unbelief condemns. Yet as we saw, if one has faith in Christ, his WORDS will manifest his faith. Likewise, if one does not believe in Christ, his WORDS will manifest his unbelief. Now that this is settled, we can answer your question. Yes, a person’s WORDS CAN CONDEMN him to hell, for if one openly denies that Christ is the Son of God, it proves they do not believe in Him as their Savior. John goes on to say in verse 36, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who DOES NOT BELIEVE THE SON shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” God’s eternal wrath in hell with the portion of all who do not believe on the Son!

In Matthew 12:22-24 Jesus had healed a man that was demon-possessed, blind, and mute; and the Pharisees (the Jewish religious leaders) said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” By their WORDS they manifested their UNBELIEF in Jesus Christ. Jesus went on to tell them, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, SPEAK GOOD THINGS? For out of the abundance of the HEART the MOUTH speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the HEART brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle WORD men may speak, they will give an account of it in the day of judgment. For BY YOUR WORDS you will be justified and BY YOUR WORDS you will be condemned” (verses 34-37). All unbelievers will stand before Christ at the Great White Throne judgment and all their words and acts (that have been recorded by God) will be brought out (see Revelation 20:11-12). They will have to give an account for all their WORDS (that revealed their UNBELIEF in Christ) and in that sense “their words will condemn them.” After their words expose their unbelief we read those solemn words, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (verse 15). As we saw from John 3:36, the “wrath of God will abide on them” for all eternity. (DO) (731.1)